Wolfgang Stock (sculptor)

Wolfgang Stock on his 65th birthday

Karl Wolfgang Eugen Stock (usually called Wolfgang Stock ; * January 8, 1913 in Jena , † March 10, 1997 in Münsingen ) was a German sculptor , wood carver , painter and draftsman associated with the Swabian Alb . By profession he was a general practitioner and at first he was able to combine his profession with art, but due to a traffic accident he had to restrict his profession as a doctor, which gave him more time to devote himself to his art.

Wolfgang Stock (1920)

Wolfgang Stock's grandparents and parents in front of his house (1930)

Lore Henke (drawing by Wolfgang Stock, 1932)

Wolfgang Stock (1930)

Capture (drawing by Wolfgang Stock)

W. Stock - Pile of prisoners, drawing around 1944 (WS51)

Wolfgang Stock as a student (around 1933)

Train of the prisoners (drawing)

Wolfgang Stock's first exhibition in Berlin in 1934

Haircut in the prison camp (drawing)

Wolfgang Stock (1937)

Infirmary in the prison camp (drawing)

The permanently malnourished prisoners of war (drawing)

Irma Alicia Carolina Heorig (1937)

Wolfgang Stocks studio house in Offenhausen (1938)

Life

youth

Wolfgang Stock was the second child (of four) of the doctor Wolfgang Stock (1874–1956) and his wife Marthe geb. Asselin (1885-1973). His father was then a young professor for ophthalmology at the University of Jena . In order to be around his sister Emma, ​​Wolfgang Stock sen. Build a large summer house in Offenhausen in 1912 , which was completed in 1914. Wolfgang Stock grew up in Jena, but he had known the Swabian Alb since childhood. After the father had received the call to the University of Tübingen , the family moved to Tübingen in 1921 , where Wolfgang Stock went to high school. As an eight-year-old, Stock was already involved in drawing and wood carving. Since he would rather do other things than study for school, he lost his connection. Ephorus Gaub, a friend of his father's, who taught at the Latin school in Blaubeuren , took Wolfgang to live with him in 1927. In addition to attending the Latin school, Wolfgang Stock attended the grammar school in Ulm and did an apprenticeship with a potter. On Sundays he was allowed to have his paternal grandparents, Carl Adolf Stock (1844–1941) and Luise Stock née. Köstlin (1846–1935), who had lived in the summer house in Offenhausen since 1923. The attentive grandfather had a house built for his grandson in the garden, thus creating the conditions for him to be artistically active. He also gave him a guest book with the first entry that Wolfgang Stock kept all his life. Stock's first plaster figures come from this time. In accordance with his age, he was able to graduate not only from Latin school in 1931, but also from high school in Ulm with a barely passed Abitur. After that he would have liked to study art, but he had to bow to his father's wishes and began studying medicine in Tübingen.

Education

In Tübingen, where he completed the pre-clinical semester, he studied with the university professors Geiger, Heidenhain (anatomy), Knoop (physical chemistry) and Clemens Harms (zoology). In 1933 he moved to Berlin , where, in addition to studying medicine, he was also able to study at the Berlin School of Fine and Applied Arts . He was very diligent in both subjects. In the years 1933–1938, numerous bronzes, clay sculptures, portrait busts, small sculptures, wooden reliefs, drawings and oil paintings were created in Berlin. During his studies in Berlin, he met several people with whom he had a long-term friendship. There were both artists such as B. the painter Fritz von Dessauer and Klaus Köhler-Achenbach and the poet Cornelius Witt, as well as doctors such as Hans Tamm and Peter Magnus. From Tübingen he knew the photographer Lore Henke and her future husband, the doctor and painter Georg Alfred Stockburger . In 1937, Stock completed a medical internship with Bergmann.

