Werner Becker (art historian)

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Werner Becker (born November 9, 1924 , † December 30, 1984 ) was a German art historian , museum director and CDU politician in the GDR . From 1960 to 1984 he headed the National Book and engraving collections in Greiz summer palace , later the National Museums Greiz.

Life

Werner Becker, born in 1924, joined the CDU in 1947 in the Soviet occupation zone (SBZ). He studied in Jena philosophy and art history among others Georg Klaus and was in 1959 with the thesis The Romanesque monuments of the city Weissensee in Thuringia in Berlin to Dr. phil. PhD . Around 1958/59 he took up a position as a research assistant in the Greiz State Book and Engraving Collections, which were housed in the Summer Palace in Greiz Park . In 1960 he was confirmed as acting director and a little later as director.

In an effort to open up new groups of visitors to his museum, Becker maintained contacts with folk art groups and exhibited their products in the museum premises. In addition, he pioneered punched edge cards with pin technology in order to be able to search for objects according to a variety of criteria and thus to be able to do without many differently designed (space-consuming) card catalog cabinets .

In 1971 his powers were expanded when he was appointed director of the Staatliche Museen Greiz. On June 18, 1975, he founded the " Satiricum Greiz ", a special collection of historical (later also contemporary) caricatures, based on the existing 1200 caricatures from princely property, in Berlin together with Waltraud Mai, Henryk Berg, Fritz Donner, Harald Kretzschmar and Klaus Vonderwerth (most recently Elisabeth , Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg ). The Satiricum was opened in spring 1977. It received funding from various sources.

From 1978 he was head of the Society for Monument Preservation in the district.

In addition to his numerous book and brochure publications as well as newspaper articles, he also gave lectures.

Werner Becker was ill and retired in 1984.

He exercised his Christian and socialist commitment in the CDU. The shaping of people in the socialist sense through art was in the foreground for him. He was a member of the cultural-political working group on the main board of the CDU , was elected member of the Gera district assembly in July 1967 , held a position in the Gera district management of the GDR Cultural Association and sat for the CDU on the city committee of the National Front .

Since the reports of his death, which occurred on December 30, 1984, did not appear until 1985, 1985 is often incorrectly stated as the year of death.

Quotes

From Werner Becker

“Our socialist culture and art are important means of understanding between the peoples, they strengthen the awareness of the community of the socialist fraternal peoples . At the same time, however, culture and art also serve us as important weapons in dealing with imperialist ideology and what the imperialists offer and smuggle in as culture. "

- Werner Becker : Neue Zeit , July 4, 1973

About Werner Becker

"[Becker] came to the view [...] that artistic caricature is far more than a throwaway art that is not worth preserving beyond the day and the current reason for its creation."

- Manfred Meier : Neue Zeit , November 9, 1984

"With Dr. Werner Becker we are losing a friend who, always borne by the social consequences of Christian ethics, has made his rich knowledge and skills responsible for shaping socialism and its humanistic culture. "

