![Wilhelm Wandschneider 1909](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Wilhelm_Wandschneider_1909.jpg)
Wilhelm Georg Johannes Wandschneider (6 June 1866,
Plau am See
Plau am See () is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated 28 km east of Parchim, and 29 km west of Waren.
Around 1235 the city was called Plawe, that being the Polabian fi ...
– 23 September 1942, Plau am See) was a German sculptor.
Life
His father was a commercial decorative painter. At an early age, he began an after-school apprenticeship in the family workshop, taking advantage of a few free hours for more artistic endeavors. In 1885, after having served as an assistant on a trip to
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...
and
Güstrow
Güstrow (; la, Gustrovium) is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is capital of the Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis.
It has a population of 28,999 (2020) and is the seventh largest town in M ...
, his father gave him permission to go to Berlin and look for work.
The Mayor of Plau had seen some of Wandschneider's artistic work and was impressed, so he attempted to arrange a scholarship. After securing recommendations from
Ludwig Brunow
Ludwig Brunow (9 July 1843, Lutheran - 13 January 1913, Berlin) was a German sculptor.
Life
He was the illegitimate child of the local sexton's daughter and spent most of his youth working as a shepherd, but quickly caught up on his education ...
and
Martin Wolff the Mayor sent a letter to Grand Duke
Frederick Francis III, who granted Wandschneider a personal gift of 150 Marks to study at the
Prussian Academy of Art.
[Künstlerlexikon Saar: Brief biography](_blank)
/ref> After passing the entrance exam in 1886, he studied with Albert Wolff, Paul Friedrich Meyerheim
Paul Friedrich Meyerheim (13 July 1842 – 14 September 1915) was a German painter and graphic artist. He did portraits and landscapes, but is best known as a painter of animals.
Life
Paul Friedrich Meyerheim was born in Berlin on 13 July ...
, Fritz Schaper
Fritz (Friedrich) Schaper (31 July 1841, Alsleben – 29 November 1919, Berlin) was a German sculptor.
Life
He was orphaned at an early age, and was sent to Halle to receive instruction at the Francke Foundations. After being apprenticed as ...
and Gerhard Janensch.[Bildhauermuseum Plau: Chronology](_blank)
/ref> He also gained practical experience working in the studios of Ludwig Brunow
Ludwig Brunow (9 July 1843, Lutheran - 13 January 1913, Berlin) was a German sculptor.
Life
He was the illegitimate child of the local sexton's daughter and spent most of his youth working as a shepherd, but quickly caught up on his education ...
, Martin Wolff, Karl Hilgers and 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 ...
. In 1895, he became a Master Student of Reinhold Begas but did not remain long, having won a prize from the "Philip von Rohr Foundation" which enabled him to study in Italy for a year. While there, he met his future wife, Anna Kreß, who was working as a model.
Career in Berlin
Full of confidence upon his return to Berlin, he was determined to achieve success as a free-lance sculptor, participating in several contests for monument and fountain designs. By 1898, he had won three major commissions. In 1899, through his friend Constantin Starck
Constantin Starck (18 February 1866 – 11 September 1939) was a German sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olymp ...
, he met Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg
Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg (german: Herzog Johann Albrecht zu Mecklenburg; given names ''John Albert Ernest Constantine Frederick Henry''; 8 December 1857 – 16 February 1920) was a member of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin who served as t ...
, who liked his work and placed several orders. His career truly took off after that point and the years 1897 to 1916 proved to be his most successful. Buoyed by the positive reception he received at the St.Louis World's Fair in 1904, he entered competitions for monuments in places as diverse as Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
and Quito, but to no avail. He finally received an order for a monument to Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly
Prince Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (german: Fürst Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly; baptised – ) was an Imperial Russian soldier of Baltic German and Scottish origin, who was commander-in-chief and Minister of War of the Russian Empir ...
in Riga and was proffered an invitation to compete for a monument in St.Louis that would be dedicated to the German-American journalists Carl Schurz, Emil Preetorius and Carl Daenzer.
