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Description
‘Ludwig III, Koenig von Bayern’ (‘Ludwig III, King of Bavaria’)
Bronze relief of the Last King of Bavaria, who reigned until 1918.
Created in 1914.
Displayed at the ‘Erste Frühjahrs Ausstellung 1915’, Neuer Münchener Secession.
The relief by Bleeker, ‘Bildnis S.M. Ludwig III, Koenig von Bayern’, displayed at the ‘Erste Frühjahrs Ausstellung 1915’, Neuer Münchener Secession. Depicted in ‘Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration’, 1915.
The Ludwig III, King of Bavaria reliefs by Bleeker
In 1913 Bleeker created a bronze releif of ‘Ludwig III King of Bavaria’ with the inscirption MDCCCCXIII. In 1914 he made two almost identical reliefs of ‘Ludwig III King of Bavaria’ with the inscription MDCCCCXIV. One of the 1914-reliefs was displayed at the ‘Erste Frühjahrs Ausstellung 1915’, Neuer Münchener Secession; depicted in ‘Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration’, 1915. The other 1914-relief is depicted in ‘Die Kunst für alle’, 1915.
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Ludwig III, Koenig von Bayern’, 1914, bronze relief. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst für alle’, 1915.
Right: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Ludwig III, Koenig von Bayern’, 1913, bronze relief. Notice the inscription ‘MDCCCCXIII’. Depicted in ‘Jahrbuch der Münchener Kunst’, 1918.
Munich, Art, the Kings of Bavaria and Hitler
The Wittelbach dynasty ruled Bavaria for more then 700 years. ‘King of Bavaria‘ was the title held by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria from 1805 until 1918. Until 1918, when the kingdom was abolished, the city of Munich was home to the royal family.
King Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria, took, like all kings of Bavaria, great care to preserve the unique culture of Bavaria. In line with his predecessors, he was also a strong supporter of the arts.
King Maximilian II of Bavaria (1811 – 1864), successor of king Ludwig I, finalised the construction of the Glaspalast (1854, three years after the building of the Christal palace in London), the Bayerische Nationalmuseum (1825%), the Ruhmeshalle (1853), the Siegestor (1850), the Neue Pinakothek (1853) and the Propyläen at the Königsplatz (1862).
King Ludwig I of Bavaria (1786-1868) was Europe’s greatest patron of arts during the first half of the 19th century. He transformed Munich from a unremarkable provincial city into one of the artistic capitals of Europe. Instead of spending vast sums on the army and weapons, Ludiwg invested his personal funds and those of the Kingdom of Bavaria on works of art and architectural projects. Ludwig I wanted, he said, to make Munich ‘an Athens on the Isar‘. ‘I want to make Munich a city that should bring such glory to Germany, that no one knows Germany when he hasn’t seen Munich‘, he proclamed.
When Hitler, at 15 October 1933, struck the first stone in the ground breaking ceremony for the Haus der deutschen Kunst in Munich, he proclaimed that the city would become the heart of a new Artworld. Recalling the legacy of King Ludwig I, Hitler promissed the German people that the cult-city Munich would again be the capital city of German Art.
Bernhard Bleeker, coins with the portrait of King Ludwig III. Designed by Bleeker.
King Ludwig III issued sets of 2, 3, and 5 mark coins in 1914. There were about 500,000 coins minted in 2 and 3 mark denominations, and about 150,000 coins minted in 5 mark. The 3 Mark-coin with a diameter of 32 mm, consisted 0.482 ounces silver.
