Leopold Grausam, jun.

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Leopold Grausam (in the 1990s)

Leopold Grausam, jun. (* May 7, 1946 in Vienna ; † August 16, 2010 in Deutsch-Wagram ) was an Austrian sculptor and master stonemason . He was the technical director of the City of Vienna's stonemasonry workshop for many years and created a large number of tombs and gravestones as well as memorials , memorial stones and plaques , in particular to commemorate the resistance against Austrofascism and National Socialism and to commemorate the victims of the Nazi era .

Live and act

Youth and education

Leopold Grausam came from a family of artists and was interested in acting and puppet theater from childhood . He was shaped by the anti-fascist attitude of his father Leopold Grausam, sen. (1911–1980), an equally versatile artist and artisan who had been persecuted as a February fighter by the Austro-Fascist regime since 1934 . Leopold Grausam jun. Because of his father's past, he later always felt very close to the social democratic freedom fighters . After his school days he completed an apprenticeship as a stonemason and then worked in his “traveling years” in various stonemasonry companies all over Austria.

Master stonemason and monument designer

After his return to Vienna, Grausam worked for the municipal stonemasonry workshop of the City of Vienna, for which he worked for decades as technical director. At the same time he worked artistically as a sculptor and painter. Grausam created a large number of tombs, gravestones, memorials and memorial stones as well as various stone carvings for the design of public places, parks and facilities throughout Vienna. In his life as well as in his work he devoted himself to the fight against fascism ; He designed a series of memorials, memorial stones and memorial signs to commemorate the struggle against Austrofascism and National Socialism as well as the victims of persecution by the National Socialists. This also includes a large number of memorial plaques in the Vienna districts. Grausam worked closely with Rosa Jochmann , Josef Hindels and Herbert Exenberger and others from the Association of Social Democratic Freedom Fighters, victims of fascism and active anti-fascists .

Memorial for the victims of the Nazi tyranny on Morzinplatz in Vienna (created 1985)

Cruel significant works include the memorial for the victims of the Nazi tyranny on Morzinplatz in Vienna- Innere Stadt , the memorials for the February fighters and for the Spanish fighters at the Vienna Central Cemetery in Vienna- Simmering , the memorials for the murdered children from Spiegelgrund and for the women and men of the resistance murdered in the Vienna Regional Court and on the Kagran shooting range in the central cemetery, as well as the grave monuments for Rosa Jochmann and Josef Hindels.

At the memorial for the Nazi victims on Morzinplatz, where the Gestapo headquarters in Vienna was located in the former Hotel Metropol during the Nazi era , Grausam included a memorial stone with an inscription that was erected there as early as 1951. He supplemented the existing stone block with simple, roughly hewn stone blocks and a bronze figure standing in between . The cube at the top, which covers the niche with the figure, was cruelly marked with the inscription Never Forget, and on the left and right with one of the former Nazi compulsory markings, the red triangle of the political prisoners and the yellow Star of David .

For the stone he selected Mauthausen granite from the former concentration camp quarries around Mauthausen ; For him, the reference resulted from the fact that the Nazi persecuted persons arrested by the Gestapo and interrogated in the former state police headquarters on Morzinplatz mostly came to the Mauthausen concentration camp , where they had to do hard labor in the local quarry . The monument was unveiled on November 1, 1985 by Mayors Helmut Zilk and Rosa Jochmann. The symbolism of the monument designed by Grausam - a man clenching his fist, striding forward and standing up between the stone blocks - is described by the publicist Peter Diem as "a symbol of overcoming the darkest years in the history of our republic".

Signature with stonemason's mark by Leopold Grausam (here at the memorial for the Nazi victims on Morzinplatz in Vienna)

In the tradition of the stonemasonry, Grausam provided the works he created with his signature and his personal stonemason mark .

In the mid-2000s, Grausam jun. took part in the restoration of a memorial plaque for three executed resistance fighters that his father Leopold Grausam sen. Created in 1963 and since then had been in the former building of the Austrian State Printing House on Rennweg in Vienna. The memorial plaque in memory of the three book printers Alois Hudec, Gustav Kiesel and Wilhelm Weixlbraun, who were sentenced to death by the National Socialists as communist resistance fighters and beheaded in the Vienna Regional Court in 1943 , was erected in 2005 in the new company building of the state printing plant in Tenschertgasse in the 23rd district of Vienna rebuilt.

