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Description
‘Widder’ (‘Rams’)
Bronze bookends.
Another cast is in the possession of the Museum Fritz von Graevenitz.
Each bookend weights 4,2 kg.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : height 17,5 cm, length 13,5 cm. Each bookend weights 4,2 kg |
| – signed | : signed ‘F.v.G.’ |
| – type | : bronze |
| – misc. I | : with foundry mark ‘Brandstetter München’ |
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BIOGRAPHY: FRITZ VON GRAEVENITZ
Left: Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Der Jüngling’ (‘Young Man’). Displayed at the exhibition ‘Reichsausstellung junger Kunst’ in Salzburg, 1942. Bought by the Reichsuniversität Posen (nowadays Poznan in Poland) and placed in the main building of the University. Depicted in ‘Die Bewegung‘, 3 April 1943.
Right: ‘Der Jüngling’ by Von Graevenitz, depicted on the cover of ‘Rassenpolitik, -der Reichsfuehrer SS, SS-Hauptamt, 1943.
Left: Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Jüngling’, displayed at the GDK 1940 room 2. Sold for 12.000 Reichsmark. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1940. Another zinc cast of Jüngling by Von Graevenitz was displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunstausstellung Hilfswerk für deutsche bildende Kunst in der NS-Volkswohlfahrt’, November-December 1941 (offered price: 10.000 Reichsmark).
Right: a cast of ‘Jüngling’ by Von Graevenitz, 1955. Located in the Landwirtschaftl. Hochschule, Hohenheim. Depcted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Plastik, Malerei, Graphik’, 1957.
‘Die wacht am Rhein‘
‘Die Wacht am Rhein’ is a German patriotic anthem. The songs origins are rooted in the historical French–German enmity, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War. The original poem was written by Max Schneckenburger in 1840.
Repeated French efforts to annex the Left Bank of the Rhine started with the devastating wars of King Louis XIV. French forces were carrying out massive scorched earth campaigns in the German south-west. These politics were fully implemented during the Napoleonic Wars and the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806–1813. In the two centuries from the Thirty Years’ War to the final defeat of Napoleon, the German inhabitants of lands by the Rhine suffered from repeated French invasions. The demise of Napoleon gave the Germans some respite, but during the Rhine Crisis of 1840, French prime minister Adolphe Thiers advanced the claim that the Upper and Middle Rhine River should serve as his country’s ‘natural eastern border’. The member states of the German Confederation feared that France was resuming these designs.
In the poem, with five original stanzas, a ‘thunderous call’ is made for all Germans to rush and defend the German Rhine, to ensure that ‘no enemy sets his foot on the shore of the Rhine’ (4th stanza). ‘Die Wacht am Rhein’ called for Germans to unite, to put aside sectionalism, sectarianism, and the rivalries of the various German kingdoms and principalities, to establish a unified German state and defend Germany’s territorial integrity.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Die Wacht am Rhein‘ (‘The Watch on the Rhine‘), also known as ‘Schneckenburger Memorial‘. Revealed in 1937. Located in the city of Tuttlingen.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Vier Evangelistensymbole‘. ‘Four symbols of the Evangelists‘ at the tower of the Stiftskirche in Tübingen, created in Muschelkalk, 1932/33. The sculptures are up to 1,9 meter length. The church is a late gothic structure built by Peter von Koblenz in 1470.
In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are traditional symbolized respectively as Angel, Lion, Bull and Eagle.
Depicted in ‘Baugilde’, 1935, Heft 10, and in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk‘, 1939.
‘Löwe’ (‘Lion’). Also depicted in ‘Die Kunstkammer’, January 1935, and in ‘Die Kunst für Alle’, 1934.
‘Adler’ (‘Eagle). Length 1,90 meter.
‘Stier’ (‘Bull’). Also depicted in ‘Die Kunst für Alle’, 1934.
‘Kopf des Engels‘ (‘Head of Angel‘). Also depicted in ‘Die Kunst für Alle’, 1934.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Jungfrau’ (‘Virgin’). GDK 1943 room 21. Created in zinc.
