Hans Dammann (1867 - 1942) was a German sculptor; known primarily for his war memorials.

Life and work

Dammann was born 16 June 1867 at Proskau in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. His father, , was a Professor of

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

. In 1877, his family relocated to

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. From 1885 to 1888, he attended the

Technical University An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

there. After 1888, he continued his training at the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...

. His primary instructors were Albert Wolff,

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 ...

Peter Breuer Peter Christian Breuer (19 May 1856, Cologne – 1 May 1930, Berlin) was a German sculptor. He was a professor at the Prussian Academy of Arts (later, the Academy of Arts, Berlin) and was considered to be one of the pioneers of modern sculpture ...

and Gerhard Janensch.''Zur Jubelfeier 1696–1896. Ausstellung von Werken früherer und jetziger Lehrer und Schüler der Königlichen Akademischen Hochschule für die Bildenden Künste Berlin.''
(Catalog) Rud. Schuster, Berlin 1896, pg. 12. After completing his studies, in 1895, he went to Rome. Shortly after, he sent some works to the

Große Berliner Kunstausstellung Große Berliner Kunstausstellung (Great Berlin Art Exhibition), abbreviated GroBeKa or GBK, was an annual art exhibition that existed from 1893 to 1969 with intermittent breaks. In 1917 and 1918, during World War I, it was not held in Berlin bu ...

. He would participate in their exhibitions regularly until 1913. Upon returning to Berlin, he worked as a freelance sculptor. Most of his commissions were small. His first large scale work was a fountain with a statue of a night watchman at the (1896). That same year, he married Frida Martha Hirschwald (1878–1952). More large commissions failed to materialize, so he joined a workshop for cemetery art in

Plauen Plauen (; ; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany with a population of around 65,000. It is Saxony's 5th most populated city after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest cit ...

. Over the coming years, he created more than 130 funerary monuments, including full-scale tombs at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Cemetery in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

and at the

Friedhof Wilmersdorf The Friedhof Wilmersdorf is a state-owned cemetery in the Berlin district of Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf () is an inner-city locality of Berlin which lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the ...

.Barbara Leisner, Heiko K. L. Schulze, Ellen Thormann: ''Der Hamburger Hauptfriedhof Ohlsdorf. Geschichte und Grabmäler.'' Verlag Hans Christians, Hamburg 1990, pg.189 He continued to do a few non-cemetery works, including another fountain in

Bad Salzuflen Bad Salzuflen () is a town and thermal spa resort in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. At the end of 2013, it had 52,121 inhabitants. Geography Bad Salzuflen lies on the eastern edge of the Ravensberg Basin, at the confluenc ...

, for the Hoffmannstift, a hospital operated by Hoffmann's Starch Factories (for which he waived his fee), and a figure of a blacksmith for the second

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

of the town hall in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

. In 1906, he created the "Morning" and "Evening" figures for the large clock at the New Town Hall in Hanover. A group of figures for the fountain at the "Kaiserjubiläumspark" in

Bad Homburg vor der Höhe 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 ...

earned him the title of Professor, from 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 ...

, in 1914. As a reserve officer, he was drafted not long after the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In only a few weeks, he returned home wounded. This prompted him to undertake the creation of what are now his best known works; a series of war memorials for soldier's graves. As with his civil designs, many were used over with slight modifications. After the war, many of his models were reused by the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

as war memorials. His last civil work was the , in the spa park at Bad Homburg, unveiled in 1918. From 1922, he created war memorials, exclusively. Over seventy are still in existence. As his health began to decline, assistants were responsible for most of the work. From 1933, all of his memorials were created in collaboration with Heinrich Rochlitz (b.1882), about whom little is known. He died on 15 June 1942 in

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 ...

Selected works

Kriegerdenkmal in Enger, Kreis Herford, von Hans Dammann.jpg, War memorial in

Enger Enger () is a town in the Herford district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Enger is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehen Hills, approx. 6 km west of the town of Herford, the capital of the district. Neighbouri ...

Kriegerdenkmal Friedland.jpg, War memorial in Friedland Fürstenberg Denkmal 1914-18.jpg, War memorial in

Fürstenberg Fürstenberg (also Fuerstenberg and Furstenberg) may refer to: Historical states * Fürstenberg-Baar, county (1441–1559) * Fürstenberg-Blumberg, county (1559–1614) * Fürstenberg-Donaueschingen, county (1617–1698) * Fürstenberg-Fürst ...

dammann salome.jpg,

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

Landesfrauenklinik.JPG, Mothers' Monument in

Gleiwitz Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dammann, Hans 1867 births 1942 deaths German sculptors Leibniz University Hannover alumni People from Opole County Berlin University of the Arts alumni

Life and work

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links