Otto H. Foerster

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Otto Karl Helmut Förster (born November 13, 1894 in Nuremberg , † April 27, 1975 in Cologne ) was a German art historian and museum director.

Life

Förster grew up as the son of a Bavarian construction officer . He put the Abitur at the High School Carolinum in Ansbach and studied since 1913 at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich initially economics and history, since 1915 art history , 1920-21 he studied at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn . In 1921 he was in Munich with Heinrich Wolfflin with a thesis on the Cologne painting in the 14th century doctorate .

From 1921 he worked at the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, initially as a trainee , from 1922 as a research assistant, from 1925 as custodian and finally from 1933 to 1945 as director. During the Second World War , Förster sold 630 works of art from his own collection in order to acquire looted art from the occupied territories, which, however, were confiscated and returned after the war. From 1957 to 1960 Förster was general director of the Cologne museums and again director of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum.

Grave complex of the Schnitzler / Andreae / Bunge families

Since 1920 he also taught art history at the state drawing teacher seminar, from 1922 part of the Düsseldorf Art Academy (until 1927). 1924 habilitation he in art history at the University of Cologne , where he in 1937 to associate professor , 1939 associate professor was appointed.

In 1925 he married Antonie "Tony" Schnitzler (1889–1968) in Cologne. In 1970 he was married to the American art historian Lotte Brand Philip (1910–1986) who had fled from Germany .

Otto Förster was buried in the Schnitzler family grave of his first wife in the Melaten cemetery (on Millionallee ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Antonie J. Förster - death certificate no. 1360 from July 15, 1968, registry office Cologne old town. In: LAV NRW R civil status register. Retrieved May 25, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Otto Hellmuth Förster . In: Ulrich S. Soénius , Jürgen Wilhelm (Hrsg.): Kölner Personen-Lexikon. Greven, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-7743-0400-0 , p. 160.
  3. ^ Josef Abt, Johann Ralf Beines, Celia Körber-Leupold: Melaten. Cologne graves and history. Greven, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-7743-0305-3 , p. 178.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Forster, Otto H.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Förster, Otto Karl Helmut (full name); Förster, Otto Hellmuth (alternative spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian and museum director
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1975
Place of death Cologne