Reinhard Dietrich (14 February 1932 – 7 March 2015) was a German sculptor.

Life

Reinhard Dietrich was born in Breslau less than a year before the increasingly challenged "Weimar" regime was replaced by the Nazi government. By the time he was born 13 frontiers had moved and Breslau was rapidly becoming Wrocław,

ethnically An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, rel ...

and

politically Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies poli ...

part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Between 1946 and 1950 Dietrich lived in

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

within the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

of Germany, where he undertook an apprenticeship in the art of wood carving. This was followed by a period of study at the Wood carving Academy in Empfertshausen (1950–1952), and two or three years of further study at the College of Applied Arts at

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

(1952–1954). At Leipzig he was taught by and Alfred Thiele. After this he moved on to 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 ...

where he was taught by Hans Steger and Walter Arnold. Between 1958 and 1964 Dietrich worked as a freelance artist based in

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 ...

, teaming up at one point in a shared workshop with Wieland Förster. In 1964 he relocated to the north coast, living at Kneese (Bad Sülze), a short distance outside

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

on its eastern side. He stayed in the Rostock area for nearly four decades, and it was here that he had his most productive years. Several of his works can be found on public display in and around Rostock. Some of the work from his Rostock years was produced in collaboration with Jo Jastram (1928–2011). With his wife, Magda, he returned to live in

in 2003, where he died in 2015.

Output (not a complete list)

* 1965 "Mutter und Kind", Universitätsklinikum Dresden * 1966 "Möwenflug", Klinkerbild in der Langen Straße Rostock * 1970 "Sieben stolze Schwestern küsst das eine Meer

Fountain in Rostock (relocated 2008) * 1971 "Möwenflug", Bronzeplastik in

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow (river ...

vor dem Hotel Neptun * 1976 "Lotsenehrung

Concrete sculpture in Warnemünde by the Light Tower * 1976/77 mehrere Klinkergiebel, Rostock :de:Evershagen, Evershagen * 1977 Relief on the podium of the Gedenkstätte der revolutionären Matrosen ''(Memorial to the revolutionary sailors)'' in Rostock * 1979 "Sonnenblumen", Hausgiebelgestaltung in Lichtenhagen (Rostock) * 1979 "Mecklenburgische Bäuerin

Berlin-Alt-Hohenschönhausen * 1980 "Brunnen der Lebensfreud

auf dem :de:Universitätsplatz (Rostock), Universitätsplatz (Rostock) gemeinsam mit dem Bildhauer Jo Jastram * 1985 "Frau am Fenster", Terrakottafigur am Fünfgiebelhaus in Rostock * 1985 Relief "Bodenreform", Dorf Mecklenburg * 1986 Ehrenmal für die Opfer des Faschismus in

Bad Doberan Bad Doberan () is a town in the district of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It was the capital of the former district of Bad Doberan. In 2012, its population was 11,427. Geography Bad Doberan is situated just west of Rostock's city c ...

in der Nähe des Münsters * 1988 Satirische Plastik über das Auto, Kopenhagen * 1994 Marktbrunnen, Marlow * 1994 Sandsteinstele Salzstadt, Bad Sülze

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietrich, Reinhard 20th-century German sculptors 20th-century German male artists German male sculptors 21st-century German sculptors 21st-century German male artists Artists from Wrocław People from Mecklenburg Artists from Dresden Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany 1932 births 2015 deaths