Georg Schreyögg (13 August 1870 – 7 July 1934) was a German sculptor. One of his better known surviving works is the 1907 St Barbara War Memorial in

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

, taken down to make way for a new road in 1956 but returned to a site in the city close to its original location in 2014.

Life

Georg Schreyögg was born in

Aitrang Aitrang is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany. Geography Aitrang lies in the south Bavarian Region Allgäu. It encompasses districts of: Aitrang, Huttenwang, Wenglingen. Administrative responsibility also exte ...

, a village in the Alpine foothills near

Kempten Kempten (; ) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town ''Cambodunum''. K ...

. He grew up in

Mittenwald Mittenwald () is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. Geography Mittenwald is located approximately 16 kilometres to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is situated in the Valley of the river Isar, ...

, however, a small but prosperous transit town southeast of Partenkirchen, along the mountain road towards the

Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass ( , shortly ; ) is a mountain pass over the Alps which forms the Austria-Italy border, border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Alps, major passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has the lowes ...

and, beyond that,

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

. Mittenwald was (and is) a town with a long craft tradition of wood carving and violin making. Georg was the youngest son of the five recorded children born to Mathäus Schreyögg (1831–?), identified variously as an inn keeper and a master baker, and his wife, born Kreszentia Marie Jörg (1833–1899). Starting in 1884 Georg Schreyögg attended the wood carving school in Partenkirchen. He then attended successively the Royal Academy of Applied Arts (''"Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule"'') and the Academy of Fine Arts (''"Akademie der Bildenden Künste"'') in Munich where his teachers included

Adolf von Hildebrand Adolf von Hildebrand (6 October 1847 – 18 January 1921) was a German sculptor. Life Hildebrand was born at Marburg, the son of Marburg economics professor Bruno Hildebrand. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg, with Kaspar von ...

and Wilhelm von Rümann. Between 1901 and 1908 Georg Schreyögg worked as a freelance sculptor, based in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. During this period, in 1905 he married Elisabeth von Barton (1881–1957). The two of them had three recorded children, born between 1905 and 1914. In Munich Georg Schreyögg attracted royal favour, which took the practical form of a private bursary provided by the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...

. This enabled him to undertake a year's stay in Italy during 1908/09, which appears to have focused, in particular, on

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and Rome. In 1909 he relocated to

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

where he took a job as professor at the Academy for Applied Arts (''"Kunstgewerbeschule"'') in succession to Fridolin Dietsche. Between 1909 and 1912 he drafted several designs for the prestigious Karlsruhe

Maiolica Maiolica is tin-glazed pottery decorated in colours on a white background. The most renowned Italian maiolica is from the Renaissance period. These works were known as ''istoriato'' wares ("painted with stories") when depicting historical and ...

producer. Between 1911 and 1914 he was teaching at the Women's Artists' College (''"Malerinnenschule"'') in Karsruhe. In 1920 the Academy for Applied Arts in Karlsruhe became the Regional Arts Academy (''"Landeskunstschule"'') and Georg Schreyögg became its Professor for Sculpture. His pupils here included Franz Danskin, Otto Schneider and .

Works

The spectrum of his work was broad, extending from graves and war memorials to decorations on buildings, fountains and smaller statues. In Karlsruhe he created the reliefs in the Carl Hofer Business School (1912–1914), the relief "Youth and age" (1912 – repositioned to the city park in 1933), the reliefs at the Exhibition Hall (1915) and the "Flora" statue at the entrance to the city park (1918/19). Elsewhere his works included the "Crucifixion Group" (1903) at the Munich Waldfriedhof (cemetery) and the St Barbara War Memorial in

Awards and honours

On 10 August 1930 Schreyögg was made an

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

in recognition of his contributions to maintaining the little town's rural character. The citation referred to his having contributed a number of artistic memorials. It was to Mittenwald that he returned when he retired in 1932. There is still a Professor Schreyögg Square (''"Professor-Schreyögg-Platz"'') named after him in the pedestrian zone on the west side of the town.

Notable family members

The artist Jörg Schreyögg was the youngest of Georg Schreyögg three children by his marriage to Elisabeth von Barton.Herrmann A. L. Degener, Walter Habel (Hrsg.): Wer ist wer? Das deutsche Who's Who. Ausgabe 1996/1997. Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck 1996, , p. 1309.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schreyögg, Georg People from Ostallgäu People from Upper Bavaria German sculptors German male sculptors 1870 births 1934 deaths