Bought for 12.000 Reichsmark by Kunsthalle Mülhausen (Elsass). Another cast was bought by the Reichsuniversität Posen (nowadays Poznan in Poland) and placed in the main building of the University.
Left: a bronze cast of ‘Jungfrau’ by Von Graevenitz, 1943, depicted in ‘Der Bildhauer Fritz von Graevenitz und die Staatliche Akademie der Bildende Künste Stuttgart zwischen 1933 und 1945‘, Julia Müller, 2012.
Right: ‘Jungfrau‘ by Von Graevenitz, displayed at the GDK 1943 room 21.
The Beautiful Lau, Eduard Mörike (1853)
The Beautiful Lau, the heroine of the story of poet Eduard Mörike (1804 – 1875), was only half a water spirit. Her mother was a human woman, and her father was a water nix of royal blood. She had thin webs between her toes, but apart from this she was not externally different to a human being. Beautiful Lau from the Black Sea, lived at the bottom of the Blautopf Lake in Blaubeuren. Back home she had suffered from a bad depression, so she could only give birth to stillborn children. Her mother-in-law had predicted that she would only be able to give birth to healthy babies after laughing out loud five times. As the Beautiful Lau had failed to do so her angry husband, the Water King of the Black Sea, banished her from the court and sent her to the Blautopf, were she eventually regained her good spirits after socializing with some women from the town. When she experienced some amusing episodes in their company she laughed out and thus was cured from her evil curse. Every now and then you can still hear her pealing with laughter at the Blautopf…
Blautopf, located in Blaubeuren, is the source of the river Blau. It is a pot spring, and connected to a cave system that was first studied in the 1950s. The spring waters are deep blue in colour, and change from turquoise blue to dark blue as the light shifts. During Germanys Romantic period, the Blautopf gave rise to all kinds of speculations and stories, and Morike, one of the most prominent exponents of Swabias group of Romantic poets, who spent a night in Blaubeuren during a journey in 1840, took his inspiration from this striking place.
‘Die Schöne Lau’ by Von Graevenitz. Created in 1950. Located in Blaubeuren. Executed in Muschelkalk.
‘Die Schöne Lau’ by Von Graevenitz. Bronze. Height 159 cm, excluding stone base 120 cm. Cast by Kunstgiesserei Franz Burger, Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, 1955. Offered by a German auction house in 2019.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Denkmal für das Grenadierregiment Königin Olga Nr. 119’ (‘Memorial to the Grenadier Regiment Queen Olga Nr. 119’). Located in the Schlossgarten, Stuttgart. Revealed in 1923. The tekst on the base is by German poet and philosopher Friedrich Hölderlin: ‘Oh du der Geisterkräfte gewaltigste, du löwenstolze Liebe des Vaterlands.‘
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Pferd‘ (‘Horse‘). GDK 1937 room 32. Created in marble (Lahn-Marmor). Size: height 50, lenght 84 cm (ex base). Owned by the Reichserziehungsministerium, Berlin, 1937. Nowadays in the possession of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin/ Nationalgalerie, and displayed (on permanent loan) by the Graevenitz Museum in Stuttgart.
Left: ‘Pferd’ by Von Graevenitz, depicted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk‘, 1939.
‘Pferd’ by Graevenitz, displayed under the name ‘Lezacy kon’ at the exhibition ‘Deutsche Bildhauer der Gegenwart’, Krakow, 1938. Depicted in the exhibition catalog.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Denkmal der Gefallenen des 122. Füsilierregiments‘ (‘Memorial to the Fallen of the 122. Regiment of Fusiliers’). Revealed in 1925. Cast by A. Brandstetter, Munich.
Left: Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Knabe mit Speer‘ (‘Young Man with Spear‘), 1936. Located on the grouds of the Brögerschule in Unterhausen, Baden-Württemberg. The bronze was donated by the company ‘Baumwollspinnerei Unterhausen‘.
Right: ‘Knabe mit Speer’ by Von Graevenitz, depicted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk’, 1939.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Infanterie-Regiment Kaiser Friedrich, König von Preußen, Nr. 125‘, 1927. Memorial to the Infantry Regiment ‘Kaiser Friedrich, King of Prussia, Nr. 125’. Operational from 1809 to 1919 as part of the Württembergischen Armee. Also named ‘Siebener-Denkmal‘. Location Rotebühl – Herzogstraße, Stuttgart. Created in Muchelkalk.
