Ludwig Gies (3 September 1887 – 27 January 1966) was a German sculptor,
medallist
A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...
and professor of art. He is best known for his crucifix in
Lübeck Cathedral
Lübeck Cathedral (german: Dom zu Lübeck, or colloquially ''Lübecker Dom'') is a large brick-built Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of the Lübeck World Heritage Site. It was started in 1173 by Henry the Lion as a cathedral for ...
, vandalized in March 1922 and later considered a typical work of
degenerate art
Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...
, and his famous Federal Eagle (also known as the "Gies Eagle", or "Fat Hen") (1953), which is hung at the front of the Plenary Hall of the
Reichstag in Berlin.
Life and work
1887 to 1918
![Refugees medal DSCF9937](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Refugees_medal_DSCF9937.JPG)
Gies was born in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, the older of the two sons of Philip Gies and his wife Johanna (née Grieb). A third child died young, and the father died in 1915. Gies's education is poorly documented: it is uncertain whether he attended secondary school (''
Realschule
''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...
'') or just eight years of primary school. It is definite, however. that he did not attend a
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
. Gies attended the Municipal Trade School (''Städtische Gewerbeschule'') in Munich from 1902 to 1904.
Besides school, Ludwig was an apprentice at the business of Winhart & Co., where he learned
chasing under
Johann Vierthaler
Johann Vierthaler (5 July 1869 – December 1957) was a German sculptor.
Following preliminary studies at the Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1895 to 1900, under Syrius Eberle. He was a ...
.
At the same time, he attended evening and Sunday classes in modelling and
wood carving
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...
, which brought Gies into early contact with
Richard Riemerschmid
Richard Riemerschmid (20 June 1868 – 13 April 1957) was a German architect, painter, designer and city planner from Munich. He was a major figure in ''Jugendstil'', the German form of Art Nouveau, and a founder of architecture in the sty ...
and
Bruno Paul
Bruno Paul (19 January 1874 – 17 August 1968) was a German architect, illustrator, interior designer, and furniture designer.
Trained as a painter in the royal academy just as the Munich Secession developed against academic art, he first cam ...
.
After Ludwig Gies finished at the Municipal Trade School halfway through his training at Winhart's, he attended, up until July 1907, the Royal School of Applied Arts (''
Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule'') in Munich, where he learned chasing,
enamelling, carving and ornamental modelling and figurative modelling with
Fritz von Miller
Johann Joseph Fritz von Miller, known as Fritz von Miller (11 November 1840 – 29 December 1921) was a German bronze caster, goldsmith and sculptor.
Life
Fritz von Miller, born in Munich, was one of the 14 children of Ferdinand von Miller, ...
,
Anton Pruska,
Maximilian Dasio and
Heinrich Waderé. The influence of Waderé, who introduced Gies to medal making, was particularly significant.
In the summer of 1906, after Gies had completed his studies at the ''Kunstgewerbeschule'' and at Winhart's, and had spent a few months in
Mindelheim
Mindelheim (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Mindelhoi'') is a Town#Germany, town in Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The town is the Capital (political), capital of the Unterallgäu district. At various points in history it was the chief s ...
in order to learn how to work in copper, he was employed at Winhart's until 1908 as a chaser. In May 1908, he enrolled at the
Academy of Fine Arts
The following is a list of notable art schools.
Accredited non-profit art and design colleges
* Adelaide Central School of Art
* Alberta College of Art and Design
* Art Academy of Cincinnati
* Art Center College of Design
* The Art Institute o ...
in Munich (''Akademie der Bildenden Künste München''). Gies presumably studied sculpture there for four semesters until 1910.
The reasons why he so quickly abandoned his studies are unclear. There is evidence that in 1909 he was again working at Winhart's and also returned there in 1912 as a freelance artist. In the years to 1914, he began a stylistic self-discovery and won several awards, primarily for new developments in medal working. A collaboration with the
Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory
The Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory (German: ''Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg'') is located at the ''Nördliche Schloßrondell'' in one of the ''Cavalier Houses'' in front of the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Germany, and since its establi ...
extended his capabilities of dealing with ceramics such as
majolica
In different periods of time and in different countries, the term ''majolica'' has been used for two distinct types of pottery.
Firstly, from the mid-15th century onwards, was ''maiolica'', a type of pottery reaching Italy from Spain, Majorca a ...