‘König Ludwig-Kreuz’ (‘King Ludwig Cross’). The oval central medallion bears the head of King Ludwig III facing left; designed by Bernhard Bleeker. The Cross was instituted by King Ludwig III on 7 January 1916 to be ‘a commemorative sign and recognition of thanks for those persons who during this war have performed with particular merit for the army or for the general welfare of the homeland through official and voluntary activities’ (‘als Zeichen ehrender und dankbarer Anerkennung für solche Personen, die sich während dieses Krieges durch dienstliche oder freiwillige Tätigheit in der Heimat besondere Verdienst um das Heer oder um die allgemeine Wohlfahrt des Landes erworben haben’). The Cross was cast in the Royal Bavarian Mint in Munich. It was executed in blackened iron, bronze or zinc.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : 61 x 43 cm; 14,8 kg |
| – signed | : signed under head: ‘BB’ |
| – type | : bronze |
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BIOGRAPHY: BERNHARD BLEEKER
Left: Bernhard Bleeker’, ‘Ludwig III., König von Bayern’, bronze. Displayed at the exhibition of the ‘Neue Münchener Secession’, 1914 (‘Erste Ausstellung’).
Right: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Ludwig III., König von Bayern’, plaster. Displayed at the exhibition of the ‘Neue Münchener Secession‘, 1916. Depicted in the official exhibition catalogue and in ‘Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration‘, 1916.
Left: ‘Rossebändiger’ by Bleeker in 2017. The Rossebändiger was heavily damaged in WWII, and as a result the horse was melted down.
Right: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Rossebändiger’ (‘Horse Tamer’), created in 1931 (right on the photo). The sculpture left on the photo is ‘Rossebändiger’ designed by Bleeker, but executed by sculptor Hermann Hahn. Bleeker worked for six years on his ‘Rossebändiger’ which was erected in front of the Munich Technical College in 1931.
Left: ‘Rossebändiger’ at 15 Juni, 1952. During the rebuilding of the Techncal University, Bleekers sculpture is still laying at the ground (the other ‘Rossebändiger was executed by Herman Hahn).
Right: ‘Rossebändiger’ at 14 June, 1946.
Below: ‘Rosseb:andiger’, after the bombing raid.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Reichtum’ (‘Wealth’), located in the Bavariapark, München. In 1908 Bleeker displayed at the exhibition ‘München 1908’ a group entitled ‘Reichtum’ at the Theresienhöhe in the Munich Exhibition Park.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘The Unknown Soldier’. In 1921/22 Bleeker completed the ‘Unknown Soldier‘, the war memorial in front of the former Munich Army Museum, now the Bavarian State Chancellery, in the Hofgarten in Munich. This work, 3,5 meters long and made in red marble (Ruhpoldinger Marmer) brought him fame (in 1972 the marble figur was replaced by a bronze cast; the original marble sculpture is in the possession of the Bayerische Armeemuseum, Ingolstadt). The memorial originally was meant to commemorate the 2 million soldiers killed in WWI, but now it is dedicated to the dead of both World Wars. Annual remembrance days for war heroes were organised here by both the Wehrmacht and the Nazi party from 1934 onwards. Even during the Weimar Republic it was already one of the most visited war memorials in Germany. Originally the names of 13,000 Munich soldiers who fell in WWI were engraved on the walls of a further walkway that surrounded the memorial. To this day military ceremonies in honour of the dead are still held regularly at this memorial.
Above: ‘The unknown Soldier’. Photo: 2017. Bronze cast.
Below: ‘The Unknown Soldier’ depicted in the ‘Die Kunst für alle’, 1933/34. Red marble.
Left: ‘The Unknown Soldier’ by Bleeker, depicted in the book ‘Ich Kämpfe’, Zentral Verlag der NSDAP Franz Eher Nachf., München, 1943. ‘Ich Kämpfe’ (‘I Fight’) was a book given by the Nazi Party to each new enrollee in 1943.
Right: ‘The Unknown Soldier’ by Bleeker, at Christmas Eve 1942. Depicted in the ‘NS-Frauen-Warte’, December 1942.
‘Bust of Hindenburg’
Bleeker displayed a marble bust of Hindenburg at the:
– ‘Kunstausstellung München 1931’, Deutsches Museum;
– ‘Münchener Kunstausstellung’, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, 1932 (depicted in the exhibition catalog);
– ‘Grosse Münchener Kunstausstellung’, Neue Pinakothek, 1934;
– exhibition ‘Heroische Kunst’, NS-Kulturgemeinde, Lenbach-Haus, Munich, June 1936.
