Werner Klemke

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Portrait of Klemke, 1985

Werner Ernst Walter Klemke (born March 12, 1917 in Weißensee , Niederbarnim district ; † August 26, 1994 Berlin-Weißensee ) was a German book designer and illustrator , commercial artist and university professor in the GDR .

Biographical data

Werner Klemke was born in 1917 as the son of the carpenter Adolph Rudolph Klemke and his wife Agnes Selma Kluge in Weißensee, at that time a suburb of Berlin. He drew a lot in childhood and youth, and he was often to be found in museums and libraries. After attending the humanistic Köllnisches Gymnasium in Berlin-Mitte , a secondary school for children from poorer sections of the population, he graduated from high school in 1936. The encounter there with art and literature from classical antiquity remained an essential experience for Klemke (“Actually, I am an old Greek”). He broke off the subsequent training as a drawing teacher at the teacher training institute in Frankfurt (Oder) after a few months because it offered him too little artistic practice and because he was not granted a scholarship . Instead, he began working as an animator for the Kruse-Film company in 1937 . After some initial effort, he found his way into this activity well.

At the beginning of the Second World War , Klemke was drafted into the German Wehrmacht in the early autumn of 1939 , as a private in an anti-aircraft unit he worked in the office on the western front . In addition to everyday duty, he used his opportunities to forge identity papers for Dutch Jews and to produce ration cards and also to issue holiday tickets to his comrades. The extent of his illegal activity only became known in 2011 through finds in the municipal archive of the Bussum synagogue . Werner Klemke himself had never spoken of his act of rescue. Around 300 Dutch Jews were saved from deportation through the activities of his resistance group. The Dutch filmmaker Annet Betsalel made a documentary about Klemke's war years with the title Meeting Point Erasmus .

In the war year 1941 he married the animator Gertrud Stremlau. After the end of the war he was interned near the small town of Norden in East Frisia. Coincidentally, the opportunity arose here to try out the lithography technique in a lithography workshop that has just been repaired . In the summer of 1945, the first German children's book after the war was published, with 15 copies a day sold well for sale: Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten , written and drawn on stone by Klemke.

In 1946 he returned to Berlin. In order to earn a living, Klemke took on very different jobs: he painted lampshades, shop fronts and the walls of restaurants, wrote price tags and wall slogans. From 1947 to 1950 he was gradually able to work more frequently for various magazines such as the Neue Berliner Illustrierte , the satire papers Ulenspiegel and Frischer Wind as well as for children's magazines such as the ABC newspaper and Der Junge Pionier . A contact with the Berlin publishing house Volk und Welt resulted in the first large order in the field of book design. For the more than one hundred wood engraving illustrations requested for Georg Weerth's humorous sketches from German trading life , he first had to acquire the wood engraving technique. This work marked a breakthrough, and orders from other book publishers quickly followed. Only three years later he came as a lecturer at what was then the University of Fine Arts and Applied Arts (today Berlin-Weißensee School of Art ), where he became professor of book graphics and typography in 1956 . In 1954 he went on a study trip to China , which stimulated him to occupy himself with the Chinese color woodcut and which clearly influenced his later brush drawings.

In 1956, Klemke was a co-founder of the Pirckheimer Society , an association of committed book lovers within the GDR Cultural Association . In 1961, because of his artistic achievements, he was made a full member of the Academy of the Arts of the GDR; This activity, combined with meetings, representation tasks, exhibition openings, travel and the like, became a serious problem in the opinion of some friends: “He, the most unbureaucratic person in the world, has got into a conflict here that has become detrimental to him and his art. ... This wear and tear of strength and time in the last two decades of his active life (ie until 1986) was followed with great unease ”. Werner Klemke's successes as an artist brought him various state awards over the years - three national prizes and in 1982 a Patriotic Order of Merit in gold. He never belonged to any political party. 1968 - Klemke was just 51 years old - his collected works were published , in 1973 he became an honorary member of the Art Academy of the USSR . The Italian city of Certaldo , birthplace and death place of the poet Giovanni Boccaccio , awarded him honorary citizenship in 1975 for his book design of the Decamerone .

Grave site at the St. Hedwig cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee

In 1982 Werner Klemke retired as a university professor . The last, tragic phase of his life began in 1986. A stroke placed unusual restrictions on him, and a second attack two years later ended his artistic work. In the same year his wife Gertrud died. An eye ailment largely confined him to his apartment. Werner Klemke died on August 26, 1994, he was buried in the St. Hedwig cemetery in Smetanastraße in Berlin-Weißensee. His grave is dedicated to the city of Berlin as an honorary grave . As requested by him, his artistic estate was transferred to the Klingspor Museum in Offenbach am Main , which specializes in 19th and 20th century book and script art.

