Claus Homfeld

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The Ottjen Alldag sculpture by Claus Homfeld in the Schnoor district of Bremen

Claus Homfeld , also spelled Klaus Homfeld , (born January 25, 1933 in Bremen ; † October 9, 2019 there ) was a German sculptor and medalist . He became known for his realistic-style sculptures and groups of figures in public spaces in northern Germany, especially in Bremen and Lower Saxony.

Several German commemorative coins were designed based on joint designs by him and his wife, the artist Ursula Homfeld .

life and work

The sculptor Claus Homfeld

Claus Homfeld completed training as a wood and stone sculptor after finishing school . In the 1950s he studied at the State Art School in Bremen . From 1960 he worked as a freelance sculptor.

He received his first public commission in the Bremen area in 1963/1964 for the completion of the Ottjen-Alldag-Fountain , which was moved to the Schnoorviertel in Bremen in 1963 . For this, Homfeld designed the Ottjen Alldag sculpture , which he executed in copper in 1964 . By the end of 2009 he had created more than 40 works in public spaces. One of his last works was the sculpture group Arster Marktfrauen , which was erected in 2011 on an open space in front of the St. Johannes Church in Bremen- Arsten .

Homfeld was, according to his own statement, “not an erosive person”, but “prefers to build up” and preferred sculpture in his artistic work. He developed his designs with the help of sketches and often with small working models made of wax . For the bronze casting , he created original-size models based on the respective template, welding the skeleton of his figures together from iron pipes , wrapping them with jute and then gradually applying several layers of plaster to it . For his commissions, Homfeld often received a motif as a specific specification, on which he carried out detailed research, such as the “right clothing for the respective time”.

He can be assigned to realism , his works have been characterized, among other things, as "the art of immediacy that requires no mediation". With his sculptures and groups of figures of "vivid aesthetics", he often made social and cultural-historical references to the earlier everyday life of the respective location and thus made the past vividly, with the subjects of "cattle market", " horse trade " or the "Lütten Lüüd" served. Homfeld mostly carried out his work in bronze , sometimes also in copper.

Claus Homfeld lived and worked in Bremen- Oberneuland . He died on October 9, 2019 at the age of 86.

The artist couple Claus and Ursula Homfeld

Together with his wife, the artist and sculptor Ursula Homfeld, Claus Homfeld successfully participated in several design competitions of the Federal Ministry of Finance for Deutsche Mark - commemorative coins of the Federal Republic of Germany . A total of two DM 5 commemorative coins and one DM 10 commemorative coin were designed and minted according to the joint designs of the artist couple .

Works (selection)

Works by Claus Homfeld

Ottjen-Alldag-Plastik , 1964
Heini Holtenbeen monument , 1990
Ludwig Knoop statue , 1994
  • 1964: Ottjen-Alldag-Plastik , copper, in the Schnoorviertel in Bremen; in memory of the Low German poet Georg Droste and his best-known fictional character Ottjen Alldag . The Ottjen-Alldag-Brunnen , created in 1733 and made of stone (basin) and bronze (pipe), was moved to Schnoor at the corner of Spiekerbartstraße in 1963. Homfeld supplemented the fountain with a sculpture made of copper, which was attached to a building wall behind the fountain.
  • 1966: Forge relief , artificial stone relief, on the Telekom office building in Friesoythe ; in memory of the heyday of the Friesoyther blacksmiths guild in the 16th to 18th centuries.
  • 1975: Marcusbrunnen , restoration and extension of the Marcusbrunnen near the Parkhotel in the Bremer Bürgerpark . The fountain was designed in 1890 by the sculptor Diedrich Samuel Kropp based on a design by August Töpfer . After the bronze parts were dismantled for war purposes in 1942, the fountain was restarted in 1959, initially in a simplified form. Homfeld completed the Marcusbrunnen again with an upper shell and instead of the original seahorses with four mussel shells , each of which he made in bronze.
  • 1982: Horse dealer , group of figures made of bronze with a small natural stone fountain, at the town hall in Zeven ; in memory of the cattle market that used to take place there.
  • 1985: Horse fountain , bronze group of horses, at the horse market in Rotenburg (Wümme) ; in memory of the horse trade that used to take place there.
  • 1987: Lili-Marleen-Gruppe , bronze figure group, in front of the western city gate in Munster ; in memory of the classic soldier song Lili Marleen in the "soldier town" Munster.
  • 1990: Heini-Holtenbeen monument , bronze sculpture, in the Schnoor district of Bremen near the Concordenhaus, behind the wooden gate; in memory of the Bremen city original Heini Holtenbeen .
  • 1991: Homfeldbrunnen , in Bremen- Grohn , on the Grohner Markt, corner of the water.
  • 1994: Ludwig Knoop statue , bronze statue, in Knoops Park in Bremen- St. Magnus ; in memory of the Bremen wholesaler Ludwig Knoop .
  • 1996: Wietzendorfer beekeeper , bronze figure group, in Wietzendorf ; commemorating the published there profession of beekeeper and the emblem of the annual "Honey Festival".
  • 1997: Jan and Gret , a bronze group of figures, on the newly designed market square in front of the town hall in Sankt Peter-Ording ; in memory of the "Lütten Lüüd", the poor residents of the villages of St. Peter and Ording who used to live in poverty and who laboriously fed from their garden and the sea. Jan pricked clods with the prigg and Gret caught crabs with the glimpse .
  • 2001: Magdalene Pauli monument , also Magdalene Melchers monument , bronze bust, in Bremen-St. Magnus, below the Villa Haus Lesmona in Knoops Park; in memory of Magdalene Pauli , geb. Melchers , who became known for her novel Sommer in Lesmona , published under the pseudonym Marga Berck .
  • 2002: The milkmaid , a group of figures made of bronze, at the Sparkasse building in Bremen- Borgfeld ; in memory of the once rural character of the district.
  • 2009: Fritz von dem Berge monument , bronze statue at the town hall in Bleckede ; in memory of the former bailiff of Bleckede, Fritz von dem Berge (1560–1623), who worked for the good of the place and a. had made a contribution to the dike security of the Elbe city.
  • 2011: Arster market women bronze statues in Bremen-Arsten, in memory of Arster women with the Bremen basket.