– ‘Herbstausstellung der Preuss. Akademie der Künste’, Berlin 1941 (depicted in the exhibition catalogue).
Left: Bernhard Bleeeker, ‘Bust of Hindenburg’, marble. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst fur alle’, 1933. Right: Bleekers’ Hindenburg Bust depicted in ‘Jugend’, 1939.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Bust of Richard Wagner’, created in May 1913. Placed in the Walhalla in Regensburg. Later Wagner became one of Hitlers favourite composers.
Left: the Bust of Richard Wagner by Bleeker photographed in the Walhalla, July, 2017.
Right: the Bust depicted in ‘Das Bild’, 1942.
The revelation of the Wagner bust, published in the ‘Deutsche Correspondent’ (Baltimore Maryland), 3 August 1913.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Death mask of Erich Ludendorff‘. Since 2011 in the possession of the ‘Bayerische Armeemuseum‘, Ingolstadt. Bequeathed by the hiers of an officer who fought together with Ludendorff.
The Eternal Corporals
In the 30s -likely around 1937- Bleeker created the two huge concrete SS ‘Rottenführer Statues’ (also called ‘The Eternal Corporals’) which flanked the entrance at the Finkensteinallee of the Lichterfelde Kaserne. When the Russians took over the Lichterfelde barracks, they cut off the heads of the Eternal Corporals; the Americans later encased their bodies in concrete, so that they are now hidden inside the rectangular blocks at the main gate to the Lichterfelde barracks, which now house the German Federal Archives. There is a saying among German veterans that fresh cracks appear in the concrete when the Eternal Corporals try to salute any Leibstandarte Kamerad who stops to reminisce in front of them (‘Für Volk und Führer: The Memoir of a Veteran of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler’, 2013).
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘The Eternal Corporals’, around 1937.
The sculptures on film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP6jaGJEhDA (at 1.50)
Left: photo d.d. March 13, 1947.
Right: the heads -supposedly the heads from the Lichterfelde Kaserne- showed up in 2016 and were offered in the private market.
The former Lichterfelde Kaserne, now used by the Bundesarchiv, in 2019. Notice the particular shape of the restored concrete rectangular blocks.
Bernhard Bleeker, monumental works depicted in ‘Deutsche Plastik unserer Zeit’, Kurt-Lothar Tank, München, 1942.
Right: models of ‘Jüngling mit Stab’ and ‘Schiffahrt’ (height 260 cm), part of a fountain-group. Around 1940/41. Located in the ‘Koloss-Saal’ of the Münchner Kunstakademie.
‘Ritratto di Franz von Stuck’
In 1928 Bleeker took part in the XVI Biennale of Vienna with the bust of Franz von Stuck (‘Ritratto di Franz von Stuck’) and the bronze ‘Hugo von Habermann’ (‘Ritratto di Hugo von Habermann’). In 1934 Bleeker participated in the XIX Biennale of Vienna with –again- the bust of Franz von Stuck (owned by the Galleria dello Stato – Monaco) and a bronze bust of Max Slevogt (owned by the Galleria Civica – Monaco).
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, bust of ‘Franz von Stuck’, depicted in ‘Die Kunst für alle’, 1933/34.
Right: Bleekers’ bust of Franz von Stuck displayed at the exhibition ‘Ausstellung der Neue Secession’, 1925. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst für alle’, 1925.
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Bust of Hitler’, depicted at the cover of ‘Jugend’, 1939. Bleeker was commissioned to create 25 to 28 Hitler busts destined for official NSDAP buildings; one of these busts (1937) is still in the possession of the German Historical Museum, Berlin. A bust of Hitler by Bleeker was displayed at the exhibition ‘Junge Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1943, Vienna.
Right: Berhard Bleeker, ‘Generalfeldmarschall Hermann Göring’, depicted in ‘Jugend’, 1939.