Start of professional work

In December 1937, Wolfgang Stock married Irma Alicia Carolina Hoerig (1914–1995) from Guadalajara in Mexico , whom he had previously met there. The two originally intended to work in Berlin. However, they wanted to spend their vacations on the Swabian Alb in Offenhausen and therefore they soon bought a large piece of land there near their father's villa, which resulted in a studio with a small living area. But even before the war, Wolfgang Stock was obliged to work in two medical practices - first in Blaubeuren, then in Grötzingen - and from there to provide medical care for the population of the 28 villages in the Swabian Alb. The family moved to Grötzingen in 1939. During this time his children were born: Peter (* 1938), Manuel (* 1939), Nana (* 1941) and Wolfgang (1943–2012). In 1939 Wolfgang Stock made his medical doctorate.

Captivity

After the lost battle of Stalingrad , Wolfgang Stock was also drafted: on May 15, 1943 he was taken from Reutlingen for basic training in the artillery barracks in Hagenau in Alsace and soon afterwards transferred to the Eastern Front as a battalion doctor. He was injured in his left leg by a shrapnel, which resulted in osteomyelitis for years . Shortly afterwards, in August 1944, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets. There he was in a team of doctors not only as a doctor, but also as a human adviser for the captured German soldiers in several prison camps, among others. a. active in Jasi, Charkow and Pokatilowka. He also looked after prisoners of other nationalities such as Japanese and Spanish. Even the Russians valued his advice. Several Russian women gave birth to him. In his spare time he carved various smaller items, such as tobacco boxes, chess sets, wooden figures and even dolls intended for his children. Playing chess was a welcome change for the prisoners of war and over the years Stock has made 84 such games, the figures of which were modeled on animals. He also drew a lot: he depicted situations from everyday life in captivity, including comrades who were suffering from malnutrition, but also made picture stories that were supposed to replace the cinema that was missing in the camp. Through his discharged comrades, he sent the family dolls and tobacco boxes, which contained cash receipts in secret compartments . Stock also provided miniature drawings of the landscape on the 7.0 × 4.5 cm small box office. He supported his doctor colleagues not only with specialist knowledge, especially with regard to eye diseases, but also with gifts such as carved objects or caricatures. Since he was needed as a doctor there, Stock was only released from prisoner-of-war in the spring of 1951 as one of the last.

Doctor and sculptor

Group of horses in the stable (charcoal drawing, 1957)

Horse pasture (Sepia, 1959)

After Stock's return to Offenhausen, the family stayed there because he had given up the original plan to live in a big city while he was a prisoner of war. Soon he started working as a general practitioner. From 1952 he took over a practice in Rommelsbach . He rode a motorcycle there and to his patients in the Alb. As early as 1951, Stock took part in an exhibition in Berlin and Bonn, where he showed works that he had succeeded in sending or bringing from the Soviet Union. There were tobacco boxes, dolls, small figures and drawings. The exhibition attracted attention, but it was also criticized, because at this time the struggle of abstract art against figurative art was dominant and representatives of the figurative direction like him were accused of arrest in a bygone era. However, like few other artists of the post-war period, he persisted in the figurative representation. In 1952 he made the plenny (from the Russian word "wojennoplennyj" - 'prisoner of war'), a figure of a kneeling prisoner of war with cookware and spoon, carved out of rough stone, which was dedicated to the deceased prisoners of war.

As he raced on his motorcycle rides, he suffered a serious accident as early as 1952. After a lengthy stay in hospital, he was slightly disabled and had to forego riding a motorcycle. Although he could drive a car, he immediately decided to enlarge the house in Offenhausen so that he could open his own practice there. The result was a large extension with practice rooms on the ground floor and a huge living room with a vaulted wooden ceiling on the upper floor. In 1956 he had a serious bicycle accident in which he suffered a traumatic brain injury. For a while he was paralyzed afterwards. Although the paralysis regressed, Stock remained visibly disabled and had to severely limit his work as a doctor.

In 1957 Wolfgang Stock met Albert Burrer, the owner of the natural stone quarry in Gauingen , where Gauingen travertine (often also referred to as marble) is extracted. Thanks to this acquaintance, Stock was able to use this noble-looking material for his work. From that time until 1972 he worked almost regularly in the quarry, mostly using electrical tools. He worked on smaller sculptures in his studio in Offenhausen. Over time there were more and more sculptures on his property. Nevertheless, he was always there for his patients. He visited some of them almost every day and kept them in a good mood.

