The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

, in 1694/1696 by

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prin ...

Frederick III, in personal union Duke

Frederick I of Prussia Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function h ...

, and later king in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. After the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome and the Académies Royales in Paris, the Prussian Academy of Art was the oldest institution of its kind in Europe, with a similar mission to other royal academies of that time, such as the Real Academia Española in Madrid, the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in London, or the

Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architec ...

in Stockholm. The academy had a decisive influence on art and its development in the German-speaking world throughout its existence. For an extended period of time it was also the German artists' society and training organisation, whilst the Academy's Senate became Prussia's arts council as early as 1699. It dropped 'Prussian' from its name in 1945 and was finally disbanded in 1955 after the 1954 foundation of two separate academies of art for East Berlin and

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

in 1954. Those two separate academies merged in 1993 to form Berlin's present-day Academy of Arts.

People

Most artists were associated with the academy as members. Membership was an honorary distinction extended to prominent domestic Prussian artists (after unification, German artists) and selected foreign figures as well. A 'deliberative' body of senators was chosen from the membership – some elected, and some automatically included due to other rank. The academy was not a school, although it had associations with educational institutions, notably the state school that evolved into the present-day

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 largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universit ...

Directors

* Joseph Werner (16941710) * Blaise Nicholas Le Sueur (1756?1785) *

Bernhard Rode Bernhard Rode (25 July 1725 28 June 1797) was a Prussian artist and engraver well known for portraying historical scenes and allegorical works. He knew most of the central figures in the Berlin Enlightenment as Friedrich Nicolai and Gotthold Le ...

(17851797) * Daniel Chodowiecki (17971803) * Johann Gottfried Schadow (18151850) * Anton von Werner (18751915) *

Franz Heinrich Schwechten Franz Heinrich Schwechten (12 August 1841 – 11 August 1924) was one of the most famous German architects of the Wilhelmine era, and contributed to the development of historicist architecture. Life Schwechten was born in Cologne, the son of a ...

(19151918) * Max Liebermann (19201932) * Max von Schillings (19321933)

History

1694 to 1799

The academy was founded to include painters, sculptors, and architects as members, which reflected the classical unity of the arts ideal. The scope was expanded in 1704 to include "Mechanical Sciences". The academy's first director (president) was Swiss painter Joseph Werner. In 1796, the Academy announced a competition for a monument in honour of

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

. Friedrich Gilly designed a monumental temple in the style of revolutionary architecture (''Revolutionsarchitektur'') to be erected on Leipziger Platz in Berlin. Today, the design is part of the collection of the Kupferstichkabinett Berlin. Name changes: * 1696–1704 ''Kurfürstliche Academie der Mahler-, Bildhauer- und Architectur-Kunst'' (Electoral Academy of the Arts of Painter, Sculptor and Architecture) * 1704–1790 ''Königlich-Preussische Akademie der Künste und mechanischen Wissenschaften'' (Royal Prussian Academy of the Arts and Mechanical Sciences) * 1790–1809 ''Königliche Akademie der bildenden Künste und mechanischen Wissenschaften zu Berlin'' (Royal Academy of Fine Arts and Mechanical Sciences of Berlin)

19th century

Longtime director and sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow served from 1815 to 1850. In 1833 the academy added a fine arts division, and a music division in 1835. Emil Fuchs studied at the Academy under

Fritz Schaper Fritz (Friedrich) Schaper (31 July 1841, Alsleben – 29 November 1919, Berlin) was a German sculptor. Life He was orphaned at an early age, and was sent to Halle to receive instruction at the Francke Foundations. After being apprenticed as ...

and Anton von Werner, shortly before 1891.Se
Commons category: Fritz Schaper
/ref>Quoted on Tate website:
Ronald Alley, ''Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists'', Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, pp.227–8

Otto Geyer Karl Ludwig Otto Geyer (8 January 1843, Charlottenburg - March 1914, Charlottenburg) was a German sculptor. His brother was the architect, . Life and work His father, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Geyer, was an Archdeacon in the Evangelical Church. ...

studied there from 1859 to 1864. Sculptor Wilhelm Neumann-Torborg studied at the academy from 1878 until 1885, under Otto Knille and

. In 1885, he won the Academy's Rome Scholarship for his thesis, "The Judgment of Paris". Anna Gerresheim studied there from 1876 for four years in the "ladies class" under Karl Gussow. Oskar Frenzel studied there between 1884 and 1889 under

Paul Friedrich Meyerheim Paul Friedrich Meyerheim (13 July 1842 – 14 September 1915) was a German painter and graphic artist. He did portraits and landscapes, but is best known as a painter of animals. Life Paul Friedrich Meyerheim was born in Berlin on 13 July ...

and

Eugen Bracht Eugen Felix Prosper Bracht (3 June 1842 – 5 November 1921) was a German landscape painter. Biography Bracht was born in Morges, Waadt (near Lake Geneva in Switzerland) of German parents. His family later moved to Darmstadt, Germany, where ...

. He was from 1904 until his death a member of the Academy. Painter Friedrich Wachenhusen studied there in 1889 under

. Name changes: * 1790–1809 ''Königliche Akademie der bildenden Künste und mechanischen Wissenschaften zu Berlin'' (Royal Academy of Fine Arts and Mechanical Sciences of Berlin) * 1809–1875 ''Königlich Preussische Akademie der Künste'' (Royal Prussian Academy of the Arts) * 1875–1882 ''Königlich Preussische Akademie der Künste zu Berlin'' (Royal Prussian Academy of the Arts of Berlin) * 1882–1918 ''Königliche Akademie der Künste zu Berlin'' (Royal Academy of the Arts of Berlin)

20th century

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1998-029-9, Berlin, AdK-Ausstellung, Max Liebermann, Pierre de Margerie

In 1926 the academy added a ''Dichtkunst'' (Fine Poetry) division, a ''Dichtung'' (Poetry) division in 1932, and the German Academy of Poetry from the beginning of June 1933. From 1930 until his parting into exile in 1933, novelist

Heinrich Mann Luiz Heinrich Mann (; 27 March 1871 – 11 March 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German author known for his socio-political novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the Prussian Academy ...

was its president. Painter and sculptor Paul Wallat studied there from 1902 to 1909 under (de) (1835–1904) and Carl Saltzmann. On 29 December 1906 he received the award of the ''Ginsberg Foundation'' of the Berlin Academy. In 1920, Käthe Kollwitz became the first woman elected to the Prussian Academy, but with the coming to power of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in 1933 she was expelled because of her beliefs and her art. Name changes: * 1882–1918 ''Königliche Akademie der Künste zu Berlin'' (Royal Academy of the Arts of Berlin) * 1918–1926 ''Akademie der Künste zu Berlin'' (Academy of the Arts of Berlin) * 1926–1931 ''Preußische Akademie der Künste zu Berlin'' (Prussian Academy of the Arts of Berlin) * 1931–1954 ''Preussische Akademie der Künste'' (Prussian Academy of the Arts; disbanded)