Walter von Ruckteschell

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Walter von Ruckteschell (born November 12, 1882 in Saint Petersburg , † July 27, 1941 in the Mediterranean ) was a German illustrator, sculptor and author.

Life

Walter von Ruckteschell was born in Saint Petersburg in 1882 as the son of Pastor Nicolai von Ruckteschell and Baroness Catherina Helene von Engelhardt . His brother was the naval officer Hellmuth von Ruckteschell . Ruckteschell enrolled at the age of 26 on November 4, 1908 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Angelo Jank for drawing, but then switched to the Debschitz School . He was married to the ceramicist Clara Trueb (1882–1969) since 1911 .

In 1913 the couple went to the German colony of German East Africa , where Ruckteschell designed monuments and sculptures for public spaces and institutions. He volunteered for the Schutztruppe during World War I and became an adjutant to Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck . As a ghostwriter, Ruckteschell wrote a large part of Lettow-Vorbeck's successful book Heia Safari! Germany's fight in East Africa , for which he officially only provided the illustrations. In addition to the many illustrations in German colonial literature, Ruckteschell turned primarily to the design of war memorials after the First World War .

In the 1920s von Ruckteschell lived in Dachau ; he was friends with the ethnologist Leo Frobenius , who met his future assistant Hans Rhotert at a party in Ruckteschell's house in 1924 .

In 1934 Ruckteschell created the fountain sculpture of Saint Francis for the spa fountain in Rheinfelden . Alexander Zschokke created the second fountain sculpture of Saint Magdalena , which was set up in the drinking facility at that time. Both sculptures are now in the entrance hall of the Kurbrunnen building. Victor Surbek created the large mural Four Seasons for the pump room.

"German East Africa Memorial" Hamburg

He created the controversial “German East Africa Memorial”, which was inaugurated in 1938 and placed on both sides of the entrance to the “ Lettow-Vorbeck-Kaserne ” in Hamburg-Jenfeld . It was in the tradition of the veneration of the German colonial troops, which began immediately after the First World War and which took on cult-like features at the time of the National Socialists .

After the barracks were closed in 1999, the erection of the relief as part of a memorial for the victims of the colonial era came under discussion. It was criticized that there was no concept that could explain the historical references.

“The Askari relief shows a troop of African soldiers who seem to be loyal to their white officer. This blurs the view of the rule of the colonial empire. The place of issue is problematic. The Lettow-Vorbeck-Kaserne was set up by the National Socialist rulers as a central place for the colonial revisionist tradition of the military. Today the "traditional association of former protection and overseas troops" collects money for the restoration of the Askari relief. "

Temporarily dismantled, the relief was rebuilt in 2003 as part of the so-called Tanzania Park , amid protests.

Works (selection)

Grave "Brix Hansen", Ohlsdorf cemetery
  • "German East Africa Memorial", Aumühle
  • “German East Africa Memorial”, Hamburg
  • “Pietà”, war memorial in the St. Pauli Church , Soest
  • “St. Christophorus ”, painting in the Friedenskirche , Hamburg-Eilbek
  • Church window of the Evangelical Christ Church in Athens
  • Fountain sculpture of Saint Francis in Rheinfelden
  • Gravestone (1931) "Brix Hansen" in the Hamburg cemetery Ohlsdorf , grid square Z 25

literature

  • Christof Hamann , Alexander Honold : Kilimanjaro. The German story of an African mountain. Klaus Wagenbach Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN = 978-3-8031-3634-3, on Ruckteschell: page 133f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry in the register of the Academy of Fine Arts Munich 1809-1920.
  2. ↑ Cultural property: Ceramics by Clara von Ruckteschell-Truëb Germanisches Nationalmuseum , issue 25, 2010, p. 14.
  3. ↑ Hey Safari! Germany's fight in East Africa. KF Koehler, 1920.
  4. ↑ Uwe Schulte-Varendorff: Colonial hero for emperors and leaders. General Lettow-Vorbeck - Myth and Reality. Ch. Links Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-86153-412-9 , p. 104.
  5. ^ Fricktaler Museum: Trinkhalle Rheinfelden, 1934. Accessed on October 16, 2019 .
  6. ^ Schweizerische Bauzeitung, 1934: Kurbrunnenanlage in Rheinfelden. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  7. ^ Heiko Möhle: Colonialism and the politics of memory. The debate about the Hamburg “Askari reliefs” . In: Upheavals in African societies and how to cope with them. edited by Ludwig Gerhardt; Heiko Möhle; Jürgen Oßenbrügge; Wolfram Weisse, LIT, African Studies, University of Hamburg, 2006, ISBN 3-8258-7518-0 , pp. 277f. ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  8. ^ Sigrid Meissner: Scientists against the war memorial. In: Hamburger Morgenpost , August 6, 2002, ZDB -ID 291023-8
  9. ↑ Marianne Bechhaus-Gerst: Faithful to death. Links Christoph Verlag, 2007, p. 159f.
  10. ↑ a b "Tanzania Park" afrika-hamburg.de.
  11. ↑ Sigrid Meissner: Why do we need this monument? In: Hamburger Morgenpost , September 6, 2003, ZDB -ID 291023-8 .
  12. ↑ There is a memorial at the edge of the forest - and nobody knows why ?! ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) - The East Africa memorial in Aumühle
  13. ↑ The large glass window in the Christ Church in Athens at www.evluthathens.ekathen.org (PDF; 160 KB)
personal data
SURNAME Ruckteschell, Walter von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German illustrator, sculptor and author
DATE OF BIRTH November 12, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Petersburg
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 1941
Place of death Mediterranean Sea