Gertrud Schiller
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Gertrud Schiller (7 January 1905 – 4 December 1994) was a German art historian, nurse, social pedagogue and Lutheran teacher of religion. Despite not having a doctorate in art history, she wrote what remains a standard work on Christian iconography. Schiller received an honorary doctorate from the
Kirchliche Hochschule Berlin The Kirchliche Hochschule Berlin (Church University Berlin) was a theological university in Berlin, Germany, from 1945 to 1992, a facility of the Protestant Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia. History The university dates b ...
in 1979.


Life

Schiller was born on 7 January 1905 in Beerbach (now part of
Lauf an der Pegnitz Lauf an der Pegnitz (; Northern Bavarian: ''Lauf an da Pegnitz'') is a town to the East of Nuremberg, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nürnberger Land, in Bavaria. It is in the valley of the River Pegnitz, which flows through the tow ...
), the daughter of the pastor and later
dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...
Wilhelm Heinrich Schiller and his wife Elise Anna Margaretha Schiller, née Kübel. She grew up in Beerbach and
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...
. From 1915 she attended the Anna Barbara von Stettensches Institut, a
Höhere Mädchenschule Höhere Mädchenschule or Höhere Töchterschule were names of historic schools for the higher education of girls in German-speaking countries between the beginning of the 19th century and 1908. The names may mean higher education, but also educati ...
in Augsburg, which did not allow its students to take the Abitur. This meant that she could not study art history at university. During
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, she suffered the death of cousins and uncles. In 1923, she attended a household school (''Haushaltsschule'') in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
and then learned nursing care at the municipal hospital in Augsburg. In 1927, Schiller decided to pursue the then new profession of social pedagogue and therefore went to
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
. She chose the topic "Adult Education and Elementary Schools" for her exam to enter. During her training she held a six-month internship at the welfare office (''Wohlfahrtsamt'') in
Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approxima ...
, which was also responsible for the youth welfare office (''Jugendbehörde'') in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
at the time. After her training, she accepted a job at the Protestant Church in Hamburg and moved there in 1928. In 1930 she became director of the ''Clemens-Schulz-Heim'', a church conference centre in
Kuddewörde Kuddewörde (old Saxon: ''Kuthenworden'') is a municipality in the district of Lauenburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated at the river Bille. In 1230 Kuddewörde is mentioned in the records of the bishop of Ratzeburg Ratzeburg ...
. Under the Nazi regime, churches rather than schools had to deliver religious instruction. Schiller took a course to qualify as an instructor at the in
Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...
. At this time, she became interested in the medieval art on display at the
Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum The Bode-Museum (English: ''Bode Museum''), formerly called the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (''Emperor Frederick Museum''), is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1898 to 1904 by order of Germ ...
. In 1944, Schiller gave religious instruction in
Franconian Switzerland Franconian Switzerland (german: Fränkische Schweiz) is an upland in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the River Pegnitz in the east and the south, the River Regnitz in the west and the River Main ...
, but lived in Bamberg. After the war ended, she suggested establishing an office for advising congregations on artistic matters. From 1946 to 1969, Schiller was head of the church art service, an office of the Lutheran Church in Hamburg. She encouraged young theologians and artists at the Kirchliche Hochschule Hamburg. In 1979, was awarded an
honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from the
Kirchliche Hochschule Berlin The Kirchliche Hochschule Berlin (Church University Berlin) was a theological university in Berlin, Germany, from 1945 to 1992, a facility of the Protestant Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia. History The university dates b ...
. In 1994 she died in
Grafrath Grafrath is a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck in Bavaria in Germany. It takes its name from Saint Rasso (Ratho), a count (Graf) who founded a Benedictine abbey in the 10th century. Points of interest * Forstlicher Versuchs ...
, and was buried in Augsburg.


