Wolfgang Götze (painter)

Wolfgang (Wolf) Götze (born February 26, 1906 in Oldenburg , † January 25, 1988 in Hamburg ) was a German artist .

Life

Wolfgang Götze was born the son of Gustav Götze, the director of the local music school. After graduating from high school in 1926, he was to embark on a theological career. However, Götze eluded his father's wishes and began studying architecture in the USA in 1926 . He soon shifted his major to training as an illustrator and commercial artist . He worked as a draftsman for the Chicago Tribune and after his return to Germany in the 1930s as a commercial artist. During this time he made several trips to France, Spain and Italy. It was here that his early watercolor landscapes and cityscapes were created. As a soldier in the 6th Army, he was taken prisoner near Stalingrad in 1942 . Until 1948 he was interned in the Beketowka prison camp. In the camp he founded a theater and cultural group. He designed the sets, took on theater roles and performed vocal pieces. He also painted and drew landscapes, portraits and pictures of animals. Many of his pictures were taken on behalf of the camp administration, which provided him with ink and paper and released him from labor. Some drawings and watercolors from this period are still preserved. In 1950 Götze moved to Hamburg and worked as a freelance draftsman, illustrator and commercial artist. In 1963 he published a collection of his works under the name Mein Hamburg .

Götze created more than 1000 views of well-known and less well-known buildings and streets in Hamburg.

Web links

• Literature by and about Wolfgang Götze in the catalog of the German National Library
• Wolfgang Götze on the website of the Helmsmuseum
• The pencil preserves what pickaxes destroy , Die Welt , July 8, 2006