Otto Rohse

Otto Rohse (born July 2, 1925 in Insterburg , East Prussia , † March 5, 2016 in Hamburg ) was a German artist, book designer , typographer , wood engraver , engraver and illustrator .

Career

He spent his school days in Gumbinnen / East Prussia and early on occupied himself with drawing bizarre detailed views of trees, leaves and roots. The encounter with the painter Helene Wagenbichler, who often exhibited at the Kunstverein Königsberg , impressed him very much, his father's wish to become a post office worker was less. So in 1943 he began studying at the Königsberg Art Academy with Alfred Particle (1888–1945), who became known for his Masurian landscapes. The chaos of war, military service and imprisonment interrupted his studies, which he resumed from 1948 to 1952 at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts with Friedrich Ahlers-Hestermann . Richard von Sichowsky , his typography and book design teacher, appointed him to be his assistant.

Rohse was married and had two daughters.

plant

Motif from the "Bauwerke II" stamp series by Otto Rohse, 1966

In 1956 he settled as a freelance artist in Hamburg and worked for the Claasen and Ellermann publishers, among others. Calendar sheets and New Year's greetings were created for Hermann Radecke and the Gustav Petermann printing company. In 1954 he illustrated Friedrich Rückert's tales for children for the Maximiliangesellschaft . In 1956 he illustrated the book The History of the House Die Bost for Rudolf August Oetker and in 1958 Antigone or Roman in Crete for the Gutenberg Book Guild. In 1960, in the Grillen-Presse, the press of his teacher Richard von Sichowsky, Pet der Fisch , a fairy tale by his girlfriend and later wife, the potter Marianne Rohse, appeared with wood engravings. From 1960 to 1961, the artist headed the typography and book design class at the Werkkunstschule Offenbach / Main. He then returned to Hamburg and founded the Otto Rohse press in 1962 . This lived by handicraft from the spirit of the great presses from the beginning of the twentieth century. Intellectually it was determined by the curiosity of a reader who wanted to build a suitable house for the language through its publications. She resolutely rejected commercial speculation and devoted herself to the spirit and idea of ​​the coherent, original graphic artist's book.

Otto Rohse became known to the general public - albeit mostly unconsciously - through the design of postage stamps and stamp series for the Deutsche Bundespost , which he designed between 1955 and 1995. By 2000 the Deutsche Bundespost had issued 60 stamps with designs by Otto Rohse.

His work was extensive. By the year 2000 he had produced around 650 wood engravings and 350 copper engravings as well as numerous etchings and book productions. A reminder of his homeland was a portfolio with 14 city motifs from East Prussia, which he created in 1993/1994.

The Otto Rohse Presse published high- quality bibliophile book editions that are not only collected by friends of book art, but have also found their way into museum collections, such as the Gutenberg Museum Mainz, the Germanic National Museum Nuremberg , the state and Hamburg University Library , the Klingspor Museum , Offenbach and the Schiller National Museum Marbach . Between 1962 and 2002 the Otto Rohse Presse published over 50 press releases, as well as portfolio and cassette works, which were created in collaboration with the bookbinder Christian Zwang.

In 2003 the Germanisches Nationalmuseum took over the entire Otto Rohse press workshop and its holdings of presses for book and copperplate printing as well as lead letters. A large collection of ORP works, as well as the original copper plates and wooden sticks, are in the Johannes a Lasco Library in Emden. The extensive works archive was able to find a new home in the Gutenberg Museum Mainz with generous support from the Kulturstiftung der Länder .

In 1967 Otto Rohse designed the catalog and various characters in the German pavilion at the Expo in Montreal, as well as three large-format leather volumes on German history. For this work he was awarded the silver medal of the Expo Montreal.

In 1969 Otto Rohse published the first issue of Sigill - Blätter für Buch und Kunst , a magazine that he founded with the aim of providing “exemplary typographical works, illustrations in original processes (etchings, copper engravings, woodcuts, woodcuts and lithographs) and color reproductions true to the original to publish ”, with a care“ that will never be achievable under deadline pressure. ”By 1999, 42 editions were published which were printed with a large number of original graphics and had the character of presses in typography and grip.

Otto Rohse was awarded the Biermann-Ratjen Medal in Hamburg in 1985 for "nationally and internationally unsurpassed technical and artistic quality" and in 2002 with the Gutenberg Prize ( Gutenberg Society ) of the city of Mainz . He also received the silver medal at the Leipzig Book Art Exhibition in 2005.