As a sculptor he had achieved a regional reputation, so that he received commissions not only from private persons, but also from the public sector. The monument for the fallen in Dottingen is outstanding , consisting of a large 6-meter-long relief and an equally large name plaque as well as two sculptures. In the early 1960s, Stock built a house chapel on his property, which he gradually furnished with numerous wooden sculptures. It is to be seen as a total work of art in which architecture and sculpture come into their own in an interplay. In the 1990s, both Wolfgang Stock and his wife were in need of care.

plant

Wolfgang Stock's work includes sculptures mainly made of travertine, artificial stone and wood, as well as drawings and paintings. Among the sculptures there are sculptures as well as reliefs and everyday objects. The catalog edited by Nana Ostertag of all of his works known today comprises around 820 works. Stock's preferences for a particular material and shape changed over time. While at the beginning he preferred small forms made of artificial stone, as well as drawing and oil painting, he was forced to practice wood carving and drawing when he was a prisoner of war. After returning from captivity, he took up larger shapes, initially made of artificial stone and, since 1957, made of Gauinger travertine or diabase . During this time he also liked to make smaller sculptures and reliefs from wood (or from other materials such as plaster of paris), while neglecting drawing and painting.

In Stock's works after his return to Germany, the same subjects are dealt with over and over again: on the one hand, the memory of being a prisoner of war, a subject that hardly anyone was interested in at the time; on the other hand, classic subjects such as B. Nudes, motherhood, animals (preferably horses, dogs, squirrels, ducks and deer) alone and with people. Despite the few motifs, his work does not appear schematic, as Stock succeeded in creating an individual representation each time. Because of the figurative form, which he decidedly used throughout his life, as well as the memory of his imprisonment, he was given the label of the yesterday and the untimely. This was painful for him. His relationship with many other artists in his environment, such as B. to HAP Grieshaber , was clouded. Despite a number of public contracts, he did not gain national fame or recognition. He remained a loner who, over time, showed recognizable resignation and bitterness. Nevertheless, he had an unbroken creative urge until the end of his life.

Wolfgang Stock as a person

“Large, strong-bony and lean, narrow, angular head, straight hair without parting from the forehead, tanned face with dry skin and beard growth a few days old, eyes dark, serious, compassionate - this is how Wolfgang Stock is in after more than fifty years my memory. "

Wolfgang Stock was perceived by his contemporaries as an interesting eccentric. This had little to do with his knowledge as a doctor. During his stay in captivity, he found a sparrow in the open, which he nurtured large. “In the cold winter, the sparrow slept in the back of its knees so as not to freeze to death. Often the little bird was near death, but then Dr. Stock his medical skills and got him back on his feet. ”Stock cared for the bird for almost three years before he was released from captivity. He took the bird with him to Germany in a self-made farmer. The sparrow was so attached to him that he mostly sat on his shoulder and ate out of his mouth. Sometimes he snuggled up against his jacket.

On Stock's property in Offenhausen, a fawn grazed next to a horse that had been injured by a combine harvester. Stock took care of it and made it a prosthesis so that it could walk again - a little awkwardly. As he had planned during his captivity, Stock became a hobby beekeeper so that he could eat his own honey. To show his affection for the children, he always had caramel candies with him and by the way he pulled them out of his pocket.

Wolfgang Stock was also a passionate collector. He collected clocks and music boxes, which he often found in the garbage dumps in the surrounding villages. He painstakingly repaired the music boxes. From the garbage dumps, which he searched even in the worst weather, he also brought many other things with him that were usually considered useless. There were u. a. Tiles, clay jugs and natural stones. He "saved" so much junk that his large living room soon made a terrifyingly cramped impression.

A trademark of Stock was his car - a VW Beetle in which all seats except the driver's seat had been removed. The floor of the car was covered with hay. So he could transport the "rescued" objects. He also drove his car on the closed paths of the Münsingen military training area, so it happened that the fire had to be stopped because of him.

