Jacob Acker was a

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 ...

in the second half of the 15th century in

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He painted the impressive

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

in the St. Leonhard cemetery Chapel in Ehingen (Donau)- Risstissen, Germany which bears his inscription ''Jacob acker maler zu ulm hat diese dafel gemacht uf des hailligen Kreutz tag an herst. anno dmi MCCCCLXXXIII jar''. This means: "Jacob Acker, painter in Ulm has completed this painting on the day of the holy cross in the year of 1483". Not much is known about this Jacob Acker "der Jüngere" (the younger). Most probably he belonged to the extended Ulm artist family of the Acker, many of them members of the so-called "Ulmer Schule" (school of Ulm). This dynasty of artists started with Jakob Acker "dem Älteren" (the elder), who lived around 1400. He painted some of the surviving

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows of

Ulm Minster Ulm Minster () is a Gothic Architecture, Gothic church (building), church located in Ulm, State of Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It was originally built as a Roman Catholic church (building), church but became a Lutheran Church in the 16th Cen ...

. His son Hans Acker (about 1380–1461) continued with this profession and his stained glass windows can also still be admired in Ulm Minster. Whether Jacob Acker "der Juengere" is a son or brother of Hans Acker is not known. Jakob Acker the Younger produced painted doors for the main

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

of Ulm Minster. This organ and Jakob Acker's doors are lost. In 1529 Ulm converted to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

; under the radical influence of the reformer

Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swi ...

on the so-called "Götzentag", the people of Ulm burned most of the paintings, altars, and organs of Ulm Minster in a huge fire on the square in front of the church in summer 1531. The

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

called this

fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishin ...

Protestant religious movement "die Bilderstürmer" ( iconoclasts). Because Risstissen, some 12 miles southwest of Ulm, then only partially owned by the city of Ulm remained

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, Jakob Acker's remarkable Risstissen altar survived. It is believed to have been part of the decoration of the then Gothic main church of Risstissen, which was removed at the end of the 18th century and replaced with the present church.

References

*''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie''
online version
15th-century German painters German male painters {{Germany-painter-stub