Stephanie Hollenstein (18 July 1886 in

Lustenau Lustenau (; gsw, Luschnou) is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the district of Dornbirn. It lies on the river Rhine, which forms the border with Switzerland. Lustenau is Vorarlberg's fourth largest town. Geography Luste ...

– 24 May 1944 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) was an Austrian

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 ...

landscape and

still-life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, boo ...

painter. Although a member of the Nazi Party, she tried to defend fellow-artists against charges of degeneracy, though usually without success.

Biography

She was born to a peasant farming family and initially worked as a cowherd. Her first paintings were made at that time, featuring animals and shepherds, with brushes made from animal hair and colors from berries. In 1904, she was admitted to the Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich, on the strength of the drawings she presented as samples.Brief biography
@ Sammlung Stephanie Hollenstein. After completing the courses there in 1908, she opened a small painting school in Schwabing, which was in operation for two years. In 1913, upon the recommendation of Franz von Defregger, she was awarded a scholarship that enabled her to study for a year in Italy."Stephanie Hollenstein"
by Brynhild Amann @ Neue Ordnung. Hollenstein-War

World War I

At the beginning of World War I, she took a medical training course and, in 1915, went to

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

, where she joined the Standschützen under the name "Stephan Hollenstein". Although her comrades-in-arms were aware of the deception, her superiors did not discover it for several months; at which time she was sent home. This incident attracted public attention, however, and she was assigned as a war painter for the "" (War Press Bureau). In that capacity, she was sent to the front on three occasions and, in 1916, was among the first recipients of the

Karl Troop Cross The Karl Troop Cross (german: Karl-Truppenkreuz) was instituted on 13 December 1916 by Emperor Karl I of Austria-Hungary. The cross was awarded for service up to the end of the First World War to soldiers and sailors of all arms of the Austro-Hunga ...

. She later received numerous commissions from the

Museum of Military History The Museum of Military History – Military History Institute (german: Heeresgeschichtliches Museum – Militärhistorisches Institut) in Vienna is the leading museum of the Austrian Armed Forces. It documents the history of Austrian ...

After the war, she lived in Vienna with her companion, Franziska Groß (1900-1973), who later became a doctor, and held several exhibitions with the Künstlerhaus Wien, the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austri ...

and the

Hagenbund The Hagenbund or Künstlerbund Hagen was a group of Austrian artists that formed in 1899. The group's name derived from the name Herr Hagen, the proprietor of an inn in Vienna which they frequented. Early history The group's most prominent member ...

. Her activities were interrupted for a time in 1928, following an accident that resulted in a double ankle fracture, but she was able to get treatment from

Lorenz Böhler Lorenz Böhler (15 January 1885 in Wolfurt, Austria – 20 January 1973 in Vienna) was an Austrian physician and surgeon. Böhler is most notable as one of the creators of modern accident surgery. He was the head of the AUVA-Hospital in Vienna, ...

, a doctor who is credited with establishing the field of accident surgery. She recovered completely and made extensive travels through Germany and Italy.

Nazi years

In the 1930s, she was attracted to the "Männlichkeitskult" (Masculinity Cult) and the military ideals promoted by the

Fascists Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...

. She became a secret member of 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 ...

(when it was still officially banned in Austria), then rejoined openly after the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

. From that time until 1943, she was chairperson of the "Vereinigung Bildender Künstlerinnen der Reichsgaue der Ostmark" (Association of Women Artists of the

Reichsgau A (plural ) was an administrative subdivision created in a number of areas annexed by Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945. Overview The term was formed from the words (realm, empire) and , the latter a deliberately medieval-sounding word wi ...

of Austria). During her tenure, she defended the sculptor, , and others against charges that their art was " Degenerate"; unsuccessfully for the most part. An application for the title of "Professor" was denied on the grounds that she was a strictly local artist whose work often did not set a good example. She resigned her position for health reasons. The following year, she suffered a heart attack and died shortly after. Her remains were returned to Lustenau for burial. A municipal art gallery named in her honor was opened in 1971.

Selected paintings

File:Hollenstein-Inn.jpg, Landscape with an Inn File:Hollenstein-Zoi.jpg, Lago Zoi in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form par ...

File:Stephanie Hollenstein - Cetara.jpg,

Cetara, Campania Cetara is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It is located in the territory of the Amalfi Coast. History The village was originally a settlement for a group of armed Muslims in 880. Ch ...

References

External links