Travel to America
The competition was primarily sponsored by Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...
cofounder Adolphus Busch
Adolphus Busch (10 July 1839 – 10 October 1913) was the German-born co-founder of Anheuser-Busch with his father-in-law, Eberhard Anheuser. He introduced numerous innovations, building the success of the company in the late 19th and early ...
, who had contributed $20,000 of the $31,000 needed to construct the monument. Wandschneider's entry, a single nude female statue, called " The Naked Truth", was selected as the winner by the jury, which subsequently invited him to St. Louis to collect his winnings.
Unfortunately, the Memorial Association, as well as Busch himself, were not pleased with the selection of a nude as the winner. Local residents were also upset, and sent the Association over 250 letters of complaint. Yielding to pressure, the Association cabled him, to inform him that they were rescinding the award, so he should stay in Germany. He reportedly received the cable shortly before leaving, but decided to go anyway. Upon his arrival in St.Louis, he met with the design committee and argued for the appropriateness of his design. His personal appeals were effective, and a compromise was reached; the statue would be made of bronze, rather than white marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed ...
, to deemphasize its nudity.
Later years
After Germany's defeat in World War I, many artists entered a period of financial distress as public commissions and private clients were difficult to find. At times, he had to feed his six children at the local soup kitchen.[Wilhelm Wandschneider: ''Aus meinem Leben'' (Manuscript in the Bildhauermuseum Prof. Wandschneider, Plau)] His only work came from military societies, seeking to memorialize their fallen comrades. In 1925, he had to sell his home and studio in Berlin, returning to his birthplace of Plau to reduce expenses. The people there greeted their famous son enthusiastically, creating a display of his plaster casts in a room at the local schoolhouse. This mini-museum was in operation until 1947. Even though he was politically conservative, he joined the National Socialist
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 ...
party in 1930, perhaps to ensure his employability.
In 1994, the city of Plau established a new museum to house his works, the "Bildhauermuseum Prof. Wandschneider"; on the site of the original classroom. In 2014, the redesigned and enlarged collection was moved to the "Burgmuseum".Burgmuseum Plau am See, website
/ref>
Selected major works
''A complete list of his works may be found in the corresponding article on German Wikipedia''.
Monuments
* 1898: Neustettin
Szczecinek ( ; German until 1945: ''Neustettin'') is a historic city in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with a population of more than 40,000 (2011). Formerly in the Koszalin Voivodeship (1950–1998), it has been the capital of Szczecin ...
, Statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I
William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the ...
. (Melted down in 1943). A heavily damaged portion of the base was recovered from a lake in 2003 and reinstalled.
* 1899: Berlin-Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the l ...
, Statue of Werner von Siemens
Ernst Werner Siemens (von Siemens from 1888; ; ; 13 December 1816 – 6 December 1892) was a German electrical engineer, inventor and industrialist. Siemens's name has been adopted as the SI unit of electrical conductance, the siemens. He foun ...
(The original base was destroyed. The figure was restored in 2003 and reinstalled on the Straße des 17. Juni
The Straße des 17. Juni (, en, 17th of June Street), is a street in central Berlin, the capital of Germany. Its name refers to the 1953 East German uprising, 17 June 1953 uprising in East Germany. It is the western continuation of the boule ...
).
* 1901: Schwerin
Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...
, Statue of Otto von Bismarck. (Melted down c.1950 by the Communist government. The base was reworked into gravestones. A similar fate befell his statue of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III in Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...
.
* 1903: Dortmund, Statue of Otto von Bismarck (Removed and hidden in 1940, but discovered in 1960 and melted down.)
* 1913: Riga, Statue of Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (Lost in 1915; reconstructed on its original base in 2002)
* 1914: St. Louis, Allegorical figure "The Naked Truth". (see above)
Neustettin Denkmal Kaiser Wilhelm I (1).jpg, Kaiser Wilhelm I (Neustettin)
Charlottenburg-Siemens01.jpg, Werner von Siemens
Wandschneider-dortmund-bismarck01.jpg, Otto von Bismarck (Dortmund)
Barclay de Tolly Statue Riga.jpg, Barclay de Tolly
Naked Truth.jpg, "The Naked Truth"
War memorials
* 1909: Sömmerda: Two-figure statue in honor of Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse
Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse (20 November 1787 – 9 December 1867) was a German firearms inventor and manufacturer. He is most famous for submitting the Dreyse needle gun in 1836 to the Prussian army, which was adopted for service in December 1840 ...
