Klaus Wittkugel (17 October 1910 – 19 September 1985) was one of the most important

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

and

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

artists in the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

(1949–1989). For many years he was also a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the Berlin-Weißensee Arts Academy.

Life

Wittkugel was born in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

in the extreme north of the country. His father was a businessman. Klaus Wittkugel himself undertook a commercial training in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

between 1927 and 1929, while also attending the Hamburg State Arts Academy, and then studied in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

at the Folkwang University of the Arts till 1932. Here he was a master-scholar of Max Burchartz. He then relocated to Berlin where between 1932 and 1935 he was employed as a commercial artist by a retail chain. From 1935 till 1937 he headed up a studio with a Berlin advertising agency, after which he worked in Berlin as a freelance commercial artist until

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

intervened. He was conscripted for military service in 1939 and spent the war first as a soldier and then as a prisoner of war. War ended in May 1945, leaving what remained of Germany divided into zones of military occupation.

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

was at the centre of a region administered as the Soviet zone of occupation which in October 1949 would be relaunched as the German Democratic Republic. In 1946 Klaus Wittkugel joined the newly formed Socialist Unity Party of Germany (''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'' / SED) which in 1949 became the ruling party in the new Soviet sponsored East German state. In the meantime, between 1945 and 1949 he was employed as a

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

in the German (effectively ''East German'') Central Commerce and Supply Department. He went on to work as the chief graphic artist for the Information Department till 1952. In 1949 he also obtained a teaching post at the Berlin-Weißensee Arts Academy, where he became a professor in 1952. He retained the professorship till his retirement in 1975. During these years he lived at an address in the much prized "Intellectuals' District" on the north side of

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

, close to "Street 201".

Memberships

In 1950 Klaus Wittkugel was a founding member of the East German League of Visual Artists, membership of which quickly became, for practical purposes, mandatory for those wishing to pursue a career in the visual arts. He was the first chairman of The League's Graphic Artists' Section, and from 1984 an honorary member. He became a member of the national

Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 1961, serving as that prestigious institution's vice-president between 1968 and 1974. He was a member of the Artistic Advisory Board of the Postage Stamps Commission in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Postage stamp design was important in the German Democratic Republic and it was a subject on which Wittkugel was influential. In addition he designed a succession of stamps and stamp booklet covers.

Honours

* 1958: National Prize of East Germany * 1960:

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in bronze * 1963:

in silver * 1969:

in gold * 1970: National Prize of East Germany * 1975: Johannes R. Becher Medal * 1979: GDR Trades Union Federation Arts Prize * 1980:

gold clasp * 1982: Hans Grundig Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittkugel, Klaus German printmakers German poster artists German stamp designers Academic staff of the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany 1910 births 1985 deaths East German artists Artists from Kiel