Kurt Schumacher (sculptor)
Kurt Schumacher | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | December 22, 1942 | (aged 37)
Nationality | German |
Education | Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin |
Spouse(s) | Elisabeth Schumacher |
Kurt Schumacher (6 May 1905 – 22 December 1942) was a German sculptor and Communist member of the German Resistance fighter who was a member of the anti-fascist resistance group that was later called the Red Orchestra by the Gestapo. He was married to the painter and graphic designer, Elisabeth Schumacher who was also an anti-fascist.
Biography[]
Schumacher was born in Stuttgart. As a 14-year-old, he moved to Berlin to begin an apprenticeship with a wood carver.[1] He first worked with Berlin wood carver . Subsequently, he worked and studied with Ludwig Gies, first at the School of the Museum of Decorative Arts (Unterrichtsanstalt des Kunstgewerbemuseums), then in 1935, as a master student at the Vereinigten Staatsschulen für Freie und Angewandte Kunst (VSS), the State School of Free and Applied Arts in Berlin.[2]
Beginning in 1932, he worked at the journal, Der Gegner ("The Adversary"), where he met Harro Schulze-Boysen. Schulze-Boysen and his wife, Libertas introduced him to Hans Coppi, Heinrich Scheel and Eugen Neutert. Political discussions strengthened their growing resistance to Nazism.[1][3]
The atelier at the VSS became a "conspiracy bulletin board," where people from the Resistance were able to associate under the guise of working as models.[3] In 1934, Schumacher married painter and graphic artist, Elisabeth Hohenemser.[1]
In 1939, Schumacher helped an escapee from Aschendorf-Moor Prison, , flee to Switzerland.[4] In 1941, he was drafted to serve in the Wehrmacht,[1] where, risking great danger, he published a leaflet called "Open Letter to the Eastern Front," in 1942. He also gave shelter to a parachute agent, , who arrived from Moscow in early August 1942.[1]
In protest of the National Socialist attack on Gies, Schumacher resigned his privileged position as master student. (The designation meant he had his "own" atelier – albeit shared – with Fritz Cremer.)
During Schumacher's arrest on 12 September 1942, the Gestapo destroyed his studio in Berlin, including a large amount of his artwork.[1] Surviving works by Schumacher include two medallions he designed on the Schleusenbrücke (bridge) in Berlin,[5] a basalt head and a printing block for the illustration, "Dance of the Dead" (Totentanz) at the German Historical Museum (Deutsche Historische Museum).
There is a 1941 painting by called "Rote Kapelle Berlin" at the Academy of the Arts (Akademie der Künste), where Schumacher's Resistance group often met.[6]
On 19 December 1942 Schumacher was sentenced to death by the Reichskriegsgericht. Three days later, on 22 December 1942, he was hanged at Plötzensee Prison, just forty-five minutes before his wife was executed.[7]
Awards[]
Schumacher received an award for a figurative sculpture in 1932 from the Akademie der Künste.
Sources[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kurt Schumacher (sculptor). |
- Christine Fischer-Defoy: Kunst Macht Politik. Die Nazifizierung der Kunst- und Musikhochschulen in Berlin. Elefanten Press, Berlin (1988) (in German)
- Gert Rosiejka: Die Rote Kapelle. „Landesverrat“ als antifaschistischer Widerstand. With an introduction by Heinrich Scheel. Hamburg (1986) ISBN 3-925622-16-0 (in German)
- Luise Kraushaar, Deutsche Widerstandskämpfer 1933 bis 1945. Berlin (1970) Vol. 2, p. 230 (in German)
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Short biography of Kurt Schumacher German Resistance Memorial Center, Berlin. Retrieved April 12, 2010
- ^ "Pupils’ Medals From The Unterrichtsanstalt Des Kunstgewerbemuseums" Retrieved April 26, 2010
- ^ Jump up to: a b Shareen Blair Brysac. Resisting Hitler: Mildred Harnack and the Red Orchestra Oxford University Press (2000) Retrieved April 26, 2010
- ^ Ohler, Norman (2020). The Bohemians: The Lovers Who Led Germany's Resistance Against the Nazis. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-328-56630-0. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ "Plaque Kurt Schumacher" Retrieved April 26, 2010
- ^ July 1991 Painting by Carl Baumann (b. 1912) Rote Kapelle Berlin[permanent dead link] (1941). Tempera on untreated cotton, 79 x 99 cm. Inv. No. 1967 LM (Photo: WLMKuK, Münster)
- ^ Walter Lipgens (Ed.) Documents on the history of European integration p. 418. Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin (1984). ISBN 3-11-009724-9. Retrieved April 26, 2010
External links[]
- Article, photos and documents about the Red Orchestra Plötzensee Memorial Center official website. Article in English, documents in German. Retrieved April 12, 2010
- 1905 births
- 1942 deaths
- Red Orchestra (espionage)
- German Army personnel of World War II
- People condemned by Nazi courts
- People from Baden-Württemberg executed at Plötzensee Prison
- German sculptors
- German male sculptors
- German communists
- Executed communists in the German Resistance
- Artists from Stuttgart
- Executed people from Baden-Württemberg
- People executed by hanging at Plötzensee Prison
- 20th-century sculptors