Left: Bernhard BLeeker, ‘Bildnisbüste Adolf Hitler’, displayed at the exhibition ‘Westfalens Beitrag zur Deutschen Kunst der Gegenwart’, organised by the ‘Landesmuseum der Provinz Westfalen für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Münster’ in Haus Rothenburg, 1937. Depicted before the title page in the 1937-exhibition catalogue.
Right: ‘Bildnisnüste Adolf Hitler’, displayed in the permanent exhibition of the Deutsches Historisches Museum, August 2019.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Grosser Feldherr ziehe ein in Walhall’ (‘Great General goes to Valhalla’). Created in 1934. Medal commemorating the death of Field Marschal Paul von Hindenburg.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Generaloberst Von Reichenau’, bronze. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Deutsche Plastik der Gegenwart’ in Warschau, 1938, and at the GDK 1940 room 28. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst im Dritten Reich’, 1938, and again in ‘Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1940.
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Lion at the Deutsche Tor’, city of Landau. Postcard.
Right: ‘Lion at Deutsche Tor’, Landau. Shell-lime. The inscription at the base of this WWI memorial reads: ‘Deutscher Wehr zur Ehr’ (‘to German Defence and Honour’). Revealed, in the presence of prominent representatives of the Wehrmacht, veteran-organizations and the NSDAP, on 2 August 1936, in the year that the garrison of Landau was re-erected. The creation of the monument was promoted by Gauleiter Bürckel and sponsored by Hitler with 10,000 Reichsmark. The open mouth of the lion is geographically aimed at archenemy France.
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Bust of Arthur Kampf’. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Ausstellung der Münchener Secession’, 1927. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst für alle’, 1927.
Right: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Bust of Gauleiter Adolf Wagner’, displayed at the GDK 1941 room 28; depicted in the exhibition catlogue. Also depicted in ‘Die Kunst für alle’, 1941. Sold by a German auction house in 1991.
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Liegende Löwen’ (‘Lying Lions’), created 1914/15. Located at the main entrance of the police building in the Ettstrasse in Munich. Photo: 15 March 1933.
Right: ‘Liegende Löwen’. Photo: 2017.
Tannenberg Reichsehrenmahl
In 1935 Bernhard Bleeker sculpted the ‘Ruhende Landwehrmann’ (‘Resting Soldier’) and ‘Ruhende Kriegsfreiwillige’ (‘Resting Volunteer’) for the Hindenburg tomb placed in the Tannenberg Reichsehrenmahl, designed by the Berlin architects Walter and Johannes Krüger. The monument was erected at Hohenstein then in German East Prussia (now Olsztynek in the Polish voivodship of Warmia and Mazury) to the celebrate the late August 1914 WWI battle in which the German Army surrounded and annihilated the Russian Second Army commanded by General Samsonov.
On January 20th 1945, as the Soviet Armies advanced into East Prussia, the Germans military evacuated the remains of the Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg to the salt mine Altaussee (Later the Americans brought the remains of Paul von Hindenburg to the Elisabethkirche in Marburg, were his tomb still is).
A day later, on Hitler’s orders, the Germans blew up both the entrance tower and the one that had housed the Hindenburg tomb (including the Bleeker sculptures). The Soviets did not further destroy the monument which stood till 1949 when its building materials began to be utilized in the construction of the Palace of Culture in Warsaw and of the Headquarters building of the Workers (communist) Party there.
Nothing remains of the monument today other than its buried foundations. The area is now an Olsztynek city park.
Above: ‘Ruhende Landwehrmann’ (man with beard).
Below: ‘Ruhende Kriegsfreiwillige’ (young man).
Bernard Bleeker, ‘Zwei Jünglingsgestalten’ (‘Two Young Men’). Height 3 meters, including base. Located at the entrance of the ‘Alte Turnhalle’ (Sportschool) in Grünwald, Munich. Photo’s from May, 2017. Executed in bronze. The sculptures were originally commisioned in 1937 by the ‘Regiment General Göring Kaserne’ in Berlin (the Hermann Göring barracks consisted of 120 building; after 1994 the German Federal Army took over the compound from the French and it was renamed to Julius Leber Kaserne. Today, the largest barracks of the German Bundeswehr in Berlin are under monument protection).