Works


Iconography of Christian Art

Schiller's standard work on Christian iconography, ''Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst'', was published in a total of seven volumes in German, from 1966 to 1991 - it was planned as five volumes, but in the last two the text and illustrations were bound separately. A second edition, slightly revised, was published in German.German National Library catalogue
/ref> The first two volumes only have been translated into English, by Janet Seligman, using the revised edition. These were published as ''Iconography of Christian Art'' in 1971 and 1972 by Lund Humphries in London and the New York Graphic Society in New York. * ''Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst.'' 5 (7) volumes and register. Mohn, Gütersloh, from 1966. (In English: ''Iconography of Christian Art'' 2 vol. Translated by Janet Seligman. Lund Humphries, London, from 1971.) ** Band 1: ''Inkarnation, Kindheit, Taufe, Versuchung, Verklärung, Wirken und Wunder Christi''. 1966 (third, revised ed. 1981, ) (In English: ''Christ's Incarnation, Childhood, Baptism, Temptation, Transfiguration, Works and Miracles''. 1971) ** Band 2: ''Die Passion Jesu Christi.'' 1968 (2nd, revised ed. 1983, ) (In English: ''The Passion of Jesus Christ''. 1972 ) ** Band 3: ''Die Auferstehung und Erhöhung Christi''. 1971 (2nd, revised ed. 1986) ** Band 4, 1: ''Die Kirche''. 1976 (2nd, revised ed. 1988) ** Band 4, 2: ''Maria''. 1980 ** Band 5, 1: ''Die Apokalypse des Johannes''. Text. 1990 ** Band 5, 2: ''Die Apokalypse des Johannes''. Images 1991 ** ''Register to volumes 1 – 4,2''. By Rupert Schreiner. 1980.


Other works

In 1938 she published a book in three volumes, titled ''Images of the Bible'' (''Easter'', ''Christmas'', ''Encounters with Christ'') at the , which were published in the second edition by the Johannes Stauda-Verlag in Kassel. In 1941, two further volumes, ''The Passion of Christ'' and ''Creation'' were also published there. Following a review by
Wilhelm Stählin Wilhelm Stählin (24 September 1883, Gunzenhausen, Bavaria – 16 December 1975, Prien am Chiemsee, Bavaria) was a German Lutheran theologian, bishop, preacher and one of the major initiators of the Liturgical Movement in German Protestantism in ...
, the
Deutscher Caritasverband Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social service organizations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Collectively and individually, their missions are to work to build a bett ...
requested Schiller to set up an iconographic library. In Freiburg she got in touch with
Reinhold Schneider Reinhold Schneider (Baden-Baden, May 13, 1903 – Freiburg im Breisgau, April 6, 1958) was a German poet who also wrote novels. Initially his works were less religious, but later his poetry had a Christian and specifically Catholic influence ...
. At the end of the war, she wrote ''Das Licht scheint in der Finsternis'', which was published in 1946 by Johannes-Stauda-Verlag. * ''Hamburgs neue Kirchen, 1951–1961''. Christians, Hamburg 1961. * ''Die Offenbarung des Johannes. Farbige Bilder aus der Bamberger Apokalypse um 1020''. Wittig, Hamburg 1955 (Also: (= ''Frühmittelalterliche Buchmalerei.'' Vol. 10, ). Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, Berlin 1970) * ''Die Boten Gottes''. Stauda, Kassel 1951 * ''Bericht über die Tätigkeit des Kirchlichen Kunstdienstes von 1946–1951''. Kirchl. Kunstdienst, Hamburg 1951. * as ed. Martin Schongauer: ''Die Passion Christi. Kupferstiche'' (= ''Meister der Graphik''. Vol. 6 ). Introduction by Gertrud Schiller. Wegner, Hamburg 1948. * ''Das Licht scheint in der Finsternis. Die Weihnachtsbotschaft verkündet in Wort, Bild und Lied''. Stauda, Kassel 1946 (2nd ed. 1950) * as ed.: ''Bilder zur Bibel. Das Wort der Heiligen Schrift dargestellt in Meisterwerken der Kunst''. In 6 parts. Atlantis-Verlag et al, Berlin et al. from 1938. ** Part 1: ''Ostern''. Atlantis-Verlag, Berlin et al. 1938 ** Part 2: ''Begegnungen''. Atlantis-Verlag, Berlin et al. 1938 ** Part 3: ''Weihnachten''. Atlantis-Verlag, Berlin et al. 1938 ** Parts 4/5: ''Das Leiden Christi''. Atlantis-Verlag, Berlin et al. 1939 ** Part 6: ''Schöpfung''. Stauda, Kassel 1941


References


External links

*
Reminiscences of Gertrud Schiller
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiller, Gertrud German art historians Women art historians 1905 births 1994 deaths