Works by Claus and Ursula Homfeld

  • 1966: 5 DM commemorative coin Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , draft of the commemorative coin that was issued on the 250th anniversary of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's death in February 1967 .
  • 1973: 5 DM commemorative coin Frankfurt National Assembly 1848 in the Paulskirche , draft of the commemorative coin that was issued on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Frankfurt National Assembly in December 1973 .
  • 1995: 10 DM commemorative coin Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen , draft of the commemorative coin that was issued for the 150th birthday of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and the 100th anniversary of the discovery of X-rays in September 1995 .

Public collections (selection)

  • The Kunsthalle Bremen has two smaller sculptures by Claus Homfeld in its inventory, including a model for a crucifix , 1962, bronze, brown patina, 40 × 16.5 × 9.5 cm.
  • The collection of coins and medals at the Kunsthalle Bremen also contains a copy of the Medal of Merit , which Claus Homfeld designed in 1988 on behalf of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce and which was donated by the latter on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the Schütting building . The medal was made as a two-sided bronze cast, has a diameter of 58 mm and is signed on the edge with the signature "CH".

literature

The sculptor Claus Homfeld and his artistic work are covered in the following books:

  • Herbert Obenaus u. a. (Ed.): Historical manual of the Jewish communities in Lower Saxony and Bremen. Volume 2. Wallstein, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-89244-753-5 , p. 342.
  • Maria Zimmermann: Monument Studies. A contribution to the understanding of the personality monument in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin since the Second World War. Dissertation. University of Münster 1982. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster 1982, p. 109 ff.

gallery

Selection of monuments created by Claus Homfeld (see also link to Wikimedia Commons in the Web Links section ):

  • Homfeldbrunnen , 1991

  • Marcus fountain , additions in bronze, 1975, Bremen-Bürgerpark

  • Horse dealer , bronze group of figures, 1982, at the town hall in Zeven

  • Wietzendorf beekeepers , bronze group of figures, 1996, Wietzendorf

  • Jan and Gret , bronze figure group, 1997, St. Peter-Ording

  • Magdalene Pauli Monument , bronze, 2001, Bremen-St. Magnus

Web links

Commons : Claus Homfeld  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Andreas Becker: Sculptor Claus Homfeld. Always retired as an artist. Weser-Kurier , Bremen, October 18, 2009, archived from the original on February 18, 2010 ; Retrieved December 10, 2009 .
  2. ^ Friedrich Greve: Memorial for Arster market women. In: weser-kurier.de . August 22, 2011, accessed October 16, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Landschaftsverband Stade : Art in public space. >> City of Rotenburg . In: Paths into the cultural landscape between the Weser and Elbe . Leaflet No. 43, Stade.
  4. ↑ Horse fountain. In: Rotenburg-wuemme.de. City of Rotenburg (Wümme) , 2015, accessed on October 16, 2019 .
  5. ↑ (BEM): Artist Claus Homfeld has died . In: Weser courier . October 16, 2019, p. 8 (obituary).
  6. ^ Obituary notice Claus Homfeld . In: Weser courier . October 16, 2019, p. 18 .
  7. ↑ Monuments / fountains >> No. 06: Marcus fountain . Bürgerparkverein Bremen, archived from the original on January 7, 2010 ; accessed on October 16, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Heini Hotenbeen at k: art in public space
  9. ^ The Magdalene Melchers memorial. In: Heimatarchiv St. Magnus. SchoenerHistory, May 2001, archived from the original on May 31, 2012 ; accessed on October 16, 2019 .
  10. ^ Otto C. Carlsson: The milkmaid. In: Borgfeld a village with history. Borgfeld local office , accessed on December 10, 2009 .
  11. ↑ Historical city tour and hiking trails. (PDF) In: State newspaper for the Lüneburg Heath . September 2009, accessed December 11, 2009 .
  12. ↑ Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz ( Memento from May 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). In: 5 DM commemorative coins 1952–1979. At: Sales point for collector coins of the Federal Republic of Germany (VfS).
  13. ↑ Frankfurt National Assembly 1848 in the Paulskirche ( Memento of May 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). In: 5 DM commemorative coins 1952–1979. At: Sales point for collector coins of the Federal Republic of Germany (VfS).
  14. ^ Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen ( Memento from March 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). In: 10 DM commemorative coins 1987–2001. At: Sales point for collector coins of the Federal Republic of Germany (VfS).
personal data
SURNAME Homfeld, Claus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Homfeld, Klaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor and medalist
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Bremen
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 2019
Place of death Bremen