As Bleeker was not satisfied about the quality of the casts (by the Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik Geislingen) they were not transported to Berlin. In 1946 Bleeker sold them for 2.000 Reichmark (the scrap price of bronze at that time) to the contractor Josef Best, under the condition that he would melt them down. Best however, donated the sculptures to the city of Munich, which placed them in Grünwald.
Bernhard Bleeker, two bronze busts, signed ‘1936’, decorating the facade of the ‘Feuersozietät Öffentliche Lebensversicherung Berlin Brandenburg’, Am Karlsbad 4-5, Berlin. Size approx. 80 cm, including base. Photo’s: 2019.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Verwaltungsgebäude der Feuersozietät der Provinz Brandenburg’.
The same -female- bust as shown above. Depicted in ‘Baugilde’, Zeitschfrift der Fachgruppe Architekten in der Reichskammer der Bildende Kunst’, 1937, book 4.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Bust of Adolf Hitler’, located in the stairwell of the ‘Verwaltungsgebäude der Feuersozietät der Provinz Brandenburg’.
Left: depicted in ‘Baugilde’, Zeitschfrift der Fachgruppe Architekten in der Reichskammer der Bildende Kunst’, 1937, book 4.
Right: depicted in ‘Baugilde’, Zeitschfrift der Fachgruppe Architekten in der Reichskammer der Bildende Kunst’, 1937, book 7.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Christophorus’, limestone, 1909. Located at the Isar grounds near the Luitpoldbrücke (or Prinzregentenbrücke), Munich.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Bust of Friedrich Ebert’, 1931, located in the Berlin Reichtag. Ebert was the first President of Germany from 1919 until his death in office in 1925.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Jüngling mit Stab’ (‘Young man with Bar’), 1950. WWI monument, located in the Luisenpark in Mannheim.
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Speerträger’ (‘Spear carrier’), 1940, located at Lietzensee Park, Berlin (without spear). Photo at the right taken in 2019.
Left: ‘Jüngling’ displayed at the the GDK 1940 room 21; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Also depicted in ‘Die Kunst für alle’, 1941.
Right: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Speerträger’, depicted in ‘Jugend’, 1935. Notice that the youn man holds the spear in his left hand. The plaster model with the name ‘Jünglingsfigur -also with the speer in his left hand- was shown at the GDK 1937 room 2; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Also depicted in ‘Kunst und Volk’, 1937.
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Pferdestandbild für die deutsche Kavallerie 1870–1945’ (‘German Cavalry Monument 1870–1945)’, Munich, 1960.
Right: releif at the base of the monument.
Bernhard Bleeker, bust of Hans Knappertsbusch, German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss as well as his unique public personal and conducting style. To this day, his interpretations of the works of Wagner, especially Parsifal, are regarded by many as among the best of the 20th century. Knappertsbusch was a highly educated moderate nationalist and never held a NSDAP membership. He had no sympathy for the Nazis, which he viewed as coarse and uncivilised, and was unusually outspoken in his distate for them. He often came into conflict with the authorities, risking his freedom and even his life in the process. Nevertheless, in 1944, he was added to the Gottbegnadeten list, which excluded him from military service. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1943.
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Crown Prince Rupprecht’ fountain, unveiled May 18, 1961. The fountain erected in honour of King Rupert stands in the Marstallplatz on the east side of the Residenz (the former official residence of the kings of Bavaria) outside the entrance to the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. It is made of Eifel-basalt, while the steps are made of Würzburg limestone. Rising above the centre of the fountain is a crowned female figure holding a pair of scales in her right hand (symbolizing justice) and a statue of the goddess Athena in her left hand (symbolizing science and art). On the fountain is an inscription: ‘Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern zum Gedenken’ (‘In memory of Crown Prince Rupert of Bavaria’). There is a similar fountain by Bleeker -without the statue of Athena- in front of Schloss Berchtesgaden.