Works that can be seen in public places

• 1952 Plenny (memorial for 2,420 prisoners of war who died in Jasi; artificial stone on a base, height 120 cm; originally on his property in Offenhausen an der Straße, now on the grave of the Stock family in Gomadingen)
• 1952 Saint Christopher
• 1954 horse in levade
• 1954 child with raised hands (artificial stone, height 65 cm, in front of the Vonier maternity home in Offenhausen, Lichtensteiner Straße)
• 1956 horse and man (artificial stone, height approx. 150 cm at the entrance to the Marbach stud)
• 1957 St. Wendelin Fountain (Gauingen)
• 1958 relief at the slaughterhouse in Tübingen ( Ticino granite )
• 1962 Children's fountain (Grötzingen)
• 1971 Memorial for those killed in the two world wars ( Dottingen near Münsingen, consisting of a relief, a tablet and two full sculptures made of Gauinger travertine)

Exhibitions

• 1934 Berlin
• 1937 Art exhibition at the University of Unter den Linden Berlin - with Elisabeth Freitag, Eberhard Krumheur and Heinrich Wildermann
• 1951 Exhibition grounds at the radio tower in Berlin and Bonn: Prisoners of war talk , drawings, wooden figures and panels
• 1954 Homecoming Association Bonn
• 1967 Technical Town Hall Tübingen - with Fritz von Dessauer
• 1967 Reutlingen donation house
• 2013 Zehntscheuer Münsingen: Wolfgang Stock 1913–1997. Doctor and sculptor. Sculptures, reliefs, drawings, toys

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ Emma Stock (1880–1964) married Ludwig Bernhardt (1864–1920), who was senior veterinarian at the Marbach stud , and lived with him in the stud's official apartment in Offenhausen.
2. ^ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock… , pp. 10–12, supplemented from: G. Vescovi: Doctor and Artist… , p. 171.
3. ↑ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock… , pp. 12-13.
4. ^ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock ... , p. 14.
5. ^ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock… , pp. 15–17 or 20, supplemented from: G. Vescovi: Doctor and Artist… , p. 172.
6. ^ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock ... , p. 21.
7. ↑ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock… , pp. 18–21.
8. ^ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock ... , p. 21 and 23.
9. ^ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock ... , p. 24 and 27.
10. ↑ The current owner of the property restored the chapel.
11. ↑ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock… , pp. 26-27.
12. ↑ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock ... , p. 22 and 27.
13. ^ ^{A b c} Margarete Siebeck: On the way to "Onkel Stock" . In: Nana Ostertag (ed.): Wolfgang Stock… , p. 31.
14. ↑ The Sparrow from Russia .
15. ↑ ^{a b} Rolf Geigle: There are people who should never die, for me Dr. Stick such a person . In: Nana Ostertag (ed.): Wolfgang Stock… , p. 33.
16. ^ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock ... , p. 24, added from: G. Vescovi: Doctor and artist ... , p. 174.
17. ^ Nana Ostertag: Wolfgang Stock ... , p. 25.
18. ^ Georg Siebeck: My unfortunately-not-godfather . In: Nana Ostertag (ed.): Wolfgang Stock… , p. 29.
19. ↑ Made for the sister Liselotte, who ran a maternity home in her parents' house.

literature

• Nana Ostertag (ed.): Wolfgang Stock 1913–1997. Doctor and sculptor on the Swabian Alb , Freiburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-00-042532-5 .
• Dr. KW Stock created a prisoner of war memorial . In: “Ärzteblatt Baden-Württemberg”, December 1971, p. 709.
• G. Vescovi: doctor and artist. Graphics and sculptures by Dr. med. KW Stock . In: “Ärzteblatt für Baden-Württemberg”, May 1965, pp. 170–174.
• Fallen memorial on the road . In: "Schwäbische Zeitung", November 3, 1956.
• Horse and man . In: “Reutlinger Rundschau”, February 7, 1956.
• The sparrow from Russia . In: “Reutlinger Rundschau”, October 4, 1952.
• Dolls came from Russia as "spies" . In: "Reutlinger Generalanzeiger", 1951.

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Stock  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Wolfgang Stock's catalog raisonné