Paul Schneider (art carver)

Paul Schneider (born January 2, 1892 in Annaberg , † August 11, 1975 in Annaberg-Buchholz ) was a German woodcarver who is considered one of the most important Ore Mountains carving artists.

Life

The son of a master locksmith from Annaberg already came into contact with carving as a teenager, during which time he mainly made miners and miner's representations. He learned the profession of baker and confectioner, in which he only worked for a few years. He was a founding member and secretary of the Schnitz-Verein zu Frohnau founded in 1914 . During the First World War he served on the Eastern Front, where he was taken prisoner . After returning home, he increasingly pursued carving as an opportunity to earn additional income. After he became unemployed as a pastry chef in 1920, carving became his main occupation. He applied for and obtained a business license as an art carver in 1921. In the same year he was co-founder and then until the war-related closure in 1944, carving teacher at the school, which was founded as an affiliated part of the then industrial school in Annaberg and today bears his name. In the winter of 1937/38 he took part in the Feierohmd show , which was organized by Friedrich Emil Krauss and the Sächsisches Heimatwerk in Schwarzenberg and attracted over 330,000 visitors.

According to Gleisl and Schmiedel, Schneider acted on the principle of accepting and realizing every order. He made most of his work for private clients, but also took orders from the NSDAP local group Annaberg, for which, for example, in 1928 he carved an SA man for the Führer. He carved miner figures from the Erzgebirge for the Reichsleiter of the NSDAP during their visit to Annaberg and in 1929 for Adolf Hitler , Rudolf Heß , Robert Ley and in 1935 for the Reichsstatthalter Martin Mutschmann . With the latter's approval, Paul Schneider was accepted into the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts in December of the same year . Political involvement, however, is not known. After the end of the Second World War , the now ruling communists accused him of having carved commissioned works for Nazi giants and motifs glorifying war during the Third Reich , which led to his exclusion from public and state commissions. From 1947 to 1958 he was director of the reopened carving school in Annaberg and at the same time worked at the local adult education center. On November 16, 1965, a roof fire in his house in Annaberg-Buchholz, Zürcherplatz 4, destroyed a significant number of his privately kept works. He died in 1975 at the age of 83 in Annaberg-Buchholz.

He was born with Martha Strider married. The couple remained childless.

Works

Schneider carved a large number of figures typical of the Ore Mountains, such as miners, forest workers, wood and berry collectors, mushroom pickers, historical figures, etc. Above all, in his ongoing artistic work he also devoted himself to larger motifs with larger design variants such as cribs, candlesticks, Pyramids but also mountain parades.

Of the well over 300 preserved carvings by Paul Schneider, some are in the Mining Museum in Bochum , in the Manufactory of Dreams and the Ore Mountains Museum in Annaberg-Buchholz, but also in large numbers in private ownership. In the Erzgebirgsmuseum, for example, a wooden bust of Barbara Uthmann and a group of figures of miners have been preserved; In the Manufactory of Dreams a group of figures of ironworkers is shown. He created the Christmas crib and other figures for the Christ Church in Oelsnitz . A miner pulpit bearer comes from him in the Peter and Paul Church in Vielau .

literature

• Jörg Nicklaus: Paul Schneider - Art Carver 1892–1975. Special issue Annaberger Museumblätter, Erzgebirgsmuseum: Annaberg-Buchholz, 1992.
• Ingolf Gleisl, Hans-Joachim Schmiedel: Paul Schneider - from his life and work. Annaberg-Buchholz, 2012. ISBN 978-3-00-037504-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Interesting personalities  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Annaberg-Buchholz  
2. ↑ "Paul Schneider" carving school  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Ingolf Gleisl, Hans-Joachim Schmiedel: Paul Schneider - from his life and work. Annaberg-Buchholz, 2012, p. 8.
4. ↑ Ingolf Gleisl, Hans-Joachim Schmiedel: Paul Schneider - from his life and work. Annaberg-Buchholz, 2012, p. 9.
5. ↑ Ingolf Gleisl, Hans-Joachim Schmiedel: Paul Schneider - from his life and work. 1 Annaberg-Buchholz, 2012, p. 10.
6. ↑ Barbara Uthmann in Annaberg ( Memento of the original from May 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) 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.  
7. ↑ Christ Church Oelsnitz