Wilhelm Ripe

Grave medallion

Grave site in the old cemetery in Goslar

Memorial plaque on the property of the former birth house

Wilhelm Ripe (born November 16, 1818 in Hahnenklee ; † December 5, 1885 in Goslar ) was a German painter and graphic artist .

Wilhelm Ripe was born on November 16, 1818 in what was then the Hahnenkleer schoolhouse, which was located on the site of today's Hotel Hahnenkleer Hof . His father was employed there as a teacher and cantor, as the church, school and teacher's apartment were made available to the community by the then owner of the Hahnenkleer Hof.

He started school with his father, but after the early death of his father continued his school days in Clausthal . Already at this time his great talent for drawing emerged, which was encouraged by friends and patrons. He received his artistic training from Johann Heinrich Ramberg . Modesty, poverty and privation marked his life. As a freelance artist, he lived in Clausthal after finishing school. Travels to Switzerland and Finland , which was then Russian, broadened the scope of the young artist.

With his many pictures of places and landscapes he is known as the "Merian of the Harz". He found his partner in Osterode am Harz . The connection to the Goslar publisher Eduard Brückner, by whom he also saw himself being taken advantage of, turned out to be quite happy. The naturalness of his artistic work has made a significant contribution to opening up the Harz to tourism.

In 1860 Ripe took a moderately paid position as a drawing teacher at the Ratsgymnasium and other Goslar schools, which he practiced until 1884 when he became seriously ill. He died on December 5, 1885 and was buried in the old cemetery in Goslar. In the Goslar district of Ohlhof , where several streets were named after painters, a small path was also dedicated to Wilhelm Ripe.