Johannes Gottfried Götz (4 October 1865 in

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is the Franconia#Towns and cities, s ...

– 11 September 1934 in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

) was a German sculptor.

Life

He was the son of a carpenter. After attending the

Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg The Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg () was founded in 1662 by Jacob von Sandrart and is the oldest art academy in German-speaking Central Europe. The art academy is situated in Nuremberg. Classes include studies in fine arts, sculpture, visual ...

, in 1884 he went to Berlin to study sculpture with

Reinhold Begas Reinhold Begas (15 July 1831 – 3 August 1911) was a German sculptor. Biography Begas was born in Berlin, son of the painter Carl Joseph Begas. He received his early education (1846–1851) studying under Christian Daniel Rauch and Ludwig Wi ...

at the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Kingdom of ...

up until 1890. His figure of a nude female water carrier won the Academy's "Prix-de-Rome", which enabled him to study there for two years. He later became a Professor at the Academy in Nuremberg. His work gained the attention of Kaiser

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

, who chose him to produce a group of figures for the Kaiser's monumental Siegesallee (Victory Avenue) project. Later, in 1909, at the Kaiser's request, he produced a gigantic statue of

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

in a victorious stance for the Achilleion, a palace on

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

built by

Elisabeth of Bavaria Elisabeth (born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; 24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898), nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austria on 24 April 1854 until h ...

. The statue was meant to offset an earlier work by

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 ...

called the "Dying Achilles". He lived in Fürth for most of his life and many of his works are located there, including grave and tomb decorations for thirteen of the city's notable families. His own parents' grave is adorned with a figure called "The Weary Wanderer". Götz himself is, however, buried in Potsdam. In 1952, a street was named after him in the Dambach district of Fürth.FürthWiki: Johannes-Götz-Weg
/ref>

Selected works

Berlin *

Quadriga A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in classical antiquity and the Roman Empire. The word derives from the Latin , a contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. In Latin the word is almos ...

on the National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument * Siegesallee Group 19: consisting of

Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg Joachim I Nestor (21 February 1484 – 11 July 1535) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1499–1535), the fifth member of the House of Hohenzollern. His nickname was taken from King Nestor of Greek mythology. Biography Th ...

as the central figure, flanked by Albert of Mainz (his younger brother) and Dietrich von Bülow (?-1523), Bishop of Lebus Fürth * "Jugendbrunnen" (Youth Fountain) in front of the fire station. * Busts of

Wilhelm Löhe Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Wilhe ...

and other notables from Fürth in the Kirchenplatz Other * Statues of

Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...

and

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

at Saalburg Castle, near

Bad Homburg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe (, ) is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, Germany, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg ...

. *

Hermann Wissmann Hermann Wilhelm Leopold Ludwig Wissmann, after 1890 Hermann von Wissmann (4 September 1853 – 15 June 1905), was a German explorer and administrator in Africa. Biography Born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Wissmann was enlisted in the Prussian Arm ...

Monument in

Bad Lauterberg Bad Lauterberg is a town in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the southern Harz, approx. 15 km southwest of Braunlage, and 20 km southeast of Osterode am Harz. Bad Lauterberg is known ''inter alia ...

* Monuments to Queen Louise and

Johannes Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg ( – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and Artisan, craftsman who invented the movable type, movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's inven ...

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

References

External links

Waymarking: The Jugendbrunnen.

Statues Hither and Thither: The Gutenberg Monument in Magdeburg.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotz, Johannes 1865 births 1934 deaths People from Fürth Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg alumni Prussian Academy of Arts alumni 20th-century German sculptors 20th-century German male artists 19th-century German sculptors German male sculptors

Life

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links