Left: Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Wappenadler’. ‘Coat-of-Arms Eagle’ at the façade of the Town Hall of the city of Hechingen. Executed in marble, 1936. Depicted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk’, 1939, and in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Plastik, Malerei, Graphik’, 1957.
Right: Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘World War I Memorial’, 31 July 1918, commemorating 18 Fallen comrades in Bray sur Somme’. Depicted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk’, 1939.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Adler‘, 1938. Eagle on top of the ‘Tribünenturm’ at the Erich-Koch-Platz, Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). Bronze. Weight: 3000 kg, length over 6 meters, height 3,5 meter.
Right: the bronze Adler by Von Graevenitz -ready for transport- in the foundry Strassacker in Süssen (near Stuttgart). Depicted in ‘Der Bildhauer Fritz von Graevenitz und die Staatliche Akademie der Bildende Künste Stuttgart zwischen 1933 und 1945‘, Julia Müller, 2012.
The Erich-Koch-Platz in former Königsberg. Nowadays the Baltika Stadium in Kaliningrad, a multi-purpose stadium, until 2018 home to FC Baltika Kaliningrad. Clearly recognisable is the tower.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘NS Reichsadler’, Rosenbergbrücke, 1939. Nazi Eagle at the Rosenberg bridge in Heilbron. Executed in concrete. Size 3 x 3 meter.
Posctard on top: Rosenbergbrücke, 4 July 1942.
Picture below: the Rosenbergbrücke nowadays.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Handgranatenwerfer’ (‘Grenade Thrower’), Flandernkazerne, Stuttgart, 1936. Created in Muschelkalk.
Left: ‘Handgranatenwerfer’ by Von Graevenitz, depicted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk’, 1939. Also depicted in ‘Wilhelm Westecker, Krieg und Kunst’, 1944.
Right: ‘Handgranatenwerfer’ in front of the Flandernkazerne in Stutgart. Postcard. Same picture also depicted in ‘Architektur und Bauplastik der Gegenwart’, 1938.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Bust of Adolf Hitler‘. The bronze was commissioned by the General Kommando der Wehrmacht/ Generalfeldmarschall Werner von Blomberg. As Begleitoffizier from General Hermann Geyer, Von Graevenitz visited the Neuremberg Rally in 1935. Having seats close to the Führer, Von Graevenitz had the opportunity to study Hitlers head for hours. The sculptor later wrote that these impressions served as the bases for the Führer bust.
Left: a bronze cast of Hilter by Von Graevenitz, offered by an American gallery in 2020.
Middle: ‘Adolf Hitler’ by Von Graevenitz, bronze. Depicted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk‘, 1939.
Right: ‘Adolf Hitler’ by Von Graevenitz, depicted on a calanda page in January 1937. Photo in the possession of the German Historical Museum.
Fritz von Gravenitz, ‘Wedelbrunnen’ (‘Well Spring’). 1930. In the water-basin is a beaten dragon portrayed.
Left: ‘Wedelbrunnen’ depicted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk’, 1939.
Right: ‘Wedelbrunnen’ in 2020.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Reiter’ ‘(‘Rider’). Bronze, located on the terrace of the ‘Haus der Jugend’. Commisioned in 1936, revealed in 1938.
Left: ‘Rider’ by Graevenitz. Plastermodel. Depicted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk’, 1939.
Right and below: ‘Rider’ by Graevenitz, located on the terrace of the Youth Hostel Tübingen (formerly the ‘Haus der Jugend’, the Tübinger headoffice of the Hitler Youth).
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Mutter Heimat‘ (‘Mother of Homeland‘). World War I Memorial located at the Waldfriedhof in Stuttgart. Executed in Muschelkalk, created from 1932 to 1954. Nowadays on display in the Fritz von Graevenitz Museum. Depicted in ‘Deutsche Kunstbetrachtung‘, Georg Schorer, 1941.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Trauernde’ (‘Mourning’), 1932. Located in ‘Eningen unter Achalm‘. World War I and II Memorial, created in Muschelkalk. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst für Alle’, 1934.