. A ceramic furnace came out of the experience, which attracted attention at the Swiss National Exhibition, Berne, in 1914. Shortly afterwards,
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 ...
broke out, in which Gies did not participate as a combatant for reasons of health but was conscripted for labour. In his works of this period, he distanced himself from patriotism and represented the suffering of war, which led to a partial censorship of his works.
1918 to 1945
On 28 August 1917, Bruno Paul, the head of the teaching institute of the
Museum of Decorative Arts Berlin, made a business trip to Munich to see various sculptures. With the departure of
Joseph Wackerle
Joseph Wackerle (15 May 1880, Partenkirchen – 20 March 1959, Partenkirchen) was a German sculptor. His work was also part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics.
Life
Wackerle's grandfather was a w ...
, a position had fallen vacant that particularly dealt with the art of medals. During this trip, Paul met Gies. Exactly why this meeting had the consequence of Paul calling Gies to work at the teaching institute is not entirely clear: it is possible both that Paul had received beforehand the recommendation to look closer at Gies, especially as Munich medal work had a particularly good reputation, and also that Paul had come across Gies through publications in this field. It is conceivable that Paul remembered Gies from the time when Paul himself had been employed at Winhart & Co. (around 1902), although given the shortness of time he spent there and the years between the two events, this seems unlikely.
In Berlin, Gies led the class in die-cutting and modelling for goldsmiths and chasers, and from 1924, at the United State Schools for Fine and Applied Arts (''Vereinigte Staatsschulen für Freie und Angewandte Kunst'', now
Universität der Künste Berlin
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 ...
), the modelling class.
Hilde Broer was a student of his at the United State Schools.
After the takeover of the Nazis, he came under pressure for his loyalty to dissident and Jewish students: in 1937 he was forced out of the
Prussian Academy of Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...
, and in 1938, dismissed from his teaching position.
[Ernst Klee: ''Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945''. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 183.] In protest, Gies' student, the sculptor
Kurt Schumacher
Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher, better known as Kurt Schumacher (13 October 1895 – 20 August 1952), was a German politician who became chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1946 and the first Leader of the Opposition in the West ...
, left the Prussian Academy as well.
![Grabstein Hans Böckler Melaten](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Grabstein_Hans_B%C3%B6ckler_Melaten.jpg)
Nevertheless, Gies also created for the 1935–1939 extension to the
Reichsbank
The ''Reichsbank'' (; 'Bank of the Reich, Bank of the Realm') was the central bank of the German Reich from 1876 until 1945.
History until 1933
The Reichsbank was founded on 1 January 1876, shortly after the establishment of the German Empi ...
(otherwise known as the ''
Haus am Werderschen Markt''), among other things, an Imperial eagle with oak wreath and swastika, made of light metal. Eleven of his works were confiscated by the Nazis.
His crucifix in
Lübeck Cathedral
Lübeck Cathedral (german: Dom zu Lübeck, or colloquially ''Lübecker Dom'') is a large brick-built Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of the Lübeck World Heritage Site. It was started in 1173 by Henry the Lion as a cathedral for ...
, originally commissioned by
Carl Georg Heise
Carl Georg Heise (28 June 1890 – 11 August 1979) was a German art historian. From 1945 to 1955 he was director of the Kunsthalle Hamburg.
Life
Heise was born into a Hamburg mercantile family with artistic interests. In about 1906 Aby Warburg b ...
in 1921, the director of
St. Anne's Museum, for
St. Mary's Church, Lübeck, was already condemned at the time of its creation as "over-Expressionistic" (''"überexpressionistisch"'') and as "culturally Bolshevist" (''"kultur-bolschewistisch"''), and was later one of the objects of hatred of the ''Entartete Kunst'' ("
Degenerate Art
Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...
") exhibition of 1937 in Munich, where it was ostentatiously displayed in the stairwell.
It was probably subsequently destroyed. The crucifix had already been the object of an attack on 3 March 1922 in Lübeck Cathedral, in which the head of Christ and one of the rays were struck off with professional competence.
The head was found in a nearby mill pond and the sculpture was thus reconstructed.
[Howoldt (1968), p. 170.]
1945 to 1966
![Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F002450-0003, Bonn, Bundestag, 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F002450-0003%2C_Bonn%2C_Bundestag%2C_2._Lesung_Pariser_Vertr%C3%A4ge.jpg)
After the end of
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 ...