Press prints (bibliophile book editions)

• No. 01, 1964, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, letters from Venice
• No. 02, 1962, Gottfried Benn, Die Insel
• No. 03, 1963, Inge West Stahl, Sapphic Verse
• No. 04, 1964, Inge West Stake, Eos and Tithonos
• No. 05, 1965, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Pandora. A festival
• No. 06, 1966, Novalis, A Fairy Tale
• No. 07, 1967, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, epigrams. Venice 1790
• No. 08, 1968, Else Lasker-Schüler, Hebrew Ballads
• No. 09, 1969, Heinrich von Kleist, About the Marionette Theater
• No. 10, 1970, Andreas Gryphius, Selected Sonnets, Poems and Epigrams
• No. 11, 1977, Andreas Gryphius, Selected Sonnets, Poems and Epigrams
• No. 12, 1980, Johannes Bobrowski, Four Stories
• No. 13, 1981, Heinrich von Kleist, The earthquake in Chili
• No. 14, 1982, Yoshida Kenkô, Reflections from Silence. Tzurezuregusa
• No. 15, 1982, Siegfried Lenz, Almost a Triumph. From an album
• No. 16, 1983, Brothers Grimm, Rumpelstiltskin
• No. 17, 1985, Toscana
• No. 18, 1984, Early Greek Poetry
• No. 19, 1986, Hermann Melville, Cock-a-doodle-doo! Or the crowing of the noble cock Beneventano
• No. 20, 1986, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, About the Granite
• No. 21, 1986, The Metamorphosis of Plants. An elegy
• No. 22, 1987, 1987, Berlin. 12 colored copper engravings
• No. 23, 1987, Tuscan Flowers. 13 engravings. At the same time a botanical Goethe reading book
• No. 24, 1988, Herodotus, Histories 3rd book chapters 39-45; Friedrich Schiller, The Ring of Polycrates
• No. 25, 1988, Lukian, From the Dialogue Der Lügenfreund; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorcerer's Apprentice
• No. 26, 1988, (Daniel Propheta) Belshazzar, an Old Testament story; Belshazzar, a ballad by Heinrich Heine
• No. 27, 1988, German Ballads in the 20th Century. Rainer Maria Rilke, Alkestis; Georg Heym, Ophelia; Bertolt Brecht, legend of the origin of the book Taoteking on Laotse's path to emigration; Bertolt Brecht, Children's Crusade; Paul Celan, Fugue of Death
• No. 28, 1988, Philosophia. The art of enduring happiness and unhappiness
• No. 29, 1988, Physis. Mythical things about animals and plants
• No. 30, 1989, symposium. From eating and drinking
• No. 31, 1989, Eros. Of the art of loving
• No. 32, 1989, Thanatos, memorial stones and death poems
• No. 33, 1989, bridges
• No. 34, 1989, Cretan Journey. With texts by Philipp Hackert (On Landscape Painting) and JW Goethe (On Hackert's Fragments)
• No. 35, 1990, Ovid. Cephalus and Procris
• No. 36, 1991, Heinrich von Kleist, On puppet-shows
• No. 37, 1991, Baroque
• No. 38, 1991, Goethe, Twenty Poems
• No. 39, 1991, contemporaries of Goethe
• No. 40, 1991, 19th century
• No. 41, 1991, 20th century
• No. 42-46, 1992/93, Reflexions
• No. 47, 1994, Provence
• No. 48, 1996, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, maxims and reflections
• No. 49, 1999, The Physiologus
• No. 50, 2001, Park and Castle
• No. 51, 2000, The Moor
• No. 52, 2001, roses

Unnumbered prints No. 51–71

• 1964, Hartmut Frielinghaus, washed ashore. Stone drawings and notes
• 1971, Gottfried Benn, From the oratorio Das Unaufnahmliche
• 1975, Werner Bunz, Roman alphabet
• 1980, Otto Rohse, Venetian Sketches. Preparatory drawings for the copperplate engravings for JW Goethe's letters from Venice
• 1976, Franz Heinrich Sparre, Hennynk de Han
• 1978–1991, The Portrait of the Poet. A series of wood engravings
• 1990, Otto Rohse, 100 wood engravings / Cent gravures sur bois / One Hundred Wood-Engravings

Prints outside the ORP

• No. 01, 1949, Toni Schawaller, Same im Wind. Poetry collection
• No. 02, 1950, Carl Mikael Bellman, Drinking Songs
• No. 03, Johann Peter Hebel, Kannitverstan and other stories from Hebel's treasure chest
• No. 04, 1950, From the poems of Herodotus: Gyges and Kandaules
• No. 05, 1950, Ludwig Thomas, Five Poems from Holy Night
• No. 06, Friedrich Rückert, Five fairy tales for children
• No. 07, 1961, thesis of the typography and book design class. Working from nature in various printing techniques
• No. 08, 1947/48, advertising column. Last POW Christmas
• No. 09, 1949, calendar 1950
• No. 10, 1950, woodcut calendar 1951
• No. 11, 1951, The 90th Psalm
• No. 12, 1956, Renata Klée-Gobert, The history of the house Die Bost
• No. 13, 1960, Otto Rohse, Pet der Fisch
• No. 14, 1960, Karl Tiesler, At the beginning of the reconstruction of the old town Nicolaiturm in Bielefeld
• No. 15, 1967, Germany today
• No. 16, 1989, The Frankfurt Cathedral