- Obituary : Neue Zeit , January 3, 1985

Writings and editions

  • The summer palace in Greiz and its art treasures. State Collection of Books and Engravings Greiz - Summer Palace, Greiz 1960.
  • The Greizer caricature collection Satiricum. Staatliche Museen Greiz - collection of books and engravings with Satiricum, Greiz 1961. (Expanded several times and reissued.)
  • Old caricatures from the Greiz State Collection of Books and Engravings. State Collection of Books and Engravings Greiz - Sommerpalais, Greiz 1961.
  • Maps from three centuries (16th – 18th centuries). State Collection of Books and Engravings Greiz - Sommerpalais, Greiz 1962.
  • Graphics from the time of the Wars of Liberation (1812–1815). State Collection of Books and Engravings Greiz - Sommerpalais, Greiz 1963.
  • The Greizer mezzotint collection. State museums Greiz. Book and copper engraving collection Greiz - Sommerpalais, Greiz 1964.
  • The image of the city of Greiz, yesterday and today. State collection of books and engravings, Greiz, Greiz 1966. (Several editions.)
  • About Greiz garden art two centuries ago. In: Greizer Heimatkalender 1968 , pp. 52–56.
  • Ten years of artistic creation in the Greiz district. State collection of books and engravings, Greiz, Greiz 1968.
  • From the old picture of the world. Old maps and cityscapes. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1969. (Licensed edition by F. Bassermann'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Munich 1970.)
  • With Martin Kiefner: March 1920. An artist takes sides (= Red Row ; Issue 1). State collection of books and engravings in Greiz, Greiz 1970.
  • 50 years of the Greiz State Book and Engraving Collection. Contributions from employees and friends. State collection of books and engravings, Greiz, Greiz 1970. (2 parts.)
  • The cabinet for contemporary graphics in the Greizer summer palace. State museums Greiz. Book and copperplate engraving collection Greiz - Sommerpalais, Greiz 1973.
  • The memorials, memorials and memorial plaques in the Greiz district (= red row ; issue 3). State Museums Greiz, Greiz 1974.
  • Dispute over art. In: Order and responsibility of the artist in the developed socialist society. Consultation of the presidium of the main board of the CDU with artists on November 23, 1973 in Burgscheidungen. Published by the secretariat of the main board of the CDU. Main board of the CDU, Berlin 1974, pp. 37–39.
  • Of cardinal virtues , deadly sins and a number of vices . Pictures and sculptures on the cultural and moral history of the 12th to 19th centuries. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1975.
  • The Greizer Lenin Park. Studies on its history. State Museums Greiz, Greiz 1977.
  • With red pepper. Caricatures and press drawings by Erich Drechsler (= Rote Reihe ; issue 4). State Museums Greiz, Greiz 1978.
  • The Lower Castle of Greiz and its cultural treasures. Staatliche Museen Greiz, Kreisheimatmuseum, Greiz 1978.
  • With Christine Lange: happiness or unhappiness - being a child? Caricature competition for the international year of the child 1979. Exhibition from June 1 to July 23, 1978, Satiricum of the Staatliche Museen Greiz in the summer palace in Greiz / Satiricum '78. Council of the District of Gera, Association of Visual Artists of the GDR (publisher) Satiricum, Greiz 1978.
  • A breath of fresh air thirty years ago (= Red Row ; Issue 5). State Museums Greiz, Greiz 1979.
  • From the Greizer Satiricum. In: Marginalia. Journal for Book Art and Bibliophilia , Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin / Weimar, Issue 76, 1979, pp. 33–37.
  • Small guide through the Greizer Lenin Park. By Christa Bretschneider with contributions by Werner Becker and Siegfried Tolkmitt. In cooperation with the Society for Monument Preservation in the Kulturbund der DDR. State Museums Greiz, Greiz 1980.
  • Small erotic. Graphic gadgets. Published by Werner Becker. Eulenspiegel Verlag, Berlin 1983. (Also the afterword by Werner Becker.)
  • Honoré Daumier : The Augurs' Smile. Images of antiquity. Edited and commented by Werner Becker and Harald Kretzschmar. Eulenspiegel Verlag, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-359-00061-7 .

Essays in the supraregional Neue Zeit (selection)

  • The manifesto in the language of art. Graphics from around 1848 in the Greiz State Book and Copper Engraving Collection - a contribution to the Karl Marx anniversary. In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany , No. 105/1968, May 4, 1969, p. 3 (the third page).
  • Master of portrait art. For the 250th birthday of the painter Joshua Reynolds . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany , No. 166/1973, July 17, 1973, p. 5 (From cultural life).

As well as essays in local publications.

