Helmuth Ellgaard (3 March 1913 in

Hadersleben Haderslev (; german: Hadersleben ) is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark with a population of 22,011 (1 January 2022).Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...

) was a German illustrator, artist and journalist. Helmuth Ellgaard was born in the then German Haderslev/Hadersleben (now in Nordslesvig, Denmark). In 1928, the family left Haderslev, which became

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

after the

Schleswig Plebiscites The Schleswig plebiscites were two plebiscites, organized according to section XII, articles 100 to 115 of the Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919, in order to determine the future border between Denmark and Germany through the former Duchy of S ...

, for Kiel. Soon, Ellgaard caught an interest in drawing and painting. He was educated at the Art academy in Kiel in 1934, while simultaneously working as a news illustrator for the ''Kieler Neuste Nachrichten'' newspaper. He also learned to sketch, and his specialty became fast sketches with charcoal. Ellgaard, Das Wunder von Lengede, 1963

In 1938 he was newly wed and moved to

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. After the outbreak of the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he became a war correspondent, and as a lieutenant in the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

he participated in many raids as a journalist, including the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended ...

in 1940. His works were published in the renowned weekly magazine ''

Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung The ''Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung'', often abbreviated ''BIZ'', was a German weekly illustrated magazine published in Berlin from 1892 to 1945. It was the first mass-market German magazine and pioneered the format of the illustrated news magazine. ...

''. During the war this two sons were born; Peter (1940) and Holger (1943). The war had destroyed the large publishing houses in Berlin, and new newspapers and magazines were started in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

among other places. The Ellgaard family therefore moved to Munich, where Helmuth Ellgaard participated in starting the illustrated magazine ''Revue'', which was one of the many new weekly magazines in post-war

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. Ellgaard worked as an employee of the editorial staff as an image editor and news illustrator. In almost every issue there were illustrations by him, from 1953 also in color. His

role model A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compare themselve ...

s were the American

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

and the Dane

Kurt Ard Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is ...

. In 1956 he chose to become independent, and moved with the family to Hamburg. There he illustrated books and worked for advertising agencies. However, his important work during the period 1954 to 1961 was the illustration of a large number of

film poster A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. The ...

s, of which the poster from 1959 for the anti-war film " The Bridge" (''Die Brücke'') is considered to be his most notable work. He died of a heart attack in 1980, 67 years old. In 2003, his two sons Peter and Holger Ellgaard donated a large part of his works to the ''

Haus der Geschichte Haus der Geschichte (officially ''Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland'', i.e. "House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany") is a museum of contemporary history in Bonn, Germany. With around one million visitors ever ...

'' in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

Posters

File:Die Bruecke 1959.jpg, "Die Brücke", 1959 File:Es geschah am hellichten Tag 1959.jpg, "Es geschah am...", 1959 File:Orfeu Negro, 1959.jpg, "Orfeu Negro", 1959 File:Und abends in die Scala.jpg, "...abends in die Scala", 1958

External links

* Museumsmagazin, Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Nr 3/2003, S.18–19, ISSN 1433-349X
Science Fiction by Helmuth Ellgaard on Retro-futurismusPosters by Helmuth Ellgaard on "Poster Treasures"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellgaard, Helmuth 1913 births 1980 deaths People from Haderslev Municipality German graphic designers German illustrators German poster artists