Right: the monogram of Crown Prinz Rupprecht: on top of the ‘R‘, the Crown of the Kingdom of Bavaria.
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Prince Regent Luitpold’, 1911.
Right: on 11 March 1911 an official ceremony took place, celebrating the 90th birthday of Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria. At the same time, the main building of the university was inaugurated and the statues of King Ludwig I (by Knut Akerberg) and Prince Regent Luitpold (at the right) by Bernhard Bleeker, were revealed.
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Michaelsbrunnen’. In 1903/4 Bleeker was commissioned to create the ‘Michaelsbrunnen’, a fountain with a sculpture of Saint Michael slaying the dragon. For this war memorial for the city of Miesbach, he was awarded a Medal from the Art Academy.
Right: the statue of Michaelsbrunnen, in plaster, displayed at the ‘Grosse Münchener Kunstausstellung’, 1934, in the Neue Pinakothek (Glaspalast-Ausstellung’).
Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Kalksteingruppe Reichstum vor dem Hauptrestaurant’ (‘Limestone-group Reichstum in front of the main restaurant’). Displayed at the ‘Ausstellung München 1908’, depicted in the ‘Dekorative Kunst’, July 1908.
Left: Bernhard Bleeker, ‘Windspiele-Brunnen‘ (‘Greyhound-Fountain‘), 1936. Located at the courtyard of the former ‘Haus der Deutschen Ärtze‘, now ‘Oberösterreich-Haus‘, Brienner Strasse 23, Munich.
Right: Bernhard Bleeker, the same fountain depicted under the name ‘Der Hunde Brunnen’ in ‘Münchner Künstler Köpfe’, 1937.
Bernhard Bleeker. Photo depicted in the catalogue of the exhibition ‘Dukumente zu Leben und Werk des Bildhauers Bernhard Bleeker’, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg, 1978.
Bernhard Bleeker
Bernhard Bleeker, prominent representative of the Munich School of Sculptors
Bernhard Bleeker (1881–1968), born in Münster, was the son of a tailor. After training as a stonemason in Münster and Munich, he worked on various Munich building sites. From 1895 to 1897 Bleeker worked as an assistant to the sculptors Fleige and Bernhard Frytag. In 1899 he moved to Munich where he went to the Academie der Bildende Künste; in 1903 he became an assistant of Wilhelm von Rümann. Bleeker’s sculpturing, first characterised by a Neo-baroque style, was later heavily influenced by Adolf von Hildebrand and Neo Classicism.
In 1903/4 he was commissioned to create the ‘Michaelsbrunnen’, a fountain with a sculpture of Saint Michael slaying the dragon. For this war memorial for the city of Miesbach, he was awarded a Medal from the Art Academy. In 1908 he displayed at the exhibition ‘München 1908’ a group entitled ‘Reichtum’ (‘Wealth’) at the Theresienhöhe in the Munich Exhibition Park. A year later Bleeker installed a ‘Christophorus’ of limestone in the Isar grounds near the Luitpoldbrücke (or Prinzregentenbrücke). In the same year he was awarded the Medal Second Class by the ‘X Internationalen Kunstausstellung im Glaspalast’ and he became a member of the Münchener Secession; later a (board-)member of the Münchener Neue Secession. In 1911, Bleeker created a sculpture of Prinzregenten Luitpold (Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria) at the occasion of his 90th birthday, for the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. In 1913 he created a bust of Richard Wagner, which was placed in the Regenburger Walhalla; in the same year also a bronze relief of Ludwig III, King of Bavaria (in 1914 he made two more of these releifs). Later in 1913, Bleeker accompanied his friend Crown Prince Rupprecht von Bayern on a journey to Italy. When he returned to Germany, he created the ‘Liegende Löwen’ (‘Lying Lions’) at the main entrance of the police building in the Ettstrasse in Munich (1914/15). Bleeker went into military services from 1916 to 1918; during this time he was also member of an artistic advice committee to the German War Memorial department. After WWI he was offered two posts simultaneously, one in Berlin and one in Munich. He decided in favour of Munich and became professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1922. His later students included Paul Bronisch, Kurt Schmidt-Ehmen and Hans Wimmer.
