Max Uecker

Max Robert Ernst Uecker (born May 11, 1887 in Anklam ; † March 1, 1978 in Bolgenach , Hittisau ) was a German carver and wood restorer. In the 1920s he designed a number of war memorial plaques, created furniture with carvings, grave steles, etc. a. In 1945 he fled from Treptow an der Rega to Western Pomerania. Here he restored many church furnishings from 1945 to 1960 and created crucifixes , candelabra and altarpieces made of wood for churches in Western Pomerania .

Life

After an apprenticeship with Otto Matthey (1866–1934) in Lassan , Uecker first worked in his brother-in-law's tombstone shop in Strasburg (Uckermark) and later in Berlin in the studio of Prof. Gotthold Riegelmann (1864–1935). From there, Carl Bartel junior picked him up. in his father's construction and furniture joinery in Swinoujscie , where Max Uecker worked until he was drafted into the military in 1908. He then worked for the Stargard sculptor Gottschalk in the restoration of Stargard's St. Mary's Church . During this time he met the church painters Franz Vögele from Ulm and Gustav Hoffmann (1883–1974) from Duisburg . Max Uecker lived with them in an apartment in Stargard, in which the three friends also ran a restoration workshop. Among other things, the baroque altarpieces from Groß Justin and Brandshagen were restored there.

During the First World War , Max Uecker lost the index finger of his right hand in the Battle of Tannenberg . During his convalescence leave in 1915, he carved a crucifix that came via Keffenbrink to Nehringen in what is now the Northern Pomerania district. Today it is the oldest known work by Max Uecker.

After the First World War, Max Uecker met his wife and moved with her into the old schoolhouse near the church ruins in Hoff near Rewal . In the winter months he created war memorial plaques together with the church painter Gustav Hoffmann. In 1923 the monument to the fallen was erected in the choir of the Jarmen church , from which the crucifix and a candlestick have been preserved. To mark the centenary of the school in 1924, Max Uecker and the painter Karl Rumpel (1867–1939) created decorations for the Holy Spirit Chapel, which was used as the auditorium of the secondary school for girls in Treptow an der Rega (now Trzebiatów in Poland). The new church in Damsdorf bei Bütow ( Bytów ), furnished by Max Uecker in the mid-1920s, has not survived . In addition to his freelance work, Max Uecker held a position as a drawing teacher at the higher girls' school in Treptow an der Rega. Presumably in 1927 Max Uecker created a cupboard for Paul von Hindenburg's letters from the field post , which stood on Gut Neudeck and later in the Reich Memorial . In March 1945 Max Uecker fled to Ferdinandshof before the Red Army marched into Treptow an der Rega and moved from there to Greifswald in 1947 . During the Greifswald period, numerous restoration work was carried out in the churches of Western Pomerania and Mecklenburg. Max Uecker restored a. a. the external appearance ( prospectus ) of the Stellwagenorgan in the Stralsund St. Marien Church. Uecker's catalog of works has now recorded 180 pieces, including works that have not been preserved and restorations.

In 1960 Max Uecker left the GDR and, after several stops, worked for a few years in the old people's room of the local history museum in Rotenburg an der Wümme . Max Uecker spent his old age in Bolgenach in the Bregenz Forest , where he died on March 1, 1978.

Works (selection)

These are among the most important works by Max Uecker

• 1926 War memorial plaque for the Jarmen military association and the surrounding area from the Zur Sonne restaurant in Jarmen , today in the Jarmen town hall
• around 1927 Cupboard for Paul von Hindenburg's letters to his wife, Gertrud Wilhelmine von Sperling (1860–1921), most recently in the Tannenberg Memorial , whereabouts unknown
• 1942 Furnishing of the mayor's office in the town hall of Treptow an der Rega (today Trzebiatów )
• Altar retable in the foreland between Tribsees and Grimmen from 1949/51
• 1952 Emmaus relief for the move of the Züllchower establishments to Züssow in the Züssow Diakonie
• the 1953 crucifix in the Loitz Luther Church.
• 1953 memorial altar in Greifswald Cathedral (gift from Evangelical Women's Aid to Bishop Karl von Scheven )
• 1964 the decorations for the Weinmeister barrel in the Bremen Ratskeller and
• Sculptures for the Zionskirche in Sottrum and the Bethlehem Church in Bremen.

In 2007, 50 works by Max Uecker were shown in an exhibition in the St. Petri Church in Altentreptow, the St. Petri Church in Wolgast and the museum in the Steintor in Max Uecker's hometown of Anklam.

literature

• Heinz Kuglin: Max Uecker. In: Home calendar for the Greifenberg district. 1938, p. 49.
• Rudolf Dehnke: Max Uecker 90 years old. In: Rotenburger Schriften . Issue 46, 1977.
• Dagmar Brocksien: Master Uecker, wood sculptor. In: Contributions to the Greifenberg-Treptower history. Vol. 27 (2004). Pp. 91-98.
• Friedrich Bartels: Festschrift to commemorate the beginning of diaconal work in Züssow 60 years ago on September 15, 2005. Ed .: Pommerscher Diakonieverein Züssow eV, in particular pp. 34–36.
• Detlef Witt: Carved home for the homeless. Max Uecker and his work in the churches of Pomerania. In: The Pommersche Zeitung. 56th year. Episode 49, December 9, 2006, p. 10.
• Detlef Witt: A crucifix from Nehringen. First major retrospective of the Pomeranian carver Max Uecker (1887-1978) in Altentreptow (I). In: Heimatkurier , supplement to the Nordkurier , May 29, 2007, p. 27.
• Detlef Witt: Loss of home is a big issue. First retrospective of the Pomeranian carver Max Uecker (1887-1978) in Altentreptow (II) In: Heimatkurier , supplement to the Nordkurier, June 11, 2007, p. 27.
• Detlef Witt: Max Uecker a Pomeranian carver. Evangelical parish of St. Petri Altentreptow, Altentreptow 2008.

Web links

• Max Uecker Pomeranian Evangelical Church
• To the Uecker altar

Individual proof

1. ^ The Pomeranian Newspaper . No. 49/2007 of December 8, 2007, p. 5.