Book design and illustration

“I make books, which I don't just mean 'to illustrate books'. It's just one kind among others. By 'making books' I mean giving shape to a book by choosing the type of paper and the letters , the arrangement of sentences and the decoration of the book with all the ingredients necessary to do justice to the intentions of the author and to make reading easier for the reader. " Werner Klemke).

Klemke's oeuvre is remarkably extensive. The book design area alone includes work on well over 800 titles. This includes numerous classics of world literature such as the Decameron , the Canterbury Tales , Fredmann's Epistles or the confessions of the impostor Felix Krull , but also a number of contemporary authors. His work for children's books - such as the children's and house fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm , Hirsch Heinrich and Das Wolkenschaf - as well as for school books such as the primer for beginners and textbooks for Russian and mathematics were widespread . They all received the award for the most beautiful books in the GDR.

Werner Klemke was extremely versatile in the application of graphic techniques. A focus of his life's work is undoubtedly the intensive occupation with the expressive possibilities of wood engraving . This old technique, which had been used for artistic illustration since the late 18th century and later temporarily also for the mass reproduction of halftone originals, had almost been forgotten in the 20th century. Klemke was one of four or five important artists who picked it up again. He started doing it at the beginning of his career. In the shortage after the Second World War, he could not find the end grain he needed for his first major publishing contract; but he was able to cut a roller-shaped carpenter's tool from his father's legacy into slices, then cut them into four and fit his figures into the sectors of the circle created in this way . Klemke soon mastered the wood engraving technique so confidently that he could use it for a wide variety of tasks and with changing appearance, from woodcut-like severity to the implementation of clay surfaces and loose brush or chalk drawings.

Other commercial art

The front pages for the monthly magazine in particular made Klemke popular across the country. The coveted issue was something special in the GDR press landscape because it dealt with erotic topics relatively freely in words and images. Klemke designed the covers from January 1955 to February 1990, a total of well over 400 times. Buyers had the added pleasure of looking for the little black tomcat he regularly featured on the front pages.

“Besides working on the book, I've always done a lot of other things. I think there is nothing worse than specializing. I drew a lot for the press, made posters , brochures , typographies, exhibition boards, drew lettering , designed stage sets and costumes and kept drawing, painting and trying things out - just for myself. "Horst Kunze, long-time Director General of the State Library added Berlin and Freund Klemkes added: "These variations should, however, include: decals , postage stamps, drafts for lead glazing , bookplates , film programs, building facades, glass coasters, postcards, interior design, record sleeves , logos , menus, wall decorations and the many, many greeting cards ... "

Works

reception

Klemke's entire life's work was created within the relatively narrow borders of the GDR, which stood in the way of an adequate dissemination of his work. It is true that books he illustrated appeared at the same time or at different times as licensed editions in the Federal Republic of Germany , and at least in individual cases, illustrations by Klemke also appeared in original German editions such as in 1964 in Die Berliner Antigone by Rolf Hochhuth . But overall, his works did not achieve nearly the same circulation in the Federal Republic of Germany - and thus the same popularity - as in eastern Germany. One of the reasons for this is the fact that in times of the Cold War the cultural achievements of the respective other side were always under general suspicion. Of course, GDR-specific text and image elements also played a role, especially in non-fiction and children's books. After the political reunification of Germany in 1990, there was no massive re-evaluation of his books, but new editions of several titles showed that his work has survived. Under bibliophile connoisseurs in the old federal states he was already no stranger.

In the GDR, due to the great success of his cheerful drawings for children and the witty and frivolous jokes for the magazine , Klemke was very one-sidedly committed to the role of the artist in public opinion, from whom cheerfulness and charm were expected, although violence and despair were also in his work - for example in the Iliad - found expression. "But today ... what is hidden by the lovable one can be more clearly than before, the anger, sadness and bitterness of the draftsman can be seen in almost all of his large series of illustrations". ( Axel Bertram , a younger colleague of Klemke)

Personal

Klemke read a lot and intensively; his private library contained around 20,000 volumes. He designed several publications free of charge for the Berlin State Library and was made an honorary reader for this , a rare distinction that also offered some advantages when using the library.