Left and right: ‘Trauernde’ by Von Graevenitz, in 2020.
Below: ‘Trauernde’ by Von Graevenitz, at 28 March 1934.
Fritz von Greaevenitz, ‘Der Löwe von Gerlingen‘ (’The Lion of the city of Gerlingen‘). Memorial to the Fallen of the city of Gerlingen. Created in 1953. Located on the Schlossberg in Gerlingen.
The insciption at the base is by Friedrich Schiller:
‘Der für seine Hausaltäre
kämpfend sank, ein Schirm und Hort,
auch in Feindes Munde fort
lebt ihm seines Namens Ehre.
Drum erhebe frohe Lieder,
wer die Heimat wiedersieht,
wem noch frisch das Leben blüht!
Denn nicht alle kehren wieder‘.
‘Der Löwe von Gerlingen’ by Von Graevenitz, depicted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Plastik, Malerei, Graphik’, 1957.
‘Der Löwe von Gerlingen’ by Von Graevenitz, Schlossberg 1, in 2020.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Löwenbrunnen‘ (‘Lion Fountain‘). Located at the Marktplatz in Vaihingen an der Enz. Revealed at 25 May 1947. Notice the crown on the head of the lion and the four little hills under his feet (corresponding to the Coats of Arms of the city of Vailingen since 1530).
Left: Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Steigendes Pferd’ ( ‘Prancing Horse’), 1936. Executed in travertine. Located at the Cannstatter-entrance (Maybachstrasse) of the height park Killesberg in Stuttgart.
Right: Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Aufstehendes Pferd‘ (‘Horse Standing Up‘), 1934. Executed in travertine. Located in the garden of the Robert-Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart.
Left: postcart of the ‘Reichsgartenschau’ in 1939 in Stuttgart. The horse is, without any doubt, by Fritz von Graevenitz. The sculpture is very similar to the horse located on the Killesberg (photo right).
Right: ‘Prancing Horse’ by Von Graevenitz, located on the Killesberg. Created in 1955. Bronze.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Erbsenbrunnen‘ (‘Pea Fountain‘), 1929. Located in the Marktstrasse in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt. Executed in travertine. The fountain survived the WWII bombing raids. However after the war it was destructed by a French soldier of the occupation forces. In 1948 Fritz von Graevenitz recreated the figure of the boy.
Left: ‘Erbsenbrunnen’ by Von Graevenitz, depicted in ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk’, 1939.
Right: the ‘Erbsenbrunnen’ in 2020.
Fritz von Geraevenitz, ‘Memorial to the 26. Kavaleriebrigade’, 1928. Executed in travertine. Located on the ‘Ehrenfeld des Stuttgarter Waldfriedhofs’. Photo taken in August 1938.
The inscription by German poet Wilhelm Hauf (1802 – 1827) at the bottom of the stone reads: ‘Morgenrot, Morgenrot, leuchtest mir zum frühen Tod?’ (‘Dawn’s light, dawn’s light, you are lighting my way to early death?’).
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Robert Bosch’. Bust of Robert Bosch (1861 – 1942), German industrialist, engineer, inventor and founder of Robert Bosch GmbH. Created in 1941. Displayed at the GDK 1942 room 5. Executed in zinc.
The bust, celebrating the 80th Birthday of Robert Bosch, was commissioned by the mayor of the city of Stuttgart, Karl Strölin. It was placed in the Grossen Sitzungssaal of the Tow Hall of Stuttgart. Apparently all Bosch-branches worldwide have an aftercast of the Von Graevenitz model in their possession.
Left: Bust of Robert Bosch, depicted in ‘Die Kunst für Alle’, 1942.
Right: Bust of Robert Bosch, depicted in ‘Die Holz- und Steinbildhauer‘, 1943.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Tobias-pfeiler‘, 1955. Located in the garden of the Evangelische Akademie in Bad Boll (near Stuttgart). Given by the German State to the Akademie for their 10th anniversary.
