Erhard Frommhold (20 May 1928 – 17 October 2007) was a leading German writer and art historian.
He was a committed socialist, but he was not always an uncritical supporter of the
Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
line in the
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
which is where, while that state existed, he lived and made his career.
Life
Erhard Frommold was born in
Altenburg
Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...
, a midsized, then largely working-class town roughly equidistant between
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
to the north and
Zwickau
Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...
to the south. Before his fifth birthday Germany had undergone a significant regime change when in January 1933 the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
took power and lost little time in
imposing
Imposing was a notable Australian thoroughbred racehorse.
He was a chestnut son of Todman from the Arctic Explorer mare Hialeah.
Some of his major race victories included the 1979 AJC Epsom Handicap, AJC George Main Stakes and the STC Hill S ...
Germany's first twentieth century
one- party dictatorship
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
. Frommold grew up in an
Anti-fascist
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
family, however. By the time he left school,
European war had resumed, and he undertook an apprenticeship as a
plumber
A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems. . War ended in May 1945 and the entire central portion of Germany, including
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
and
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
, was redesignated as the
Soviet occupation zone
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...
. In February 1946 Erhard Frommold joined the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
.
[
He underwent a career switch in 1947 when he embarked on a four-year study course at ]Jena
Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...
, focusing on Sociology along with the History of Art
The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic vis ...
and Literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
. This defined the rest of his career, and in 1951/52 he obtained a post with the newly formed Verlag der Kunst (Arts Publisher) in Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
. He started out as a Literary editor A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews. , later becoming editor in chief of the books department.[ He remained with the Verlag der Kunst till 1991, although he was obliged to quit his position as Editor in Chief in 1968 after it was noticed by the authorities that a literary evaluation by Frommhold on an almost forgotten work by the distinguished scholar ]Wilhelm Fraenger
Wilhelm Fraenger (5 June 1890 – 19 February 1964) was a German art historian.
Fraenger was born in Erlangen. He was a specialist in the epoch of the German Peasants' War and of the mysticism of the Late Middle Ages. He wrote important studi ...
had failed to apply the stigma of "Bourgeois decadence". During his time at the Verlag der Kunst Frommhold was a prolific producer of Monograph
A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject.
In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
s. His better remembered subjects include Otto Nagel
Otto Nagel (27 September 1894 – 12 July 1967) was a German painter, graphic designer and long-time head of the Berlin Academy of Arts who was one of the most prolific artists of East Germany.
Life
Born at Berlin-Wedding, Nagel was the son ...
, Hans
Hans may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People
* Hans (name), a masculine given name
* Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician
** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans
** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...
and Lea Grundig
Lea Grundig (Dresden, 23 March 1906 – 10 October 1977, at sea) was a German painter and graphic artist.
Life
Lea Langer was born in the old central heart of Dresden, where she grew up as part of the city's Jewish community. Her father was a ...
, Lasar Segall
Lasar Segall (July 21, 1889 – August 2, 1957) was a Lithuanian Jewish and Brazilian painter, engraver and sculptor. Segall's work is derived from impressionism, expressionism and modernism. His most significant themes were depictions of hum ...
and Klaus Wittkugel. Another noted achievement was the publication by Verlag der Kunst, starting in 1958, of the "Fundus series", a collection of international Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
texts on Aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
, Art history
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
and Cultural history
Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...
which, despite not following the East German Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
line, were able to become established texts.
During the final year of his life Erhard Frommert suffered from heart disease, and it was a heart attack that killed him in Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
on 17 October 2007.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frommhold, Erhard
Art writers
German opinion journalists
Writers from Dresden
1928 births
2007 deaths
German male journalists