, he was active as a freelancer in Berlin. From 1950 to 1962, he was professor of sculpture at the
Kölner Werkschulen
The ''Kölner Werkschulen'' (Cologne Academy of Fine and Applied Arts), formerly Cologne Art and Craft Schools, was a university in Cologne training artists in visual arts, architecture and design from 1926 to 1971.
History Origins
The origins ...
(Cologne Academy of Fine and Applied Arts) and from 1953, an Honorary Member of the
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...
.
Between 1959 and 1962, Gies designed the windows of the
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
of
Essen Minster
Essen Minster (German: ), since 1958 also Essen Cathedral () is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Essen, the "Diocese of the Ruhr", founded in 1958. The church, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian and the Blessed Virgin Mary, stands o ...
and received the ''Große Kunstpreis des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen'' ("Great Art Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia").
In 1957, Gies, a professing Catholic, received from the hands of the Federal President
Theodor Heuss
Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His cordial nature – something of a contrast to the stern character of chancellor Ko ...
the
Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...
. Ludwig Gies died in Cologne and was buried in the
Melaten Cemetery
Melaten is the central cemetery of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, which was first mentioned in 1243. It was developed to a large park, holding the graves of notable residents.
Name
The name "Melaten" refers to a hospital for the sick and l ...
.
The Letter Foundation awards a scholarship for sculptors and modellers which bears the name ''"Ludwig Gies-Preis für Kleinplastik"'' ("Ludwig Gies Award for Small Sculpture").
Works
Ludwig Gies's works are characterized by low or
sunk relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
s, often fantastically or unusually cut, and a style partly
Cubist
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
and partly late
Expressionist
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
.
He is also known for small sculptures of clay and for bronze medals. His design work for
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
churches included altar rails, candlesticks, mosaics, and stained-glass windows.
Gies became known mainly for two sculptures:
One was the crucifix in Lübeck Cathedral (1922), a larger than life-size woodcarving "strongly reminiscent of medieval devotional figures in distorted anguish",
which was held up as a typical work of degenerate art; its head having been chopped off and plunged in the
Trave
The Trave () is a river in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is approximately long, running from its source near the village of Gießelrade in Ostholstein to Travemünde, where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It passes through Bad Segeberg, Bad Old ...
river.
The other is a vast mural relief of the Federal Eagle (1953, also known as the "Gies Eagle") – popularly known as "the Fat Hen" due to its slightly bouffant, almost circular overall outline. (The nickname itself was really derived from the German proper name of some variations of
Sedum
''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succulen ...
, called "Fetthenne
or "Fette Henne
in German, popular not only in German gardens and characterised by the fleshy, i.e. "fat", appearance of their leaves). It was to be seen in all the chambers used by the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
and in modified form is still to be found hung at the front of the Plenary Hall of the Reichstag in Berlin.
Gies is considered the founder of the Rhenish School of Medal Work. His last pupil was
Wolfgang Reuter, whom he taught from 1961.
His successor in his teaching was Hanskarl Burgeff, whose students Agatha Kill, Lucia Hardegen and Hanspeter Dünwald are active in the third generation of the school.
Notes and references
Bibliography
* Ernsting, Bernd: ''Ludwig Gies. Meister des Kleinreliefs.'' Letter-Stiftung, Köln 1995,
* Ernsting, Bernd, Wedewer, Rolf Wedewer (eds.): ''Ludwig Gies. Werke im Museum Morsbroich.'' Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen 1989,
* Ernsting, Bernd (ed.): ''Ludwig Gies 1887–1966.'' Leverkusen, Selbstverlag 1990,
* Feldkirchen, Toni: ''Ludwig Gies''. Bongers, Recklinghausen 1960
* Fischer-Defoy, Christine: ''Kunst Macht Politik. Die Nazifizierung der Kunst- und Musikhochschulen in Berlin'', pp. 287ff. Elefanten Press, Berlin 1988,
* Hoff, August: ''Plaketten und Medaillen von Ludwig Gies.'' Scherpe, Krefeld 1962
* Howoldt, Jenns Eric: ''Der Kruzifixus von Ludwig Gies'' in ''Der Wagen'' 1988, pp. 164–174.
* Steguweit, Wolfgang: ''Hilde Broër. Bildhauerin und Medailleurin – Leben und Werk'', pp. 15ff. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2004,
External links
*
Medaillen von Ludwig Gies im Interaktiven Katalog des Münzkabinetts der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gies, Ludwig
German medallists
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
1887 births
1966 deaths
Artists from Munich
20th-century German sculptors
20th-century German male artists
German male sculptors