Helmuth Ellgaard (3 March 1913 in Hadersleben – 22 April 1980 in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

) was a German illustrator, artist and journalist. Helmuth Ellgaard was born in the then German Haderslev/Hadersleben (now in Nordslesvig, Denmark). In 1928, the family left Haderslev, which became Danish after the Schleswig Plebiscites, for Kiel. Soon, Ellgaard caught an interest in drawing and painting. He was educated at the

Art academy An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...

in Kiel in 1934, while simultaneously working as a news illustrator for the ''Kieler Neuste Nachrichten'' newspaper. He also learned to sketch, and his specialty became fast sketches with

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

. In 1938 he was newly wed and moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. After the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he became a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

, and as a lieutenant in the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

he participated in many raids as a journalist, including the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

in 1940. His works were published in the renowned weekly magazine '' Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung''. During the war his two sons were born; Peter (1940) and (1943). The war had destroyed the large publishing houses in Berlin, and new newspapers and magazines were started in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

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 ...

among other places. The Ellgaard family therefore moved to Munich, where Helmuth Ellgaard participated in starting the illustrated magazine ''Revue'', which was one of the many new weekly magazines in post-war

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Ellgaard worked as an employee of the editorial staff as an image editor and news illustrator. In almost every issue there were illustrations by him, from 1953 also in color. His

role model A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success serves as a model to be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compa ...

s were the American

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

and the Dane Kurt Ard. In 1956 he chose to become independent, and moved with the family to Hamburg. There he illustrated books and worked for advertising agencies. However, his important work during the period 1954 to 1961 was the illustration of a large number of

film poster A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. The ...

s, of which the poster from 1959 for the anti-war film " The Bridge" (''Die Brücke'') is considered to be his most notable work. He died of a heart attack in 1980, 67 years old. In 2003, his two sons Peter and Holger Ellgaard donated a large part of his works to the '' Haus der Geschichte'' in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Posters

File:Die Bruecke 1959.jpg, "Die Brücke", 1959 File:Es geschah am hellichten Tag 1959.jpg, "Es geschah am...", 1959 File:Orfeu Negro, 1959.jpg, "Orfeu Negro", 1959 File:Und abends in die Scala.jpg, "...abends in die Scala", 1958

External links

* Museumsmagazin, Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Nr 3/2003, S.18–19, ISSN 1433-349X
Science Fiction by Helmuth Ellgaard on Retro-futurismusPosters by Helmuth Ellgaard on "Poster Treasures"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellgaard, Helmuth 1913 births 1980 deaths People from Haderslev Municipality German graphic designers German illustrators German poster artists