. (Demolished in 1948. Fragments of his head and the base still exist.)
* 1910: Güstrow, Figure of the "Kneeling Soldier", commemorating the Franco-Prussian War. Several more versions of this figure were created for other locations after World War I.
* 1920: Malchow
Malchow () is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte (district), Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany.
Geography
It is situated on the river Elde, 25,5 km we ...
, figure of "The Dying Roman Warrior", with a Swastika on the reverse of the shield. It was dismantled in 1945, with the intention of reinstalling it once the Swastika was removed, but it was melted down in 1956.
* 1936: Rostock, Figure of a fighting sailor to commemorate the Battle of Jutland and the men who were lost on the '' SMS Rostock''. (Dismantled in 1945 and melted at some later date. The base survived until recently, when it was seriously vandalized and had to be removed.)
Miscellaneous figures
* 1903: Plau am See, Figure of "Coriolanus
''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same yea ...
", originally created for the 1904 St.Louis World's Fair, where it won a gold medal. It has also been reproduced a statuette.
* 1906: "Der Sieger" (The Victor), in the Tiergarten Berlin (Melted in 1942, recast in 2001.)
* 1908: "Voss un Swinegel" (fox and hedgehog), in Güstrow
Güstrow (; la, Gustrovium) is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is capital of the Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis.
It has a population of 28,999 (2020) and is the seventh largest town in M ...
* 1914: "Hechtbrunnen" (Hake
The term hake refers to fish in the:
* Family Merlucciidae of northern and southern oceans
* Family Phycidae (sometimes considered the subfamily Phycinae in the family Gadidae) of the northern oceans
Hake
Hake is in the same taxonomic order ( ...
Fountain), in Teterow
Teterow () is a town of Germany, in the district of Rostock, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is the geographical center of this federal state. It had a population of 8,852 in 2011.
History
The ''Stadtkirche St. Peter und Paul'' (St. Pete ...
.
* 1935: "Sämann" (Sower), and "Mähender Bauer" (Mower), in Plau am See.
* 1936: "Pfennigjunge" (Pennyboy), on the former savings bank
A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings deposits and paying interest on those deposits.
They originated in Europe during the 18th century with the aim of providing access to savings products to al ...
building, Plau am See
Plau am See Sieger von Wandschneider (2012).jpg, ''Der Sieger''
Guestrow_Voss_Swinegel_fountain.jpg, ''Voss un Swinegel''
Teterow Hechtbrunnen.jpg, ''Hechtbrunnen''
Plau Saemann.jpg, ''Sämann''
Plau Maehmann.jpg, ''Mähender Bauer''
Wilhelm Wandschneider - Pfennigjunge Plau am See.jpg, ''Pfennigjunge''
References
Further reading
* Bernd Ruchhöft, Fred Ruchhöft: ''Wilhelm Wandschneider. Leben und Werk eines Mecklenburger Bildhauers.'' Self-published, Plau am See (1992).
* Heidrun Lorenzen, Volker Probst: ''Bildende Kunst in Mecklenburg 1900 bis 1945. Zwischen Regionalität und Internationalität.'' Hinstorff, Rostock 2010, (Guide book to the exhibition "Schönheit pur. Mecklenburg – ein Land für Künstler 1900 bis 1945", Güstrow and Rostock 2010).
External links
*
Works by Wilhelm Wandschneider
in the State Bibliography (''Landesbibliographie'') of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wandschneider, Wilhelm
1866 births
1942 deaths
Prussian Academy of Arts alumni
20th-century German sculptors
20th-century German male artists
19th-century German sculptors
German male sculptors