Exhibitions

• 1957, Hamburg. Stylus art
• 1959, Offenbach. 1. Exhibition in the Klingspor Museum
• 1965, London. The Times Bookshop, Reese Books Department
• 1965, Hamburg. Savater Bookstore
• 1965, Baden-Baden. Th. Ernst Hauswedell Gallery
• 1965, Frankfurt a. M. Amelung bookstore
• 1965, Oldenburg. Oldenburg State Museum
• 1965, Hamburg. Kurt Saucke & Co
• 1970, Hamburg, State and University Library
• 1970, sigil sheets for books and art. A magazine and its circle. Traveling exhibition, organized by the BP
• 1971, Hameln. Art circle
• 1974, Münster. Bookstore Poertgen-Herder
• 1975, Freiburg. Herder bookstore
• 1976, Cologne. Herder bookstore
• 1976, Saarbrücken. Gorres bookstore
• 1977, Arnsberg. Gallery in the basement, Thomas edition
• 1977, Berlin. Herder bookstore
• 1981, Dreieichenhain. Libertas Gallery
• 1981, Gelsenkirchen. State Library
• 1983, Bielefeld-Bethel, Lydda workshop. Art in small format
• 1984, Münster. University library
• 1984, Trier. Dormitory of the Simeon-Stift Museum
• 1985, Dreieichenhain. Libertas Gallery
• 1985, Arnsberg. Heinz Nawrath Gallery
• 1985, Offenbach. Klingspor Museum
• 1985, Freiburg. Herdersche Buchhandlung
• 1986, Bietigheim-Bissingen. Otto Rombach Library
• 1986, Würzburg. Gallery at the grass wood
• 1986, Mannheim. Gutenberg meeting point
• 1988, Hameln. Hameln Art Circle
• 1988, youth home. Galeria Jonas
• 1988, Dreieichenhain. Libertas Gallery
• 1989, Berlin. Sparkasse Berlin, Frohman
• 1989, Dreieichenhain, Galerie Libertas
• 1989, Siegen. University library
• 1992, Mainz, Gutenberg Museum. 30 years of ORP
• 1995, Hamburg. Museum of Arts and Crafts
• 1995, Emden. Johannes a Lasco Library
• 2002, Mainz. Gutenberg Museum
• 2003, Emden. Johannes a Lasco Library. 40 years of ORP
• 2012, Hamburg. Hauswedell and Nolte, 50 years of ORP

Collections

• Museum for Arts and Crafts , Hamburg
• The Germanic National Museum Nuremberg
• Johannes a Lasco Library, Emden
• German Literature Archive Marbach
• Klingspor Museum Offenbach am Main
• Gutenberg Museum of the City of Mainz
• Herzog-August Library Wolfenbüttel
• State and University Library Hamburg
• Bavarian State Library, Munich
• Rijksmuseum Meermanno, Museum van het Boek te's-Gravenhage / The Hague

swell

• The Ostpreußenblatt, July 2002
• Johannes a Lasco Library, Emden
• Lexicon of Book Art and Bibliophilia, Nikol Verlag Hamburg, 2006
• Richard von Sichowsky Typographer, Maximilian Society, Hamburg

Secondary literature

• Bertold Hack: Twenty years of Otto Rohse press, in: Philobiblion. Quarterly journal for book and graphic collectors 26 (1982) 4, pp. 329-346.
• Bertold Hack, Herta Schwarz (ed.): Otto Rohse and his press. Maximilian Society, Hamburg a. a. 1992, ISBN 3-921743-37-0 , (publication of the Maximilian Society for the years 1992/93) .
• Hans Peter Willberg : Laudation for the awarding of the Gutenberg Prize in the town hall of Mainz. Gutenberg yearbook 2003
• Walter Wilkes: Laudation for the exhibition in the Gutenberg Museum Mainz, 2010
• Arsprototo (magazine of the Kulturstiftung der Länder), issue 1/2011: “Der Schwarzkünstler vom Klotzenmoor” (article by Johannes Fellmann on the occasion of the purchase of the work archive from the Gutenberg Museum Mainz) .
• Society of Friends of the Johannes A Lasco Library: The Otto Rohse press in libraries and museums.
• Hauswedell und Nolte: Exhibition for the 50th anniversary of the Otto Rohse press in Hauswedell and Nolte (booklet with text and photos) .

Web links

Commons : Otto Rohse  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Otto Rohse in the catalog of the German National Library
• Otto Rohse in the Klingspor Museum

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Otto Rohse died , boersenblatt.net, March 11, 2016
2. ↑ Reinhard Tschapke: Anzeiger für Harlingerland, No. 96/2018, from April 25, 2018