Life
Wittkugel was born in Kiel in the extreme north of German empire, the country. His father was a businessman. Klaus Wittkugel himself undertook a commercial training in Hamburg between 1927 and 1929, while also attending the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, Hamburg State Arts Academy, and then studied in Essen at the Folkwang University of the Arts till 1932. Here he was a master-scholar of Max Burchartz. He then relocated to Berlin where between 1932 and 1935 he was employed as a commercial artist by a retail chain. From 1935 till 1937 he headed up a studio with a Berlin advertising agency, after which he worked in Berlin as a freelance commercial artist until Second World War, war intervened. He was conscripted for military service in 1939 and spent the war first as a soldier and then as a prisoner of war. War ended in May 1945, leaving what remained of Germany divided into Allied-occupied Germany, zones of military occupation. Berlin was at the centre of a region Soviet Military Administration in Germany, administered as the Soviet zone of occupation which in October 1949 would be relaunched as the German Democratic Republic. In 1946 Klaus Wittkugel joined the Merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, newly formed Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Socialist Unity Party of Germany (''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'' / SED) which in 1949 became the ruling party in the new Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, Soviet sponsored East Germany, East German state. In the meantime, between 1945 and 1949 he was employed as a graphic artist in the German (effectively ''East German'') Central Commerce and Supply Department. He went on to work as the chief graphic artist for the Information Department till 1952. In 1949 he also obtained a teaching post at the :de:Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee, Berlin-Weißensee Arts Academy, where he became a professor in 1952. He retained the professorship till his retirement in 1975. During these years he lived at an address in the much prized :de:Berlin-Schönholz, "Intellectuals' District" on the north side of East Berlin, close to :de:Beatrice-Zweig-Straße, "Street 201".Memberships
In 1950 Klaus Wittkugel was a founding member of the East German :de:Verband Bildender Künstler der DDR, League of Visual Artists, membership of which quickly became, for practical purposes, mandatory for those wishing to pursue a career in the visual arts. He was the first chairman of The League's Graphic Artists' Section, and from 1984 an honorary member. He became a member of the national Academy of Arts, Berlin, Academy of Arts in 1961, serving as that prestigious institution's vice-president between 1968 and 1974. He was a member of the Artistic Advisory Board of the Postage Stamps Commission in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Postage stamp design was important in the German Democratic Republic and it was a subject on which Wittkugel was influential. In addition he designed a succession of stamps and Postage stamp booklet, stamp booklet covers.Honours
* 1958: National Prize of East Germany * 1960: Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze * 1963: Patriotic Order of Merit in silver * 1969: Patriotic Order of Merit in gold * 1970: National Prize of East Germany * 1975: :de:Johannes-R.-Becher-Medaille, Johannes R. Becher Medal * 1979: :de:Kunstpreis des FDGB, GDR Trades Union Federation Arts Prize * 1980: Patriotic Order of Merit gold clasp * 1982: :de:Hans-Grundig-Medaille, Hans Grundig MedalReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittkugel, Klaus German printmakers German poster artists German stamp designers Academic staff of the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany 1910 births 1985 deaths East German artists Artists from Kiel