Theater and other artistic fields of activity

In addition to his work as a monument designer, his great passion was the theater. Leopold Grausam was on stage as an actor (among others under Irimbert Ganser and Hans Fretzer , as a colleague of Dolores Schmidinger , Tassilo Holik and Martin Flossmann ). He designed stage sets and theater posters, a. a. For decades for the "Wiener Lustspieltheater" (also "Österreichisches Tourneetheater"), the Stockerau Festival (1971, Wiener Blut ), where he also appeared next to Kammersänger Rudolf Christ , and posters for Fritz Edtmeier and Jörg Maria Berg . He also worked as a painter and graphic artist, author and puppeteer, but also as a teacher who made several educational films for training as a stonemason.

Family, hometown Deutsch-Wagram

Leopold Grausam married in 1972 and moved with his wife to the Vienna suburb of Deutsch-Wagram , where he lived with his family until his death. The couple had a son in 1973.

In his new hometown Deutsch-Wagram he took an active part in cultural life; Among other things, he founded and ran a puppet theater there with his wife . He also created several works of art there in public space, such as a wall painting depicting Saint Florian on the old fire tower (today the local office of the Red Cross), in 1987 - as a master of the municipal stonemasonry workshop of the City of Vienna - the railway monument next to the reception building of the Train station , several wall paintings at kindergartens and various exhibits for the local museum.

Leopold Grausam jun. died at the age of 64 in Deutsch-Wagram. His wife and son continue his puppet theater tradition.

Honors

In 2006 Leopold Grausam was awarded the Otto Bauer plaque for his life's work by the Vienna Regional Association of the Federation of Social Democratic Freedom Fighters, Victims of Fascism and Active Anti-Fascists .

Work (selection)

Publications

  • Never forget . In: Perspektiven , issue 6 from 7/2006, N. J. Schmid Verlagsges.mbH in cooperation with the City of Vienna, Vienna 2006, ISSN  0004-7805 , pp. 89-92.

Sculpture and stone carvings

  • 2005: Memorial for the executed resistance fighters in Vienna-Simmering, central cemetery
  • 2003: Memorial for the destroyed Simmering Synagogue in Vienna-Simmering, Braunhubergasse / Hugogasse intersection
  • 2002: Memorial for the murdered children from Spiegelgrund in Vienna-Simmering, central cemetery
  • 2000: Jazz sculpture in Bill-Grah-Park in Vienna- Essling
  • 1998–1999: Execution of the Park of Tranquility and Power (Wiener Zentralfriedhof, Group 23)
  • 1995: Memorial stele for Bruno Kreisky in the Bruno-Kreisky-Hof in Vienna- Hernals
  • 1995: Memorial for the victims of fascism in Vienna- Penzing , Baumgartner Friedhof
  • 1994: Gravestone and memorial plaque for Rosa Jochmann in Vienna-Simmering, central cemetery
  • 1990: Gravestone for Josef Hindels in Vienna-Simmering, central cemetery
  • 1988: Memorial for the Austrian fighters in Spain in Vienna-Simmering, central cemetery
  • 1988: Memorial for victims of National Socialism in Linz , Alt-Urfahr
  • 1987: Monument 150 years of the railway with a representation of the steam locomotive " AUSTRIA " next to the reception building of the station in Deutsch-Wagram
  • 1985: Memorial for the victims of the Nazi tyranny in Vienna's Inner City, Morzinplatz
  • 1984: Memorial stone for freedom fighters shot dead in Donaupark, Vienna 22
  • 1984: Schutzbund monument for the February fighters in Vienna-Simmering, central cemetery
  • 1984: Grave of honor for the screenwriter, film director and actor Kurt Nachmann
  • 1982: Memorial for the victims of the bombing war 1944–1945 in Vienna-Simmering, central cemetery
  • 1980: Honorary grave for the footballer Ernst Ocffekt
  • Sculpture and stone carvings (selection)

  • Memorial to the victims of the Nazi tyranny on Morzinplatz in Vienna's Inner City (1985)

