Maria Gundrum

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Maria Gundrum (1868–1941)
Maria Gundrum

Maria Gundrum (born July 18, 1868 in Munich ; † March 27, 1941 in Schwabing ) was a Swiss teacher , painter , art historian and art educator.

life and work

Maria Gundrum's grandfather Johan Michael Gundrum came from Speyer and was naturalized in Basel in 1842 . Her father was the Basel-born stonemason Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Gundrum and her mother was Maria Schluttenhofer from Munich. Her father moved to Munich after their marriage, where he died three years later.

Through the mediation of her Basel relatives, Gundrum came to her grandparents who lived in Basel at the age of eleven and from then on lived in the orphanage, where she also completed the rest of her schooling.

In 1884 she was accepted into the teachers 'seminar at the New Girls' School in Bern, whose director was the Thurgau Melchior Schuppli. After three years of training, Gundrum graduated with a diploma as a primary school teacher and passed the exam at the daughter's school in Basel, which is required to take part in lessons from 5th to 8th grade. School years entitled. Maria Gundrum grew up at a time when girls were excluded from classical humanistic education. As a young teacher, Gundrum was stimulated by the stubbornly rational arguments of the school authorities, which deprived her as a woman of the same skills as those of her male colleagues.

After a language stay in France and England, Gundrum returned to Basel and studied drawing and painting at the general trade school in Basel for two semesters. At the girls' secondary school, Gundrum took over the lessons of a resigned teacher in 1892 and after a year was permanently employed as a teacher.

After the Swiss Association of Women Teachers was founded in Bern in December 1893 , Gundrum campaigned in 1895 to ensure that a section was also established in Basel. She was elected president of the association. In 1896 Gundrum traveled to Geneva for a congress "for the interests of women". The participants demanded a. the admission of women to the teaching post at all, that is also at the upper school levels, equal pay and the inclusion of women in the higher education authorities. At the association's annual meeting in Basel, Gundrum submitted the approved demands to the association, which has now grown to 76 members. In 1897 Gundrum resigned as president of the association due to a lack of official support. Her successor was Rosa Preiswerk. However, Gundrum retained her work on the board of the teachers' association. She was a founding member and member of the editorial board of the Swiss Teachers' Magazine. Gundrum did not give up the attempt to bring social and school policy issues up for discussion in the teachers' association.

In the spring of 1897, Gundrum and her friend Hanna Schwarz went on an art history cultural trip to Italy and then gave a lecture about it in the teachers' association. In the same year Gundrum began studying art history with Heinrich Wölfflin at the University of Basel . At the end of the 5th semester of her studies, which she was doing alongside her schoolwork, Gundrum was one of Wölfflin's preferred students, whom he invited to his home. Several other women also studied with Wölfflin, such as Adele Stöcklin (1876–1960), who later did her doctorate in folklore and worked at the Kupferstichkabinett , the painter Maria Lotz (1877–1970), Emmy Elisabeth Koettgen (1868–1948), who lived in Zurich Matura and then became a teacher in Waldenburg .

In 1900 Gundrum lived in Munich for a year and learned a. a. Karl Schwarzschild , with whom she was in correspondence until 1903. When she returned to Basel, she moved into an apartment in the “Zum Rappenfels” building on Augustinergasse and again taught at the girls' secondary school. On the side she gave drawing lessons at a private school and visited the museums of Basel to teach art with the students.

Since Gundrum could not teach at a higher school level, she submitted her application for dismissal as a secondary school teacher in the spring of 1902 in order to earn a living as a freelance art historian, author and art guide. For the time being, Gundrum stayed in Basel and continued teaching at the private school. In addition, from 1901 to 1903 she held courses for those interested in art in the public collection of paintings in the museum on Augustinergasse. In May 1903 Gundrum traveled to Rome for further training with a letter of recommendation from Paul Ganz in his pocket and worked in a studio near Ponte Molle. In November she met Heinrich Wölfflin in Rome, who was on leave from his Berlin professorship for the winter semester. She maintained friendly contact with Wölfflin all her life. Like for other of his students, he campaigned for their professional advancement.

Returning to Basel, Gundrum was unable to complete her studies as she had wished because she failed because of the strict academicism of her teachers, some of whom were personally benevolent, but who refused to graduate and acquire the title. However, Gundrum's autodidactic studies and her constant interaction with scholars from various fields enabled her to have a broad knowledge.