The story of how the Archangel Raphael helped a young man named Tobias is found in the Old Testament Book of Tobit. When Tobias is sent by his blind father to a distant land to collect a debt, the archangel appears in the guise of an older companion and guide. At one point he helps Tobias catch a large fish with curative properties. When they reach their destination and Tobias falls in love with a young woman troubled by an evil spirit, Raphael teaches him how to drive the spirit away so that the two can marry. When they return home, the archangel prepares a salve from parts of the fish and heals Tobias’ blind father. Tobias’ dog follows the two travelers throughout their journey. The story is set in what is now Iraq.
Fritz von Graevenitz, ‘Inscriptions and coat of arms of the city of Gerlingen’, 1923. Located above the entrance of the Jahnhaus.
Memorial to Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (1834 – 1900), engineer, industrial designer and industrialist, who was born in Schorndorf (Württemberg). Dailmer was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development, and invented the high-speed liquid petroleum-fuelled engine.
Fritz von Graevenitz working in his atelier, 1956.
Fritz von Graevenitz
Fritz von Graevenitz (1892 – 1959), son of Württemberg Infantry General and Military Representative in Berlin, Friedrich von Graevenitz, was a German sculptor and painter. From 1903 to 1910 (at 12 year age) he went to the military schools Kadettenanstalten Potsdam and Berlin-Lichterfelde. In 1911 he entered the Grenadier-Regiment Königin Olga Nr. 199 in Stuttgart, which he left in 1918 with the rank of Captain. Fritz von Graevenitz fought in France, Serbia, Russia and Poland. During the Battle of the Marne at 5 September 1914, he was hit in his head by a grenade splinter. For the rest of his life Von Graevenitz had almost completely lost the vision of his right eye (having problems with viewing distance, he often used a handheld mirror to get a better three-dimensional view). Both his brothers Richard and Karl died in WWI. In 1919 Von Graevenitz went, against the will of his father, to the Akademie der Bildende Künste in Stuttgart, were he studied under the professors Ludwig Habich and Alfred Lörcher. Already in 1920 he left the Stuttgart Academy and continued his study of Fine Arts at the Gustav-Britsch-Institut für Bildende Kunst in Starnberg. A year later he started his career as professional artist. His atelier, which he would use until his death, was located next to his house at the grounds of Castle Solitude in Stuttgart. Von Graevenitz was inspired by artists like Wilhelm Lehmbruck, August Rodin, Franz Marc, by classical artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, and by Gothic- and Baroque sculpting.
Von Graevenitz first large commissioned work was the ‘Denkmal für das Grenadierregiment Königin Olga Nr. 119’ (‘Memorial to the Grenadier Regiment Queen Olga Nr. 119’), 1923, located in the Schlossgarten, Stuttgart. The creation of this monument took him two years to complete.
In 1926 Von Graevenitz married the doctor and psychotherapist Jutta Baronesse Notthafft von Weißenstein, daughter of a Munich banker. One of his four daughters, Irmgard, married the industrialist Robert Bosch. The sister of Fritz von Graevenitz, Marianne, married German naval officer, diplomat and politician Ernst von Weizsäcker (State Secretary at the Foreign Office of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1943, and father of the later German President Richard von Weizsäcker). Marianne was a great and active sponsor of the art of her brother, and she frequently used her contacts in high Nazi circles to promote Fritz. She brought him i.a. in contact with the Hess family, for which he created in 1939 a bust of their two year old son Wolf Rüdiger. During a personal visit with Hitler, Marianne von Weizsäcker handed over the book ‘Fritz von Graevenitz, Werden und Werk’ to the Führer.
In 1935 Von Graevenitz created u bronze bust of Adolf Hitler, which was displayed a year later at the exhibition ‘Schwäbisches Kulturschaffen der Gegenwart’ in Stuttgart. The bronze was commissioned by the General Kommando der Wehrmacht/ Generalfeldmarschall Werner von Blomberg. As Begleitoffizier from General Hermann Geyer, Von Graevenitz visited the Neuremberg Rally in 1935. Having seats close to the Führer, Von Graevenitz had the opportunity to study Hitlers head for hours. The sculptor later wrote that these impressions served as the bases for the Führer bust.
