Gustav Christian Friedrich Behrens (12 May 1852 in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

– 14 September 1905 in Breslau) was a German sculptor.

Life

Behrens was the eldest son of a farmer and

fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

. After attending the

Ernestine Gymnasium, Gotha The Ernestine Gymnasium (Latin name: Ernestinum, used in German language, German) is a humanistic and modern Gymnasium (Germany), gymnasium in Gotha, Germany, the successor of the Illustrious Gymnasium (''Gymnasium illustre''), founded in 1524, w ...

, in his home town, he completed an apprenticeship with the Gotha court sculptor, Eduard Wolfgang (1825–1874). In 1870, he went to

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

where he studied at the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German language, German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institutio ...

and, from 1872 to 1877, worked in the studios of

Ernst Julius Hähnel Ernst Julius Hähnel (9 March 1811 – 22 May 1891) was a German sculptor and Professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. He is especially remembered for his public statuary. His works of art can be admired throughout Germany. Life He w ...

. In 1873, when he was only 21, he won a gold medal for his statue (since lost) of Hagen von Tronje from an episode of the

Nibelungenlied The (, or ; or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poetry, epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germanic hero ...

. Beginning in 1878, he made study trips to Belgium, Holland, Paris, Italy, Vienna, New York and Boston. From 1880 to 1881, he worked in the studios of

Carl Kundmann Carl Kundmann (15 June 1838, Vienna – 9 June 1919, Vienna) was an Austrian sculptor, best known for his works which adorn the area around the Ringstraße project. Life and work Kundmann studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. After six ...

and

Edmund von Hellmer Edmund Ritter von Hellmer (12 November 1850, Vienna – 9 March 1935, Vienna), born Edmund Hellmer and ennobled in 1912, was an Austrian sculptor who worked in the styles of Historicism and Art Nouveau. Life Hellmer studied architecture at t ...

in Vienna. In 1885, he set up his own studio in Dresden and, the next year, was appointed head of the Master Sculpture Studio at the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Breslau. Among his students there were

Hugo Lederer Hugo Lederer (16 November 1871 – 1 August 1940) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born German sculptor. Biography Lederer was born on 16 November 1871 in Znojmo. He studied in Dresden under sculptor John Schilling from 1890, then briefly ...

and

Franz Metzner Franz Metzner (18 November 1870, Všeruby (Plzeň-North District), Wscherau, near Plzeň – 24 March 1919, Berlin) was an influential German sculptor, particularly his sculptural figures integrated into the architecture of Central European publ ...

. He was a member of the German Art and Artists Cooperative Association and, in 1896, was designated a Royal Prussian Professor. Behrens, who had remained unmarried and childless, died at the age of 53 after a long illness.

Selected works

* Monument ''Allegorie auf die Fischerei'' in Breslau (1883) * Group of Figures ''Der trunkene Zecher'' (The Drunken Reveler) and ''Das keifende Weib'' (The Nagging Wife), over the entrance to the Schweidnitzer Keller at the Town Hall in Breslau (1892) * Statues of ''Art'' und ''Literature'' on the northeast corner tower of the Reichstag in Berlin (1894) * Statue of Abraham Lincoln in the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

(1899) * Statues of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

and

Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the ...

on the "Bridal Portal" of the Sankt Margarethen church in Gotha (1900) * Monumental sculpture of the

Archangel Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second ...

at the

Völkerschlachtdenkmal The Monument to the Battle of the Nations () is a monument in Leipzig, Germany, to the 1813 Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations. Paid for mostly by donations and the city of Leipzig, it was completed in 1913 for the 100th a ...

in Leipzig (1904/05)

Sources

*Matthias Wenzel: ''Zum 100. Todestag des Bildhauers und Professors Christian Behrens'', in: Gothaer Tagespost/TLZ, 15. September 2005

Life

Selected works

Sources

Further reading