Students at the art school saw him as a friendly, slightly aloof teacher. His judgment was certain, often a little ironic, but not hurtful. He was always properly and elegantly dressed in an environment where that was not exactly the norm. He liked to use the Berlin speech gesture temporarily, which he mastered convincingly.

Since around the mid-1960s, Klemke had increasing problems meeting deadlines. His work was extremely popular, the orders piled up, he rarely could bring himself to refuse anything; For this very reason, however, he was unable to finish everything on time despite the health-endangering work, even though he sometimes delivered less time-consuming drawings on scrapboard instead of the wood engravings that were initially agreed. Sometimes clients waited in Klemke's apartment for their artwork to be ready. Many scheduling conflicts could be settled in this way or in a similar way, some others led to contract cancellations.

Klemke had a son and three daughters. All of the daughters studied at the art college in Berlin-Weißensee. Two of them look after the artistic legacy of their father in the studio and archive of Prof. Werner Klemke .

“I love my job very much and my children envy me for it. Our Tini said: 'You're in good shape, you only get something to paint on, never something to do arithmetic!' "

Honors

Berlin memorial plaque on the house at Tassostraße 21, in Berlin-Weißensee

On his 100th birthday, the State of Berlin and the Pankow district named a green area in Berlin-Weißensee after Werner Klemke. A Berlin plaque on his house at Tassostraße 21 in Berlin-Weißensee is also dedicated to him.

Books illustrated (i) and generally designed (g) books by Klemke (very short selection)

  • Georg Weerth : Humorous sketches from German commercial life . Verlag Volk und Welt, 1949 (i): Holzstiche.
  • Theodor Storm : The Schimmelreiter . Aufbauverlag Berlin 1951, (i): Wood cuts.
  • Denis Diderot : Jacob and his master . Verlag Rütten & Loening 1953, cover and (i)
  • Till Eulenspiegel , Eulenspiegelverlag, 1955, (i + g), Most Beautiful Book 1955
  • Sergei Michalkow : The lion and the hare , fables. Berlin 1955. 48 S, (i + g), Most Beautiful Book 1955
  • Wilhelm Hauff : Messages from the memoirs of Satan . Publishing house Das Neue Berlin 1956
  • Eduard Bass : Klapperzahn's wonder elf . Sportverlag Berlin , 1958–1984 (7 editions) (i)
  • Kurt Tucholsky : Selected Works . Publishing house Volk und Welt 1956–1963,
  • Giovanni Boccaccio : The Decameron . Aufbauverlag Berlin 1958, gold medal at the Leipzig International Book Exhibition 1965
  • Fred Rodrian : The Cloud Sheep . Children's book publisher Berlin 1958, (i),
  • Karlernst Ziem : A groom for Miss Mouse. Fairy tales from Burma , Berlin 1959, Most Beautiful Book 1959
  • Fred Rodrian : Hirsch Heinrich . Children's book publisher Berlin 1960, (i + g) ( Most beautiful book 1961 )
  • Johann Christian Günther : Poems and student songs . Publishing house Philipp Reclam jun. Leipzig 1961, (i + g) ( Most Beautiful Book 1961 )
  • Geoffrey Chaucer : Canterbury Tales . Verlag Rütten & Loening 1963, (i + g) ( Most beautiful book 1963 )
  • Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm : The children's and house fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm . Children's book publisher Berlin 1963, (i + g) ( Most beautiful book 1963 )
  • Benno Pludra : Lütt Matten and the white shell . Children's book publisher Berlin 1963, (i)
  • Carl Michael Bellmann : Fredmann's epistles . Publishing house Philipp Reclam jun. Leipzig ( Most Beautiful Book 1965 )
  • Robert Louis Stevenson : Villon . Insel Verlag, Leipzig 1965 (i) - Insel-Bücherei 234 / C
  • Paul Biegel : Sprookjes van Grimm , adaptation in Dutch, Uitgevermaatschipij, Haarlem, Netherlands 1966, (i)
  • Thomas Mann : Confessions of the impostor Felix Krull . Aufbauverlag Berlin and Weimar, (i + g) ( Most Beautiful Book 1965 )
  • Bracciolino Poggio : The Facezien of the Florentine Poggio . Verlag Edition Leipzig 1967, (i + g)
  • The novels and anecdotes of Herodotus . Koehler and Amelang, Leipzig 1968, (i + g)
  • Homer : Iliad . Aufbauverlag Berlin 1972, (i + g)
  • Soon I'll be a school kid. Verlag Volk und Wissen Berlin 1973, (i + g) ( Most Beautiful Book 1974 ) EAN: B005Q6GU4I
  • Our primer . Verlag Volk und Wissen Berlin 1974, (i + g) ( Most Beautiful Book 1974 )
  • Berthold Blank: We are learning mathematics . Verlag Volk und Wissen Berlin 1976, cover draft and (i) ( Most beautiful book 1976 )
  • Kurt Tucholsky: Where do the holes get in the cheese ago . Rowohlt Verlag Hamburg 1981, draft cover and (i)
  • Leonid Solowjow : The picaresque pranks of Nasreddin , Verlag Volk und Welt Berlin 1982, (g)
  • Mascha Kaléko : The star we live on . Rowohlt Verlag Hamburg 1984, cover, binding and (i)
  • Horst Kunze: From the picture in the book . Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig 1988, cover, binding and (i)
  • Alfred Wellm : Karlchen Duckdich . Verlag Faber & Faber, Leipzig 2006, (i)
    First edition: Kinderbuchverlag Berlin 1977, (i)
  • The Facezien of the Florentine Poggio , Verlag Faber & Faber, 2004, (i): 27 woodcuts
  • Hans Christian Andersen : fairy tales ; Preface by Matthias Haberzettl . Beltz, Weinheim 2017, ISBN 978-3-407-77213-8 , (i).

