Kurt Schmischke

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Kurt Schmischke (born July 6, 1923 in Osterode (East Prussia) ; † September 30, 2004 in Hamburg ) was a German painter, graphic artist and illustrator of maritime stories.

Kurt Schmischke lived in Hamburg-Wellingsbüttel and later in Poppenbüttel . There he worked, surrounded by numerous nautical items, ship models and an extensive library, as if in his own small maritime museum.

Childhood and youth

Kurt Schmischke was born in 1923 in Osterode, East Prussia - near the Masurian lakes . When he was five years old, the family moved to Berlin, where he spent his childhood and youth. He spent the summer holidays again and again with his grandparents in the country, in the Masurian Gusenofen . One day he found a dusty copy of Köhler's “German Fleet Calendar”, born in 1915. This reading fascinated him and led him, so to speak, on his maritime journey.

Military service and training

After the Second World War, the Kurt Schmischke experienced as a soldier in Russia, he began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin in the division stage . Soon he switched - according to his inclinations - to the class for free graphics and illustration.

Professional development

The early years

From 1957 he lived in Hamburg, near the water, harbor and ships. He initially earned his living working for an advertising agency. His illustrations were soon found in the “ Hamburger Abendblatt ”, the “ Bild ”, the “ Hör Zu ” and other popular publications. He illustrated classics such as “ The Treasure Island ” and “ Moby Dick ”, but also successful series such as “ The Five Friends ” for various youth book publishers (Göttingen youth books, Boje Verlag, etc.) . In 1966 his illustrations for the Persian love stories, first published in 1924, appeared .

The maritime

The meeting with Ludwig Dinklage, editor of “Yacht” and editor-in-chief of “Köhler's German Fleet Calendar” was decisive for his further artistic life. Both publications published his illustrations. Dinklage finally invited Schmischke to his first sailing trip, which took him to Heligoland .

After that the seafaring, the sailing, just the maritime was his main area of ​​work. For many years he delighted the readers of “Yacht” with his typical illustrations from sailing. His figure of the sailor Gustav, to the stories of Wolfgang J. Krauss, in which every cruising sailor could recognize himself, also became particularly popular.

On many trips in the North and Baltic Seas, in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, on yachts, freighters or windjammers like the “ Gorch Fock ” and “ Sea Cloud ”, he recorded his impressions with pen and pencil, but above all in watercolor . He knew how to capture moods and situations with just a few strokes and convey them to the viewer. In his watercolors, which he created with extraordinary artistic talent, one recognizes his high level of technical nautical knowledge in the detail rendering.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Persian Eros. Love stories of Persian literature. Edited by H. Scharfenberg, illustrated by Kurt Schmischke, Gala, Hamburg 1966
personal data
SURNAME Schmischke, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter, graphic artist and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH July 6, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Osterode (East Prussia)
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 2004
Place of death Hamburg