In 1921/22 he completed the ‘Unknown Soldier‘, the war memorial in front of the former Munich Army Museum (now the Bavarian State Chancellery) in the Hofgarten in Munich. This work, 3,5 meter long and made in red marble (Ruhpoldinger Marmer) brought him fame (in 1972 the marble figur was replaced by a bronze cast; the original marble sculpture is in the possession of the Bayerische Armeemuseum, Ingolstadt). The memorial originally was meant to commemorate the 2 million soldiers killed in WWI, but now it is dedicated to the dead of both World Wars. Annual remembrance days for war heroes were organised here by both the Wehrmacht and the Nazi party from 1934 onwards. Even during the Weimar Republic it was already one of the most visited war memorials in Germany. Originally the names of 13,000 Munich soldiers who fell in WWI were engraved on the walls of a further walkway that surrounded the memorial. To this day military ceremonies in honour of the dead are still held regularly at this memorial.
From 1920 to the early 1930s, Bleeker produced a series of portraits, for example of Franz von Stuck (1925), Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern (1927), Max Slevogt (1931), Max Liebermann (1931), Paul von Hindenburg, Friedrich Ebert (placed in the Reichstag) and Olaf Gulbransson (1932); also he created in this period the gravestone of Luise Sellier (1926) and Franz von Stuck (1930). Bleeker worked for six years on his ‘Rossebändiger’ (‘Horse Tamer’) which was erected in front of the Munich Technical College in 1931. The Rossebändiger was heavily damaged in WWII, and as a result the horse was melted down. In 1928 Bleeker was awarded the Bavarian Order of Maximilian. In 1930 he became a Member of the Prussian Academy of Arts. In the same year again took a trip to Italy with his friend Crown Prince Rupprecht von Bayern. In November 1932 he became a member of the NSDAP. Bleeker did not always agree with the National Socialistic artistic style. His comments, for example about the war memorial in the Feldherrnhall (‘schlechte Biedermeierkommode’), did not made him very popular with certain Nazi representatives like Adolf Ziegler, Gerdy Troost and Gauleiter Adolf Wagner. In 1936 his house was even searched by the police. Nevertheless, Bleeker kept receiving prominent orders by the regime and continued to show his work at major exhibitions.
In 1907 Bleeker took part in the VII Bennale of Vienna, in 1928 in the XVI Biennale with the bust of Franz von Stuck (‘Ritratto di Franz von Stuck’) and the bronze ‘Hugo von Habermann’ (‘Ritratto di Hugo von Habermann’). In 1934 Bleeker participated in the XIX Biennale of Vienna with –again- the bust of Franz von Stuck (owned by the Galleria dello Stato – Monaco) and a bronze bust of Max Slevogt (owned by the Galleria Civica – Monaco). A year later he sculpted the ‘Ruhende Landwehrmann’ (‘Resting Soldier’) and ‘Ruhende Kriegsfreiwillige’ (‘Resting Volunteer’) for the Hindenburg tomb placed in the Tannenberg Reichsehrenmahl, designed by the Berlin architects Walter and Johannes Krüger. In 1936 Bleeker created a WWI memorial in Laudau, consisting of a huge stone lion with its open mouth aimed at archenemy France. He was also commissioned to create 25 to 28 Hitler busts destined for official NSDAP buildings; one of these busts (1937) is still in the possession of the German Historical Museum, Berlin.
In the 30s – likely around 1937 – Bleeker created the two huge concrete SS Rottenführer Statues (also called ‘The Eternal Corporals’) which flanked the entrance at the Finkensteinallee of the Lichterfelde Kaserne. When the Russians took over the Lichterfelde barracks, they cut off the heads of the Eternal Corporals and encased their bodies in concrete, so that they are now hidden inside the rectangular blocks at the main gate to the Lichterfelde barracks, which now house the German federal archives. There is a saying among German veterans that fresh cracks appear in the concrete when the Eternal Corporals try to salute any Leibstandarte Kamerad who stops to reminisce in front of them (‘Für Volk und Führer: The Memoir of a Veteran of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler’, 2013).
