Karl Ludwig Manzel (3 June 1858, Neu Kosenow – 20 June 1936,

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 a German sculptor, painter and graphic artist.

Life

Friedrich I Brandenburg Siegesallee Zitadelle

His father was a tailor and his mother was a

midwife A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...

. The family moved twice, first to Boldekow then, in 1867, to

Anklam Anklam (), formerly known as Tanglim and Wendenburg, is a town in the Western Pomerania region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is situated on the banks of the Peene river, just 8 km from its mouth in the , the western ...

where he attended the Gymnasium. It was there that he first expressed a desire to study art, but this was not supported by his parents. In 1875, at the age of seventeen, he arrived in Berlin, penniless, with the intention of enrolling at the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Kingdom of ...

. He supported his education by teaching drawing at a commercial art school and providing illustrations to the magazines '' Ulk'' (Joke, or Spoof) and ''Lustige Blätter'' (The Funny Papers). Among his teachers at the Academy were Albert Wolff and

Fritz Schaper Fritz (Friedrich) Schaper (31 July 1841, Alsleben – 29 November 1919, Berlin) was a German sculptor. Life He was orphaned at an early age, and was sent to Halle (Saale), Halle to receive instruction at the Francke Foundations. After being ap ...

.Androom Archives: Brief biography
/ref> Under the aegis of a sculptor's association called "Am Wege" (On the Way), he had his first successes and obtained a one-year scholarship to Paris, where he actually remained for three years, working in a major art studio.

Successes in Berlin

In 1889, he returned to Berlin, became a free-lance artist and developed a standing contract with the Imperial Family to produce busts and

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s. His true breakthrough came in 1894, when he was commissioned to do figures for the

Berlin Cathedral Berlin Cathedral (), also known as the Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, is a monumental Protestant Church in Germany, German Protestant church and dynastic tomb (House of Hohenzollern) at the Lustgarten on the Museum Island ...

and the Reichstag. In 1895, he became a member of the Academy and, the following year, a Professor at the Museum of Applied Arts. In 1903, he succeeded

Reinhold Begas Reinhold Begas (15 July 1831 – 3 August 1911) was a German sculptor. Biography Begas was born in Berlin, son of the painter Carl Joseph Begas. He received his early education (1846–1851) studying under Christian Daniel Rauch and Ludwig Wi ...

as head of the Masters Studio, a position he held until 1925. Perhaps his best-known student was Josef Thorak, one of the "official sculptors" of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

. He served two terms as President of the Academy; from 1912 to 1915 and from 1918 to 1920. In 1914, he was one of the signatories to the

Manifesto of the Ninety-Three The "Manifesto of the Ninety-Three" (; originally "To the Civilized World," , by "Professors of Germany") is a 4 October 1914 proclamation by 93 prominent Germans supporting Germany in the start of World War I. The Manifesto galvanized support for ...

, a document supporting Germany's invasion of Belgium. Manzelbrunnen 3

He was a friend of both Kaiser

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

and Georg Wertheim. When the Kaiser renovated an old manor for use as a summer residence in Cadinen, he contracted with Manzel to help modernize the

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed Vitrification#Ceramics, nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids ...

factory there, as well as produce new

Jugendstil (; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German and Austrian cou ...

designs for pitchers, vases and jars. When the project was completed in 1905, the Wertheim Department Store obtained exclusive rights to sell the new products. In his final years, he turned to painting, producing altarpieces for several churches in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

. One of his last works was a bronze medallion of

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

. His grave at the Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery is decorated with a female head he sculpted at an early stage of his career.

Selected major works

* 1894: Figures of the Apostles for the Berlin Cathedral. * 1898: A figure named "Sedina" (a symbolic embodiment of the city of

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

), in a fountain which came to be known as the "Manzelbrunnen". It was dismantled and melted for the copper in 1942. The fountain was later reconstructed with an anchor as the centerpiece. In 2012, the Szczecin City Council approved the re-establishment of a Sedina figure there. * 1900: Group 15 in the Siegesallee (Victory Avenue), consisting of

Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg Frederick (Middle High German: ''Friderich'', Standard German: ''Friedrich''; 21 September 1371 – 20 September 1440) was the last Burgrave of Nuremberg from 1397 to 1427 (as Frederick VI), Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from 1398, Margra ...

as the central figure, flanked by side figures of the knight Johannes von Hohenlohe (1370-1412) and the

Landeshauptmann The Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute,'' ) is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Ty ...

Wend von Ileburg. * 1906: Statue representing "Labor", on the first floor landing of Wertheim's department store, Leipziger Platz. * 1912-1924: A monumental Christ-relief on the theme "Come unto me, all ye who labor...", with 24 figures. Intended for a Protestant church in Gnesen, it could not be installed because that city was returned to Poland in 1920.''Mitteilungen, Erstes Heft'', Verlag der Historischen Gesellschaft für Posen, Berlin 1925, pg.79 Since 1932, it has been part of a grave memorial for

F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is regarded as one of cinema's most influential filmmakers for his work in the silent era. An e ...

in the Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf, not far from Manzel's own grave.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manzel, Ludwig 1858 births 1936 deaths Burials at Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery German male sculptors German illustrators Prussian Academy of Arts alumni 20th-century German sculptors 19th-century German sculptors

Life

Successes in Berlin

Selected major works

References

Further reading

External links