  • Lower area of ​​the Morzinplatz memorial (left the memorial stone erected in 1951)

  • Monument 150 years of the railway next to the station building in Deutsch-Wagram (1987)

  • Detail at the railway memorial in Deutsch-Wagram: The steam locomotive " AUSTRIA "

  • Gravestone and commemorative plaque for Rosa Jochmann in the Vienna Central Cemetery (1994)

  • Jazz sculpture in Bill-Grah-Park in Vienna-Essling (created in 2000 with his apprentices)

  • Memorial for the destroyed Simmering Synagogue in Vienna-Simmering (2003)

Quotes

"The stone is not a dead material, but a living force that, like people and places, has an unmistakable charisma."

- Interview with Leopold Grausam 2002

literature

Web links

Commons : Leopold Grausam, jun.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Oskar Enzfelder: Floridsdorf: Life and work of Leopold Grausam. Press and Information Service of the City of Vienna (MA 53), January 16, 2015, accessed on January 21, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Beatrix Neiss: About monuments, graves and other memorials. Of stones and people. In: Extra: Lexicon. Wiener Zeitung , November 1, 2002, archived from the original on November 5, 2005 ; Retrieved November 19, 2013 .
  3. ↑ a b c Otto Bauer plaque for Leopold Grausam. (No longer available online.) Association of Social Democratic Freedom Fighters, Victims of Fascism and Active Anti-Fascists, Regional Association Vienna, archived from the original on December 6, 2010 ; Retrieved May 8, 2010 . 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.freiheitskaempfer.at
  4. ↑ Morzinplatz memorial. In: The former association for research into Nazi violent crimes and their processing. Research Center Post-War Justice (www.nachkriegsjustiz.at), accessed on May 8, 2010 .
  5. ↑ Willi Weinert: A memorial plaque could be saved from disappearing. In: Communications from the Alfred Klahr Society, No. 1/2006. Alfred Klahr Gesellschaft (www.klahrgesellschaft.at), 2006, accessed on May 8, 2010 .
  6. ↑ Prof. Dr. Helga Maria Wolf: Heimatlexikon: Puppet theater. Austria-Forum, October 13, 2011, accessed on February 6, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Hedwig Abraham: sacrificial graves: executed resistance fighters. In: Friedhöfe: Zentralfriedhof. Art and culture in Vienna (www.viennatouristguide.at), accessed on May 11, 2010 .
  8. ↑ Hedwig Abraham: Sacrificial Graves: Children from Spiegelgrund. In: Friedhöfe: Zentralfriedhof. Art and culture in Vienna (www.viennatouristguide.at), accessed on May 8, 2010 .
  9. ↑ Dipl.-Ing. Erhard Rauch, Andrea Rauscher: Vienna cemeteries, park of calm and strength. Friedhöfe Wien GmbH, accessed on January 21, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Kreisky, Bruno. In: dasrotewien.at - Web dictionary of the Viennese social democracy. SPÖ Vienna (Ed.)
  11. ↑ Hedwig Abraham: sacrificial graves: Resistance fighters Spain. In: Friedhöfe: Zentralfriedhof. Art and culture in Vienna (www.viennatouristguide.at), accessed on May 8, 2010 .
  12. ↑ Memorial for Victims of National Socialism. In: Art and Culture in Linz. Stadtkommunikation Linz (www.linz.at), accessed on May 8, 2010 .
  13. ↑ Willi Soucek: In memory: Donaupark, former Kagran military shooting range. Donaustadtecho, November 1, 2011, accessed February 6, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Hedwig Abraham: sacrificial graves: victims of the civil war 1934 - civilians. In: Friedhöfe: Zentralfriedhof. Art and culture in Vienna (www.viennatouristguide.at), accessed on May 9, 2010 .
  15. ↑ Hedwig Abraham: sacrificial graves: victims of the bombing war in WW2. In: Friedhöfe: Zentralfriedhof. Art and culture in Vienna (www.viennatouristguide.at), accessed on May 11, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Cruel, Leopold jun.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cruel, Leopold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian sculptor and stonemason
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH August 16, 2010
Place of death Deutsch-Wagram