In 1906 Gundrum traveled to Brittany and painted landscapes there. Like Heinrich Altherr and the painter Hermann Meyer, she belonged to the circle of Basel artists. Gundrum decided to move directly from Brittany to Zehlendorf , near the portrait painter Fritz Burger (1867–1927), and got back in touch with Wölfflin. In 1907 Gundrum was able to exhibit eight of her works for the first time in the "Special Exhibition of Younger Basel Artists" in the Kunsthalle Basel . Further exhibitions in the Kunsthalle followed in 1909, 1919, 1920 and 1921.

Since 1907 Gundrum belonged to the circle of friends around Ludwig Klages and Alfred Schuler . The scientific methods of Klages and Schuler, that the content of their research was a search for buried origins, corresponded to Gundrum's own thinking and strengthened her self-confidence as a woman. She was accepted by Klages and Schuler as an independently thinking partner and helper and stood at the intersection of thoughts and the human relationship between Schuler and Klages. After Klages moved to Switzerland in August 1915, Gundrum formed the bridge between him and Schuler for many years. Christoph Bernoulli met Klages and Schuler through Gundrum . From 1908 to 1910 Gundrum lived again in Munich and met Hans Cornelius during these years .

Gundrum's mother died in Munich in 1914, after which she moved back to Munich. There she lived until the end of her life at Giselastrasse 3. Paul Renner appointed Gundrum as a teacher at the Debschitz School , thereby helping her to build up an existence in Munich. Gundrum taught "Free Art" at the school.

By talking about art, which seemed easier to her than her own artistic creation at a young age, she was able to pass on her knowledge as a freelance art historian and art guide to tour groups in Germany and Italy interested in art. In holding on to her old fondness for classical art, Gundrum shared the tastes of many of her contemporaries.

In 1920 Gundrum was able to acquire a house in Hödingen . There she had contact with various artists, including a. Karl Caspar and his wife Maria Caspar-Filser , who spent their summer holidays in Hödingen, Paul Renner, Hans Cornelius with his family, the doctor Karl Krayl, who was a friend of Cornelius, Fritz Spannagel and the Swedish poet Bertil Malmberg .

Eva Bernoulli got to know Gundrum in Munich around 1922/23. During Wölfflin's guest semester in the winter of 1926/27, the students met with Wölfflin in Gundrum's apartment in Munich. The core of the participants in the “Gundrum Circle” were the art history students from Switzerland.

Gundrum's understanding of the world and history made her a supporter of National Socialist ideas. The anti-Semitism of Alfred Schuler took over Gundrum like many other German intellectuals who believed there was a world conspiracy of the Jews because of their "Jewish spirit" separated from the rest of the human spirit. Because of her anti-Semitism, the Swiss Teachers' Association ended its collaboration with her in 1935. Gundrum had given lectures for him, organized art history study trips and wrote articles about them for the teachers' newspaper.

Through the mediation of Irene Reichert, who gave courses in expressive dance, Gundrum was able to give art courses at Elisabeth Duncan's school at the end of 1937 . Gundrum also maintained contact with Elsa Bruckmann who provided Gundrum with the art books and magazines she needed for her cultural trips and lectures.

In the summer of 1940 Gundrum was in Switzerland for the last time and met Wölfflin in Zurich. In February 1941 she fell ill and later suffered a stroke in hospital. On the evening of the funeral, Ulrich Christoffel gave a lecture on art history at the request of the deceased. He had received his doctorate from Heinrich Wölfflin in Munich in 1917 and was on friendly terms with Gundrum. Her estate consisted of four pictures that she bequeathed to friends from Munich as well as books and photographs that she gave to Ulrich Christoffel.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dorothea Roth: Debschitz School, Gundrum and Paul Renner. Retrieved November 17, 2019 .
  2. ^ Maria Gundrum: Ghiberti and Donatello. Schweizerische Lehrerinnenzeitung, Vol. 34, 1930, pp. 179–181. Retrieved November 17, 2019 .
  3. ^ Maria Gundrum: Goethe's Italian Journey. Schweizerische Lehrerinnenzeitung, Vol. 36, 1932, pp. 185–188. Retrieved November 17, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Gundrum, Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss teacher, painter, art historian and art educator
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1941
Place of death Schwabing