Wolfgang Willrich

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wolfgang Willrich
Wolfgang Willrich - Selbstbildnis in Felduniform als Feldwebel, 1941.jpg
Self-Portrait as a Feldwebel of the Wehrmacht, 1941
Born
Wolfgang Willrich

(1897-03-31)31 March 1897
Göttingen, German Empire
Died18 October 1948(1948-10-18) (aged 51)
Göttingen, Germany
NationalityGerman
EducationBerlin University of the Arts, Dresden Academy of Fine Arts
Known forPainting, drawing

Wolfgang Willrich (March 31, 1897 – October 18, 1948) was a German artist of the twentieth century, best known for his propaganda art during the time of Nazi Germany. From 1933 onwards, Willrich was employed by the Nazi government, for which he drew art depicting idealized racial standards and portraits of soldiers and party officials.

Biography[]

Willrich was born on March 31, 1897 in Göttingen to a well-off family. His father, Hugo Willrich, was a hellenist and professor of classical philology at the University of Göttingen. Willrich started painting at an early age, and his art was strongly influenced by his father's historical work. In 1915, he attended the Berlin University of the Arts, but there, he found the art decadent.

In 1916, he was called up for service during World War I, serving as a Feldwebel in the 251st Infantry Regiment on the Western Front. As a Feldwebel, he received the Iron Cross. Later in the war, he was captured by the French, being interned in Orleans until 1920. During his internment, he created war art. After his release, Willrich resumed his studies in 1921 at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, where he excelled. After his graduation in 1925, Willrich rose to prominence within the interwar German far-right with his idealized art of Nordic figures, initially associating himself with the Tannenbergbund and Erich Ludendorff.

From 1933 to 1934, Willrich worked at the Reich Chamber of Culture, but was forced out due to his association with the Tannenbergbund. However, after his firing, he was quickly reemployed by Richard Walther Darré, Reich Minister of Agriculture and a prominent ideologist of the Nazi regime. Darré contracted him to draw idealized images of "racially pure" German peasants and workers, which were printed out on postcards and propaganda. Willrich also created racially-themed art at this time at the behest of Walter Gross, head of the Office for Enlightenment on Population Policy and Racial Welfare. One of his most famous artworks from this time is his Familienbildniss, which shows an idealized "Aryan" family.

In 1935, Willrich declined becoming a full member of the Nazi Party and recognition by Heinrich Himmler as an honorary member of the SS, citing his desire to remain "artistically independent".

During his employment with Darré and Gross, Willrich also authored two books on art, Säuberung des Kunsttempels (The Cleaning of the Temple of Art) and Des Edlen Ewiges Reich (Of the Noble, Eternal Reich).[1] Both of these books strongly condemned the art of the Weimar Republic as "degenerate" and encouraged the expression of "racial consciousness" in art.[2] In 1937, Willrich was one of the most prominent organizers of the infamous Munich Exhibition of Degenerate Art

In 1939, with the support of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Willrich became a combat artist, a position he would hold until the end of the war. Willrich worked as a combat artist with the Wehrmacht Press Bureau, with which he drew portraits of officers of the Kriegsmarine and Wehrmacht early in the war, although his work eventually expanded to portraits of regular soldiers. His portraits of soldiers became very popular at the time through their printing on postcards and display at exhibitions. He received the rank of Feldwebel for his art in 1940.

In 1945, Willrich was captured by the United States Army in Normandy and imprisoned, however, due to his failing health, he was released in 1946.

After his release, Willrich sought to unsuccessfully reestablish himself as an artist, creating a three panel anti-war painting for his high school but dying of cancer shortly after in 1948. He also started an autobiography, which was completed by his wife in 1987.[3][4]

Gallery[]

See Also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Des Edlen ewiges Reich (The Noble Eternal Reich) by By Wolfgang Willrich: Very Good Hardcover (1943) | Entelechy Books". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  2. ^ "Willrich, Wolfgang: Säuberung des Kunsttempels: eine kunstpolitische Kampfschrift zur Gesundung deutscher Kunst im Geiste nordischer Art (München [u.a.]: Lehmann, 1937)". digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  3. ^ "Wolfgang Willrich - War Artist". www.cimilitaria.com. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  4. ^ Klaus J., Peters (1990). Wolfgang Willrich: War Artist. San Jose, California: R. James Bender Pub. ISBN 0912138424.
Retrieved from ""