Wilhelm Rieth

Wilhelm Rieth (born August 9, 1897 in Heilbronn ; † November 23, 1987 ) was a German businessman. After the Second World War , he did a great job of salvaging the Heilbronn works of art that were buried under the rubble, and from 1963 onwards he created numerous models of the old imperial city for the museums there. For his services he was awarded the Golden Mint of the City of Heilbronn.

Life

He was the son of a chaser . After attending secondary school in Heilbronn , he completed his apprenticeship at the J. L. Reiner cigar factory, where he worked until 1945. From 1945 to 1949 he worked as a drawing teacher at the boys' middle school in the Allee building in Böckingen .

In the post-war period, at the instigation of his neighbor Wilhelm Mattes , Rieth tried to salvage the art treasures buried under the rubble of the city ​​destroyed by the air raids on Heilbronn . He was able to find the sculpture of St. Catherine (today in the House of City History ) under the rubble in a well. For many objects, the rescue turned out to be a race with thieves. Rieth had already recovered the electroplating of St. Georg vom Georgsbrunnen , portrayed as a knight, from the rubble in August 1946, but it was stolen before Rieth could transport it away. The Aesculapian figure of the unicorn pharmacy , already described by Goethe, was stolen under Rieth's eyes.

In 1949 he was again in a commercial position, and from 1952 he worked for Fenster-Felder . From 1963, now in retirement, he created 28 models of the old imperial city of Heilbronn, such as the city gates and monasteries for the Heilbronn City Museums and the Heilbronn City Archives . Most recently he lived in the Katharinenstift retirement home , where he also had a workshop in the attic.

His model of the Heilbronn Katharinenspital is now in the House of City History in Heilbronn.

Awards

In 1975 he was awarded the Golden Mint of the City of Heilbronn.

reception

Werner Heim describes Rieth as a “loving connoisseur” of his hometown and as a capable model maker, whose work was “largely” exhibited in museums. Elsewhere he even called Rieth the “best expert in Heilbronn”, whom he valued “as an artist and not least as a patron”.

Uwe Jacobi also paid tribute to the "hobbyist" Rieth: he created "magnificent models" and thus saved the beloved Heilbronn in a special way.

swell

• Data from the Heilbronn city archive, contemporary history collection, signature ZS-12922, entry on Wilhelm Rieth in the HEUSS database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Uwe Jacobi: Heilbronn - The most beautiful years? Post-war period in a German city . Heilbronner Voice printing and publishing house, Heilbronn 1984, ISBN 3-921923-01-8 ( series on Heilbronn . Volume 9), p. 101f.
2. ^ "Gold digger" with the biography of Wilhelm Rieth . In: Uwe Jacobi: Heilbronn - The most beautiful years? Post-war period in a German city . Heilbronner Voice printing and publishing house, Heilbronn 1984, ISBN 3-921923-01-8 ( series on Heilbronn . Volume 9), p. 101.
3. ↑ ^{a b} blk: The city's golden coin for Wilhelm Rieth. The old buildings come to life again. Heilbronn model maker handed over the "Schwibbogen" to the Historical Museum. In: Heilbronn voice . No. 256 , November 6, 1975, pp. 20 ( at heuss.stadtarchiv-heilbronn.de [accessed on October 9, 2012]).
4. ↑ Werner Heim: The Historical Museum Heilbronn , p. 77
5. ↑ Werner Heim: The Historical Museum Heilbronn , pp. 77-78.
6. ↑ Uwe Jacobi: Heilbronn - The most beautiful years? Post-war period in a German city . Heilbronner Voice printing and publishing house, Heilbronn 1984, ISBN 3-921923-01-8 ( series on Heilbronn . Volume 9), p. 101

Web links

• Golden coin on the website of the city of Heilbronn

literature

• Werner Heim: The city history exhibition in the Deutschhofmuseum . In: Pfarramt St. Peter and Paul (ed.): 750 years of the German Order Coming Heilbronn - memories of the past, thoughts on the present . Heilbronn 1977, p. 129–132 (The city history exhibition in the Deutschhofmuseum).
• Werner Heim: The Heilbronn Historical Museum . In: Archive and Museum of the City of Heilbronn in the Deutschhof Cultural Center . Stadtarchiv Heilbronn, Heilbronn 1977 (small series of publications from the archive of the city of Heilbronn, 9), pp. 66–91, as well as pp. 77–79 [model maker of the city].