Hans Dammann (1867 - 1942) was a German sculptor; known primarily for his war memorials.

Life and work

Dammann was born 16 June 1867 at Proskau in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

. His father, , was a Professor of

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

. In 1877, his family relocated to

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. From 1885 to 1888, he attended the Technical University there. After 1888, he continued his training at the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

. His primary instructors were Albert Wolff,

Ernst Herter Ernst Gustav Herter (14 May 1846, Berlin – 19 December 1917, Berlin) was a German sculptor. He specialized in creating statues of mythological figures. Life and work Herter studied at the Academy of Arts in Berlin and later also as apprent ...

Peter Breuer Peter Christian Breuer (19 May 1856, Cologne – 1 May 1930, Berlin) was a German sculptor. He was a professor at the Prussian Academy of Arts (later, the Academy of Arts, Berlin) and was considered to be one of the pioneers of modern sculpture ...

and

Gerhard Janensch Gerhard Adolf Janensch (24 April 1860, Zamborst – 2 February 1933, Berlin) was a German sculptor and medailleur. Life At the age of seventeen, he entered the Prussian Academy of Arts, where he studied under Fritz Schaper, Albert Wol ...

.''Zur Jubelfeier 1696–1896. Ausstellung von Werken früherer und jetziger Lehrer und Schüler der Königlichen Akademischen Hochschule für die Bildenden Künste Berlin.''
(Catalog) Rud. Schuster, Berlin 1896, pg. 12. After completing his studies, in 1895, he went to Rome. Shortly after, he sent some works to the

Große Berliner Kunstausstellung Große Berliner Kunstausstellung (Great Berlin Art Exhibition), abbreviated GroBeKa or GBK, was an annual art exhibition that existed from 1893 to 1969 with intermittent breaks. In 1917 and 1918, during World War I, it was not held in Berlin bu ...

. He would participate in their exhibitions regularly until 1913. Upon returning to Berlin, he worked as a freelance sculptor. Most of his commissions were small. His first large scale work was a fountain with a statue of a night watchman at the (1896). That same year, he married Frida Martha Hirschwald (1878–1952). More large commissions failed to materialize, so he joined a workshop for cemetery art in

Plauen Plauen (; Czech language, Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the larges ...

. Over the coming years, he created more than 130 funerary monuments, including full-scale tombs at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Cemetery in Charlottenburg and at the Friedhof Wilmersdorf.Barbara Leisner, Heiko K. L. Schulze, Ellen Thormann: ''Der Hamburger Hauptfriedhof Ohlsdorf. Geschichte und Grabmäler.'' Verlag Hans Christians, Hamburg 1990, pg.189 He continued to do a few non-cemetery works, including another fountain in Bad Salzuflen, for the Hoffmannstift, a hospital operated by Hoffmann's Starch Factories (for which he waived his fee), and a figure of a blacksmith for the second

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

of the town hall in Bielefeld. In 1906, he created the "Morning" and "Evening" figures for the large clock at the New Town Hall in Hanover. A group of figures for the fountain at the "Kaiserjubiläumspark" in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe earned him the title of Professor, from Kaiser

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

, in 1914. As a reserve officer, he was drafted not long after the start of

World War I 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 ...

. In only a few weeks, he returned home wounded. This prompted him to undertake the creation of what are now his best known works; a series of war memorials for soldier's graves. As with his civil designs, many were used over with slight modifications. After the war, many of his models were reused by the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

as war memorials. His last civil work was the , in the spa park at Bad Homburg, unveiled in 1918. From 1922, he created war memorials, exclusively. Over seventy are still in existence. As his health began to decline, assistants were responsible for most of the work. From 1933, all of his memorials were created in collaboration with Heinrich Rochlitz (b.1882), about whom little is known. He died on 15 June 1942 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Selected works

Kriegerdenkmal in Enger, Kreis Herford, von Hans Dammann.jpg, War memorial in

Enger Enger () is a town in the Herford district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Enger is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehen Hills, approx. 6 km west of the town of Herford, the capital of the district. Neighbouri ...

Kriegerdenkmal Friedland.jpg, War memorial in Friedland Fürstenberg Denkmal 1914-18.jpg, War memorial in

Fürstenberg Fürstenberg (also Fuerstenberg and Furstenberg) may refer to: Historical states * Fürstenberg-Baar, county (1441–1559) * Fürstenberg-Blumberg, county (1559–1614) * Fürstenberg-Donaueschingen, county (1617–1698) * Fürstenberg-Fürsten ...

dammann salome.jpg,

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...

Landesfrauenklinik.JPG, Mothers' Monument in

Gleiwitz Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the re ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dammann, Hans 1867 births 1942 deaths German sculptors University of Hanover alumni People from Opole County Berlin University of the Arts alumni

Life and work

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links