Von Graevenitz did not reject the Nazi regime, but he was never a member of the NSDAP. Until 1934 he was a member of Rosenbergs ‘Kampfbundes für deutsche Kultur‘. He had also entered in 1930 the ‘Stahlhelm Bund der Frontsoldaten‘.
In 1937 Von Graevenitz became teacher in sculpting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart; he succeeded Ludwig Habich as Head of Sculpting. In January 1938 he was granted the Professor title by Hitler, and in April 1938 he was appointed Director of the Stuttgart Academy. In the same year he created the huge eagle on top of the ‘Tribünenturm’ at the Erich-Koch-Platz, Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The bronze sculpture with a length over 6 meters weighted 3000 kg.
In 1940 the book ‘Kunst und Soldatentum‘ (‘Art and Soldiership‘) by Von Graevenitz was published. Six years later this book was put on the list of forbidden literature in the Russian Occupation Zone.
At the exhibition ‘Deutsche Bildhauer der Gegenwart’ in Krakow, 1938, Von Graevenitz marble ‘Pferd‘ (‘Horse‘) was displayed. A year before the same horse was bought by the Reichserziehungsministerium in Berlin, and displayed at the GDK 1937. Nowadays the marble horse is in the possession of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin/ Nationalgalerie, and displayed (on permanent loan) by the Graevenitz Museum in Stuttgart.
At the ‘Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung’ 1940/41, Von Graevenitz displayed two works. Five of his works were displayed at the exhibtion ‘Junge Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, Vienna, 1943. Those works included three of his paintings and a bronze bust of Christian Mergenthaler, member of the Reichstag and Württemberg Landtag, Ministerpräsident of Württemberg and Culture Minister.
At the Great German Art Exhibitions from 1937 to 1943 Von Graevenitz was represented with seven works, including the bust of Wolf Rüdiger Hess, a bust of industrialist Robert Bosch, and the life size statues ‘Jüngling’ and ‘Jungfrau’. Casts of the last two sculptures were bought by the Reichsuniversität Posen (nowadays Poznan in Poland) and placed in the main building of the University. Another zinc cast of Jüngling by Von Graevenitz was displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunstausstellung Hilfswerk für deutsche bildende Kunst in der NS-Volkswohlfahrt’, November-December 1941 (offered price: 10.000 Reichsmark); again displayed at the exhibition ‘Reichsausstellung junger Kunst’ in Salzburg, 1942.
Because of the deterioration of his eyesight, Von Graevenitz was taken into the Höchenschwander Eye Clinic in 1940. At that time sculpting was, for medical reasons, forbidden for him, and he started to paint. In 1943/44 Von Graevenitz came increasingly under pressure of the Gauleiter in Württemberg, Wilhelm Murr. Murr found Von Graevenitz to close with Stuttgarts Antroposophists, the Confessing Church and the Starnberger Kunstschule with its international, individualistic style. Also did not really help Von Graevenitz public refusal to join the NSDAP. Nevertheless, in August 1944, Hitler put Von Graevenitz on the Gottbegnadeten-Liste (God Gifted List), a list of 1041 artists, considered crucial to Nazi culture, who were exempted from military mobilisation. In December 1945, Von Graevenitz gave up his position as Director of the Academy and went into retirement. However he continued his work as sculptor and painter in his atelier at the Solitude. In 1950 he was commissioned again a significant public work, the Gottlieb Daimler Memorial in Schorndorf.
Fritz von Graevenitz died at 6 June 1959 in Gerlingen and was buried at the Soldatenfriedhof in Stuttgart-Solitude. His widow founded in 1971 the Museum Fritz von Graevenitz. The foundation Fritz von Graevenitz was established in April 2002 by the heirs of the artist.
In 2020 the Stuttgarter Kunstmuseum hosted the exhibition ‘Der Traum vom Museum, -Schwäbischer Kunst‘. The museum showed art works bought from 1933 to 1943 by the National Socialist regime in Stuttgart. The painting ‘Der Ausritt’ (1941) by Fritz von Graevenitz, with a price of 10.000 Reichsmark, appeared to be to most expensive purchase. At the end of the war the Stuttgart-collection was stored at Schloss Löwenstein. From the total collection of 2300 works, 1400 fell prey to bombing. Only 900 works of art survived.