literature

  • Werner Klemke, 1917–1994. "How to make books (un -?) Usable through art" , booklet accompanying the exhibition of the Berlin State Library in cooperation with the Pirckheimer Society from August 11 to September 22, 1999, ISBN 3-88053-076-9 .
  • Werner Klemke . With a contribution by the artist and an introduction by Bernhard Nowak. VEB Verlag der Kunst, Dresden, 1963.
  • Sophie Kahane, Jörg Köhler (ed.): Werner Klemke. The big picture book . Schwarzkopf and Schwarzkopf Verlag GmbH, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-89602-068-4 .
  • Horst Kunze : Werner Klemke. Life picture and bibliography of his book art work . Burgart-Presse, Rudolstadt 1999, ISBN 3-910206-30-1 .

Web links

Commons : Werner Klemke  - Collection of Images

Evidence, notes

  1. ↑ Birth register, registry office Weißensee, No. 117/1917
  2. ↑ Birth entry Werner Ernst Walter Klemke, Protestant baptismal register Weißensee No. 279/1917
  3. ↑ Daniel Völzke: 90th birthday of illustrator Werner Klemke: The dashed cat . In: Der Tagesspiegel from March 11, 2007.
  4. ↑ a b Martin Schröder: A hero from the antiquarian bookshop. Werner Klemke was the great GDR graphic artist. Before that, he used his art to save lives . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of August 22, 2014, p. 14.
  5. ^ Ingeborg Ruthe: Werner Klemke - hero with a bold pen . In: Berliner Zeitung of August 25, 2014.
  6. ↑ Harald Kretzschmar : The draftsman's attitude - What needs to be remembered urgently about the early Werner Klemke . In: Neues Deutschland from 23 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Christian Schröder: Documentary "Erasmus Meeting Point" about Werner Klemke: Forgeries for life . In: Der Tagesspiegel , September 1, 2015.
  8. ↑ Marriage register, registry office Berlin-Weißensee, No. 473/1941
  9. ↑ a b Horst Kunze (long-time director general of the Berlin State Library and friend Klemke) in: Werner Klemke. Life picture and bibliography of his book art work . Burgart-Presse, Rudolstadt 1999. ISBN 3-910206-30-1 .
  10. ↑ Berliner Zeitung , 27./28. February 1982, p. 4.
  11. ↑ a b Homepage of the studio and archive of Prof. Werner Klemke
  12. ↑ Every year since 1952, a few books in the GDR have been awarded the title “Most Beautiful Book” for their design and printing quality. The awards were given by the Pirckheimer Society and the Association of Visual Artists.
  13. ↑ a b Axel Bertram: Mitwelt and posterity . In: Communications from the Berlin State Library , Volume 1999/2.
  14. ↑ Werner Klemke . With a contribution by the artist and an introduction by Bernhard Nowak. VEB Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1963, p. 8.
  15. ↑ The state of Berlin and the district of Pankow honor the graphic designer and illustrator Werner Klemke , information from the Berlin week of March 24, 2017
  16. ↑ Berlin memorial plaque for Werner Klemke , press release of the Berlin Senate of March 14, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Klemke, Werner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Klemke, Werner Ernst Walter (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Weißensee , Niederbarnim district
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 1994
Place of death Berlin