Rudolf Schäfer (church painter)

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Rudolf Schäfer, in his house in Rotenburg (Wümme)

Rudolf Schäfer (born September 16, 1878 in Altona on the Elbe , † October 25, 1961 in Rotenburg (Wümme) ) was a German Protestant church painter and illustrator .

Life

Rudolf Schäfer House in Rotenburg

Rudolf Schäfer was born as the third child of theologian Theodor Schäfer (1846–1914) from Friedberg (Hesse) and his wife Christiane, geb. Berg (from Kirchheim / Teck) born. His mother died in 1889. Later, the father married Cornelia Siemssen from Hamburg. His grandfather was the social reformer Johann Peter Schäfer .

Schäfer attended grammar school in Altona, which he left before graduating from high school to train as a painter. For this reason he studied at the Munich Art Academy with Professor Gabriel von Hackl in 1897/98 and at the Düsseldorf Art Academy from 1898–1906 . In Munich he became a member of the Wingolfsbund in 1897 . In 1907 he went on a trip to Rome for several months. In 1909 he was a founding member of the Altona Artists' Association , from which he left in 1914. From 1911 he lived in Rotenburg (Wümme) (at that time: Rotenburg in Hanover), where he bought a house on Grosse Strasse in the same year, into which he moved a year later. Here he lived until his death. He was married to Maria Lutze (1886–1958), daughter of a pastor from the Brandenburg region. The marriage resulted in four daughters and one son.

plant

Through the pastoral work of his father (including head of the Diakonissenanstalt Altona), Schäfer became familiar with religious ideas at an early age. Since the mid-1920s he was regarded by theologians as an authority on church art. He worked mainly for the Protestant Church and never carried out government contracts. His first major order was to paint the church “Zum Guten Hirten” of the Evangelical Lutheran Diakonissenanstalt in Rotenburg (Wümme) in 1912.

The largest part of his work is the design of sacred spaces. In addition, Schäfer created convertible altars , individual paintings, wall pictures, gallery designs, crucifixes, church windows, baptismal fonts and paraments . He produced cycles of salvation history and equipment especially for deaconess institutions. The mosaics of San Clemente , Santi Cosma e Damiano , Santa Costanza and Santa Prassede in Rome served as the most important image sources .

He illustrated numerous books, especially hymn books, Bible editions and catechisms.

The evaluation of his art fluctuates between the evaluation as “the epitome of Christian German art in the succession of Dürer” and the assumption that it is a question of folk art tending to church kitsch. Schäfer saw himself as a Lutheran artist who understood his task to be the instruction of the faithful through pictures.

His hometown Rotenburg and the Rudolf-Schäfer-Verein look after his memory in the “Rudolf-Schäfer-Haus”.

Awards

Preserved works in the following churches

Deutschhauskirche Würzburg: Triptych Adoration of the Infant Jesus by the Three Kings , 1931 - Johann Sebastian Bach in the left wing, Martin Luther in the right wing
  • Rotenburg (Wümme), Diakonissenanstaltskirche “Zum Guten Hirten”, 1912–1926
  • Wangen im Allgäu, Ev. City Church , 1920
  • Soltau, St. Johannis Church , 1921
  • Schwerin, Castle Church , 1923
  • Unna, Ev. City Church , 1923
  • Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck, Christ Church, 1924
  • Winsen / Luhe, Ev. St. Mary's Church, 1925
  • Hamburg-Eilbek, Reconciliation Church, 1927 (?)
  • Stuttgart, Hospital Church, 1927
  • Würzburg, Deutschhauskirche, 1931
  • Hanover, Lukaskirche , 1931–36
  • Gerdau (Uelzen district), 1934
  • Ludwigslust, Church of Bethlehem Abbey , 1936/37
  • Peine, Jakobikirche , 1936/37 (1994/96 restoration of the original painting by Alexander Linnemann )
  • Essen, Chapel of Ev. Hospital of the Huyssens Foundation , 1936
  • Hildesheim, St. Andreas Church, 1938
  • Mühlhausen near Pommersfelden, Ev. Church, 1938–48
  • Berlin-Konradshöhe, Jesus Christ Church , 1937/39
  • Steppach near Pommersfelden, Ev. St. Erhard Church, 1942
  • Bokel (Rotenburg / Wümme district), Ev. Church of Johannes dT, 1943
  • Eisenach, Chapel of the Deaconess Mother House, 1943
  • Wagenfeld (district of Diepholz), Ev. Church in Ströhen , 1944/46
  • Rotenburg (Wümme), Chapel of the Deaconess Mother House, 1945
  • Bad Hindelang (Allgäu), Ev. Trinity Church , 1948
  • Iserlohn, Chapel of the Ev. Bethanien Hospital, 1948
  • Sottrum (Rotenburg / Wümme district), St. George's Church, 1950
  • Alfdorf (Rems-Murr-Kreis), Stephanuskirche , 1951
  • Hamburg-Stellingen, Church of the Resurrection of the “Alten Eichen” deaconess institution, 1951–54
  • Lemgo, Chapel of the Ev. Alt Eben-Ezer institution, 1951
  • Oberjesingen near Herrenberg, Ev. Church, 1953
  • Rotenburg (Wümme), Ev. City Church , 1955
  • Soltau, Ev. Chapel of the nursing home and old people's home, 1955
  • Wietzendorf (Heidekreis district), St. Jakobi Church, 1957
  • Bergen-Hasselhorst near Soltau, Ev. Chapel, 1958
  • Eimke (Uelzen district), Ev. Church, 1934
  • Vohenstrauß (Neustadt / Waldnaab district, Bavaria), Evangelical Lutheran. City Church , 1938

literature

  • Konrad Mack: Rudolf Schäfer - A German contemporary painter. Publishing house Gustav Schloessmann, Leipzig / Hamburg 1928.
  • Renata von Poser: Rudolf Schäfer, church furnishings . Schnell und Steiner publishing house, Regensburg 1999, ISBN 3-7954-1202-1 .
  • Werner Ost (Ed.) In conjunction with Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf: Rudolf Schäfer. About the life, belief and work of a Lutheran artist . Concordia, Jg. 65 (special issue), Neuendettelsau 1980.
  • Martin Stellmann: Rudolf Schäfer, the man and his work . Verlag des Heimatbund Rotenburg / Wümme, Rotenburg (Wümme) 1978.
  • Shepherd, Rudolf . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 29 : Rosa – Scheffauer . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1935, p. 551 .
  • Gunther Schendel: House full of heaven. The St. Jakobi Church in Wietzendorf / Lüneburger Heide , Wietzendorf 2000 (on Schäfer and his Wietzendorf choir room design, pp. 55–80).
  • Konrad Mack: In the place where God's honor lives! Rudolf Schäfer. Church paintings in 14 colored panels and 33 monochrome. Ill. With introduction, introduction and explanation by Konrad Mack, Verlag f. Folk art and popular education, R. Keutel, Lahr i. B. 1924.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Otto Imgart: Directory of members of the Wingolfs . Wolfratshausen 1930, p. 45
  2. ^ Rudolf Schäfer Association: About the person. Retrieved November 3, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Steppach Evangelical Church - Pommersfelden - Limbach, St. Erhard Church in Steppach

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Shepherd, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Altona on the Elbe
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1961
Place of death Rotenburg (Wümme)