Judith von Eßen

Judith von Eßens “Krabbenpulerin”
in the pedestrian zone of Varel

Judith von Eßen , also from Essen (born March 6, 1924 as Judith Hellwig in Neurode , † November 19, 2004 in Varel ) was a German sculptor .

life and work

The artist grew up as the daughter of Wilhelm Hellwig (1888–1944) and his wife Maria geb. Cichos (1898–1966) with eight siblings in their Lower Silesian hometown of Neurode, where they trained as a kindergarten teacher. After the Second World War , she found a new home in Varel in Lower Saxony .

The sculpture group "Seals" in front of the Café Pudding on Wangerooge

Judith von Eßen had been involved in sculpture since she was a child. She completed her professional training in the sculpture class of Franz Guntermann at the School for Crafts and Applied Arts in Münster , today's department of design at the Münster University of Applied Sciences . She also attended a workshop in Cologne and then worked as an art teacher in a boarding school for girls in Paderborn . In 1951 she married the optician Friedrich von Eßen (1905–1982) in Varel and became the mother of two daughters and a son.

Judith von Eßen lived and worked as a freelance artist in Varel until her death in November 2004. She did commissioned work and took part in art exhibitions with her work. From her preferred working material bronze , she made numerous sculptures with human and animal motifs for public spaces, which exude great naturalness and stimulate the viewer to touch and feel. In addition to memorial plaques and stone reliefs for memorials , her work also includes various small sculptures made of fired clay , which she only produced in small editions.

The best-known work by Judith von Essen is the bronze sculpture “Krabbenpulerin” , which has become a symbol of the city of Varel. Her group of sculptures with life-size seals on the central square in front of Café Pudding on the North Sea island of Wangerooge and the "Utrooper" (= crier) in Neustadtgödens that she created are attractions for tourists and popular photo opportunities. In the Mühlenkamp housing estate in Lohne , her bronze sculpture “Mantelmadonna” commemorates the fate of the German expellees from Mittelwalde .

In 1997 Judith von Eßen published an illustrated book about her sculptures with the title “Like the soul, like the art”.

She died in Varel in 2004 at the age of 80.

Honors

• Judith-von-Eßen-Strasse in Varel (2014)

Works in public space (selection)

• Krabbenpulerin , bronze sculpture, Varel
• Utrooper ( crier ), bronze sculpture, Neustadtgödens
• Mantle Madonna , bronze sculpture, Lohne (Oldenburg)
• Seals , bronze sculpture, Wangerooge
• St. Antonius , relief, Catholic Church St. Bonifatius , Varel
• Relief plates for the memorial stone, Lensahn

Publications

• Like the soul, so is the art: sculptures. Isensee , Oldenburg 1997, ISBN 3-89598-476-0 .

Web links

Commons : Judith von Eßen  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Genealogical data: Zenon Owoc family tree, MyHeritage, myheritage.de, accessed on October 5, 2016.
2. ↑ ^{a b} City of Varel - Krabbenpulerin. (No longer available online.) In: varel.de. Archived from the original on August 1, 2016 ; accessed on October 7, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Hans Begerow: No street named yet , NWZ-online, March 6, 2014, nwz.online.de, accessed on October 5, 2016 (with photo of the artist).
4. ^ Parish of St. Gertrud Lohne (ed.): Wegzeichen - Glaubenszeichen. In the parish of St. Gertrud Lohne . Rewards. 2011, p. 90 (with image of the sculpture), accessed on November 9, 2016. ( online. Pdf ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check Original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. )