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary in Neues Deutschland , No. 20/1985, January 24, 1985, p. 7.
  2. ↑ a b c CDU condolences on the death of Dr. Werner Beckers . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 3/1985 , January 3, 1985, pp. 2 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Helmut Ullrich: An innovator in the old summer palace. Dr. Werner Becker in Greiz opens up successful paths for museum work . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 172/1964 , July 25, 1964, pp. 3 .
  4. ↑ a b M. T .: Inspirations from Greizer Collections. Maintenance and popularization of old cultural assets . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 267/1974 , November 9, 1972, From cultural life, p. 4 .
  5. ^ Discussion with Christian artists The cultural and political working group met in the presence of Gerald Götting . In: New Germany . No. 51/1959 , March 1, 1959, pp. 2 .
  6. ↑ Werner Becker: Traveling exhibition in the night sanatorium. New forms of museum work in Greiz. In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 250/1960 , October 23, 1960, pp. 3 .
  7. ^ A b Felicitas Marwinski, Marion Gebhardt: State collection of books and engravings Greiz - Foundation of the older line of the House of Reuss. In: uni-goettingen.de. August 1995, accessed on October 12, 2019 (from: Handbuch der historical Buchbestände in Deutschland . Ed. By Bernhard Fabian . Digitized by Günter Kükenshöner. Olms Neue Medien, Hildesheim 2003.).
  8. ↑ a b Werner Becker: The Greizer caricature collection Satiricum . Ed .: Staatliche Museen Greiz - collection of books and engravings with satiric. 3rd expanded edition. Staatliche Museen Greiz - Book and Copper Engraving Collection, Greiz 1980, preliminary remarks on the third edition, p. 3 f .
  9. ^ Günter Neumann: Satiricum collects and shows caricatures. State museums in Greiz open new department . In: New Germany . No. 101/1977 , April 28, 1977, pp. 4 .
  10. ↑ a b c Manfred Meier: Committed to heritage - open to new ideas. On the death of Union friend Dr. Werner Becker . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 3/1985 , January 3, 1985, pp. 4 .
  11. ↑ KB: Shaping the image of the new person. Notes from a conference of the working group of visual artists at the main board of the CDU . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 113/1961 , May 18, 1961, pp. 4 .
  12. ^ Gera cultural workers to Erich Honecker: The breath of our days in partisan works of art. Reliable allies of the working class. Confession with action. Socialist sense of home and awareness of history . In: New Germany . No. 65/1981 , March 18, 1981, The best for the Xth Party Congress! Everything for the good of the people !, p. 3 .
  13. ↑ From the cultural work of our Union friends . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 39/1962 , February 15, 1962, pp. 4 .
  14. ↑ New heights on the Bitterfelder Weg. Dr. Werner Becker on current tasks in the field of cultural policy . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 156/1967 , July 8, 1967, the third page. The NZ Interview of the Week, pp. 3 .
  15. ^ Antje-Gesine Marsch: On the origin of the art collections of the summer palace. In the course of scientific research one came across some “rarities” as early as the 1960s. In: vogtlandspiegel.de. Antje-Gesine Marsch, February 8, 2018, accessed on October 12, 2019 (example of incorrect life data).
  16. ↑ Werner Becker: Bringing works of art better into conversation . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 155/1973 , July 4, 1973, Politics. From the discussion of the III. Meeting of the main board, p. 3 .
  17. ↑ Manfred Meier: About clarity in the mind. On the work of Union friend Dr. Werner Becker . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 266/1984 , November 9, 1984, From cultural life, p. 4 .
  18. ↑ High awards. Johannes R. Becher medals awarded . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 120/1966 , May 25, 1966, pp. 4 .
  19. ↑ From Christian ethics in the service of peace and neighbor. Union friends honored for many years of activity on the occasion of the 39th anniversary of our party - Gerald Götting pays tribute to exemplary work . In: New Time. Central organ of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . No. 144/1984 , June 20, 1984, pp. 1 (article) and 2 (list) .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Becker, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian, museum director and politician (GDR CDU)
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1924
DATE OF DEATH December 30, 1984