Nicola Perscheid - Berhard Hoetger um 1924

Bernhard Hoetger (4 May 1874 in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

– 18 July 1949 in

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss ...

) was a German

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and handicrafts artist of the

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

movement.

Life

Hoetger was the son of a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, he studied

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

from 1888 to 1892, before directing a workshop in

Rheda-Wiedenbrück Rheda-Wiedenbrück (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Raie-Wienbrügge'') is a city in the Gütersloh (district), district of Gütersloh, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography The twin community lies within the valley of the river E ...

. After a spell at the Düsseldorf Arts Academy, he took a trip to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he was deeply influenced by

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

, but also got to know

Paula Modersohn-Becker Paula Modersohn-Becker (8 February 1876 – 20 November 1907) was a German Expressionist painter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She is noted for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude self-portraits. She is conside ...

. Later he was able to familiarise himself with

Antoni Gaudí Antoni Gaudí i Cornet ( , ; ; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalans, Catalan architect and designer from Spain, widely known as the greatest exponent of Catalan ''Modernisme''. Gaudí's works have a style, with most located in Barc ...

. In 1911, Hoetger was called up to the

Darmstadt Artists' Colony The Darmstadt Artists' Colony refers both to a group of Jugendstil artists as well as to the buildings in Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt in which these artists lived and worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, near to the Rosenhöhe Park. ...

, where he was to remain for some time.

Art Nouveau

During the art nouveau movement Hoetger's sculptures were sold in Paris at La Maison Moderne (LMM). Second only to L'Art Nouveau Bing, LMM was one of the leading purveyors of home goods in the art nouveau style. LMM was run by

Julius Meier-Graefe Julius Meier-Graefe (10 June 1867 – 5 June 1935) was a German art critic and novelist. His writings on Impressionism, Post-Impressionism as well as on art of earlier and more recent generations, with his most important contributions transl ...

who, like Bing, was Jewish.

Böttcherstraße

In 1914, inspired by Modersohn-Becker, he moved to

Worpswede Worpswede (Northern Low Saxon: ''Worpsweed'') is a municipality in the Osterholz-Scharmbeck, district of Osterholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teufelsmoor, northeast of Bremen (city), Bremen. The small town itself is located n ...

. It was here where he met the

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

entrepreneur

Ludwig Roselius Ludwig Roselius (2 June 1874 – 15 May 1943) was a German coffee merchant and founder of the company Kaffee HAG. He was born in Bremen and is credited with the development of commercial decaffeination of coffee. As a patron, he supported ar ...

, with whom he would go on to make his masterpiece, Bremen's ''

Böttcherstraße Böttcherstraße is a street in the historic centre of Bremen, Germany. Only about 100 m (330 ft) long, it is famous for its unusual architecture and ranks among the city's main cultural landmarks and visitor attractions. Most of its bu ...

'', in an

style. In particular he was responsible for the

Atlantis House The Atlantis House () on Böttcherstraße in the old town of Bremen in the north of Germany is an interesting example of German architecture in the interwar period. Designed by Bernhard Hoetger, it was completed in 1931. After suffering serious ...

, which reflected the race-theories of the Nazi

ethnographer Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

Herman Wirth Hermann Felix Wirth (alternatively referred to as Herman Wirth Roeper Bosch or Herman Felix Wirth (although spelled ''Hermann'' on his birth certificate); 6 May 1885 in Utrecht – 16 February 1981 in Kusel) was a Dutch-German historian, a schol ...

HAG-TURM

He also designed the HAG-TURM, a building sponsored by Roselius's firm Kaffee HAG at the 1928 ''

Pressa ''Pressa'' was an International Press Exhibition held in Cologne between May and October, 1928. As German exhibitors were barred from participating in the ''Exposition International des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modern'' held in Paris in ...

'' International Press Exhibition. The HAG-Turm was a tower. This was built in 70 days. The building had ten storeys which contained all the working machinery necessary to create a working factory. 37 flags were on display on the front of tower representing the global reach of the company. Statistical and historical information was provided about coffee production, highlighting the part played by Café HAG. Scientific and medical experts were also present to provide further information to the public. Café HAG had become famous for their process of

decaffination Decaffeination is the removal of caffeine from coffee, coffee beans, Cocoa bean, cocoa, tea leaves, and other caffeine-containing materials. Decaffeinated products are commonly termed by the abbreviation decaf. To ensure product quality, manufact ...

and so there was also information about the bad effects of

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine chemical classification, class and is the most commonly consumed Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance globally. It is mainly used for its eugeroic (wakefulness pr ...

on human and animal health.

Nazi party links

Although Roselius was an ardent supporter of Nazism, Hitler denounced the art and architecture in the Boettcherstrasse. Roselius contemplated suicide, but his secretary

Barbara Goette Barbara Goette (26 July 1908 – 23 October 1997) was a German academic. She lived in Germany and then Australia. From 1935 to 1943, she was the private secretary of Ludwig Roselius, creator of Böttcherstraße and Café HAG, and financier of Foc ...

intervened with Hitler in Berlin and

Café HAG Café HAG is a worldwide brand of Decaffeination, decaffeinated coffee currently owned by JDE Peet's. History Café HAG was founded in Bremen in 1906 as ''Kaffee-Handels-Aktiengesellschaft'' (Coffee Trading Limited). The company's founder wa ...

, Roselius' corporation, invested heavily in

Focke-Wulf Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG () was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It is one of the ...

consequently outmanoeuvering Hitler.Leidig, Ludwig. Bombshell. sbpra 2013. Like his patron

, Hoetger sympathised with the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

ideals and became a member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. He moved to Berlin in 1934 and tried, in vain, to instill himself through his art into the party, but in 1936

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

declared it to be degenerate art. Expelled from the party, in 1943 Hoetger fled to Switzerland, where he died in 1949.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoetger, Bernhard 1874 births 1949 deaths German architectural sculptors German Expressionist painters 19th-century German painters German male painters 20th-century German painters Artists from Dortmund People from the Province of Westphalia Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni 20th-century German sculptors 20th-century German male artists German male sculptors 19th-century German sculptors Nazi Party members 19th-century German male artists