In 1937 Bleeker created a war memorial for the Waldthausenpark in the city of Essen; the same sculpture, also depicting a ‘Handgranatenwerfer’ (‘Grenade-thrower’), was placed in the city of Düsseldorf. His life size bronze ‘Speerträger’ (‘Javelin Thrower’) found a place in the Lietzenseepark in 1940 in Berlin.
At the Great German Art Exhibitions Bleeker was represented with eight works, including ‘Speerträger’ (named ‘Jüngling mit Speer’), ‘Jünglingsfigur’ and busts of ‘Adolf von Hildebrand’, ‘Generalfeldmarschall von Reichenau’ and Gauleiter Adolf Wagner.
In 1944 Bleeker’s name was put on the ‘Künstler im Kreigseinsatz’, a document listing artists who were exempt from military service, which was drawn up by Goebbels. Later that year, his house and his atelier in the Academy of Fine Arts were bombed.
Immediately after WWII, Bleeker who had been member of the NSDAP and several other Nazi sub-organisations, was dismissed from his position at the Munich Art Academy. A year later he was convicted by the court as minderbelastet, (lesser offender) and sentenced to a probabtion period of three years and a fine. In 1948 a Spruchkammer announced that his probation period had been reduced because he had paid his fine and proved that he had internalized the democratic worldview. In 1951 Bleeker was asked to return to the academy (Irith Dublon-Knebel, ‘A Dual Life, The Fate of Nazi Painters and Sculptors, 1945-1990’, Tel Aviv University, 1994).
Bleekers works created after WWII include: ‘Diana’ (1950), ‘Jünglich mit Stab’ (‘Young man with Stick’) in Mannheim (1950), the ‘Fortunabrunnen’ (‘Fortuna Fountain’) on the Karolinenplatz in Munich (1955), the ‘Kronzprinz-Rupprecht’ fountain in Berchtesgaden (1960), ‘Pferdestandbild für die deutsche Kavallerie 1870–1945’ (‘German Cavalry Monument 1870–1945)’ in Munich (1960) and the ‘Kronzprinz-Rupprecht’ fountain in Munich (1961). In 1951 he became a member of the newly founded Academy of Fine Arts, later an Honorary Member. In 1956 Bleeker was awarded the ‘Art Prize of the city of Munich’; in 1961 he received the ‘Medal of the city of Munich’.
Bernhard Bleeker died at the age of 86 in Munich in 1968.
The Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen is in the possession of: ‘Bildnis des Herrn Chillingworth’, ‘Bildnis des Malers Wehrung’, ‘Büste Olaf Gulbransson’, ‘Der Bildhauer Knut Akerberg’, ‘Der Dirigent Hans Knappertsbusch’, Der Geiger Josef Hösl’, ‘Der Maler Franz Pallenberg’, ‘Der Maler Hugo Habermann’, ‘Der Maler und Bildhauer Franz von Stuck’, ‘Die Frau des Künstlers’, ‘Professor R. Lischka’, ‘Regierungspräsident Theodor von Winterstein’, ‘Bildnis einer Jungem Frau’, ‘Christian Bleeker, der Sohn des künstlers’, ‘Der Artz Philipp Kullmer, der Schwiegervater des Künstlers’ and ‘Selbstbildnis’. The German Historical Museum owns busts by Bleeker of Hitler (1937, bronze, 38,5 cm high) and Paul von Hindenburg (1931, bronze, 37,5 cm). Many others museums own works by Bleeker, i.a.: die Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, das Bayerische Nationalmuseum, das Deutsche Museum, das Germanische Nationalmuseum in Nürnberg, Kunsthalle Augsburg, die Walhall in Regensburg, Westfälische Landesmuseum, Stadtmuseum Münster, Staatsgalerei Stuutgart, etc.
Many of the public works by Bernhard Bleeeker are still existing, some of them survived two world wars.