Gottfried Waldemar Brockmann (1903 – 1983) was a German artist, educator, publisher, and served as a cultural advisor for the city of

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He taught at

Muthesius Academy of Art Muthesius Academy of Art (German: ''Muthesius Kunsthochschule'') is an art school and is located in the city of Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The school was named for architect Hermann Muthesius. The school was founded in 1907 as an Art ...

in Kiel.

Early life and education

Gottfried Brockmann was born on 19 November 1903 in the Lindenthal district in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. He was the son of painter Hans Waldemar Brockmann. He did a two-year apprenticeship in architecture, followed by a two-year apprenticeship in decorative painting which he completed in 1922. Between 1922 and 1925, he was active within the

Cologne Progressives The Cologne Progressives was an art movement and were an informal group of artists based in the Cologne and Düsseldorf area of Germany. They came together following the First World War and participated in the radical workers' movement. History ...

movement. Brockmann attended

Düsseldorf Art Academy Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

(German: Kunstakademie Düsseldorf) from 1926 to 1932, studying under

Heinrich Campendonk Heinrich Mathias Ernst Campendonk (3 November 1889 – 9 May 1957) was a painter and graphic designer born in Germany who became a naturalized Dutch citizen. Life Campendonk was born in Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was the ...

Career

In the early 1930s, he was a member of the board of the "Rheinische Sezession", which emerged from the

Young Rhineland Young Rhineland (Das Junge Rheinland) was an association of avant-garde artists formed in Düsseldorf on 24 February 1919. History The poet Herbert Eulenberg was one of the main instigators of the group, along with painter Arthur Kaufmann and ...

. In 1932, he married sculptor Marianne Reunert. He started teaching the foundation courses at Düsseldorf Art Academy, after graduation in 1932. As the

National Socialists Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

gained power in 1933, during this time Brockmann joined the

German Communist Party The German Communist Party (german: Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports left positions and was an observer member of the European Left. At the end of February 2016 it left the European party. His ...

(KPD). The Düsseldorf Art Academy director Walter Kaesbach was removed from his office by the National Socialists. Brockmann disagreed with the National Socialists changes, he resisted and spoke out against the replacement director, he was threatened. Eventually he and his wife fled, moving to Berlin to stay with his parents in hiding. While in Berlin, he worked at the United State Schools of Fine and Applied Arts (German: Vereinigten Staatsschulen für Freie und Angewandte Kunst), teaching art conservation courses. From 1942 to 1945, Brockmann joined the German military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and the Nazi regime. In 1946, he was released after being captured by the American military. After World War II, Brockmann settled in

Hof an der Saale Hof () is a town on the banks of the Saale in the northeastern corner of the Germany, German state of Bavaria, in the Franconian region, at the Czech Republic, Czech border and the forested Fichtelgebirge and Frankenwald upland regions. The town h ...

and ran a book publishing company. In 1952, the Brockmann family moved to Kiel, Germany; first working as a cultural advisor to the city and later teaching at Muthesius Art Academy.

Death and legacy

Brockmann died on 9 July 1983 in Kiel, at the age of 79. Since 1985, the city of Kiel has awarded the Gottfried Brockmann Prize, named after him. Brockmann's work can be found in various public museum collections including

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

(MoMA),

Berlinische Galerie The Berlinische Galerie is a museum of modern art, photography and architecture in Berlin. It is located in Kreuzberg, on Alte Jakobstraße, not far from the Jewish Museum. History The Berlinische Galerie was founded in 1975

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (, ''Dresden State Art Collections'') is a cultural institution in Dresden, Germany, owned by the State of Saxony. It is one of the most renowned and oldest museum institutions in the world, originating from the ...

Early life and education

Career

Death and legacy

Bibliography

Exhibition catalogs

See also

References

Further reading