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Description
‘Familienbild’ (‘Family’, ‘Ritratto di Famiglia’)
Created in 1938.
Displayed at the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung 1939, room 15.
Displayed at the XXII Venice Biennale, 1940 (‘Ritratto di Famiglia’).
Displayed at the exhibition ‘Der NS.-Gemeinschaft KRAFT DURCH FREUDE’, Hamburg, 1938.
Displayed at the ‘Lippstädter Kunstausstellung’, 1943.
Awarded with the second price of the competition ‘Das Familienbild’, organized in 1938 by Alfred Rosenberg, Chief Nazi Party ideologist.
This painting was also displayed at the exhibition ‘Artige Kunst, Kunst und Politik im Nationalsozialismus‘ (‘Compliant Art, Art and Politics in the National Socialist era’) held at:
– Museum Situation Kunst, Bochum (November 2016 – April 2017);
– Kunsthalle Rostock, Rostock (April – June 2017);
– Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg (July – October 2017).
‘Familie’ was depicted in more than 30 newspapers in Germany, Holland and Switzerland. Also it was shown on local televisionstations (NDR, BR) and in Tagesschau, 8 January 2017 (Daily News, main edition; the television news service produced by the German public-service television network ARD).
The painting was again displayed at the exhibition ‘Nazi Design’, Design Museum Den Bosch, The Netherlands, 8 September 2019 – 1 March 2020.
This world-wide highly publicized exhibition attracted over 130.000 visitors in six months. The exhibition was covered on the front page of the New York Times and Bild, and i.a. in the Guardian, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Paris Match, Spiegel, Welt, Tagesspiegel, El Pais and all Dutch newspapers. On television the exposition was covered i.a. by the ARD, ZDF, DW News, Aljazeera, AFP News Agency, SBS World News, and all mayor television chanels in The Netherlands. Because of the enormous popularity of the exhibition, the museum extended opening hours, opened its doors also on Mondays, and finally it extended the exhibition by 6 weeks.
‘Familienbild’ at the 2016/17 exhibition in Germany. Shown in Tagesschau, 8 January, 20.00 hour, 2017 (Daily News, main edition; the television news service produced by the German public-service television network ARD).
Two years later: ‘Familienbild’ at the 2019/20 exhibition ‘Nazi Design’ in The Netherlands. Again shown on German television during prime time: Tagesschau, 9 September 2019 (Daily News, main edition; the television news service produced by the German public-service television network ARD).
Familienbild’ at the 2019/20 exhibition ‘Nazi Design’ in The Netherlands.
‘Familienbild’ at the 2019/20 exhibition ‘Nazi Design’ in The Netherlands, depicted in the Kuwait Times of 19 September 2019.
Adolf Hitler at the opening of the Great German Art Exhibition, July 16, 1939. At the back, left, ‘Familienbild’ by Schmitz-Wiedenbrück.
The pictures are from the movies:
1. ‘Entartet! Die Nazis und die Kunst’ (at 0.48)
2. ‘Art in the Third Reich’, part I (at 1.06)
Left: in white uniform: Italian propaganda minister Dino Alfieri. At the right Professor Karl Kolb, director of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst.
Right: Gerdy Troost, left from Hitler.
‘Familienbild’ by Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, displayed at the GDK 1939.
‘Familienbild’, displayed at the XXII Venice Biennale, 1940 (‘Ritratto di Famiglia’).
The monumental painting ‘Familienbild‘ is depicted in the following magazines and books:
– Völkische Wacht, 4/1938: ‘Die kinderreiche Familie in Leben und Kunst‘
– Neues Volk, 7/1938: ‘Das schöne Familienbild’
– Das Bild, 8/1938: ‘Die deutsche Familie im Bild‘
– Velhagen & Klasings Monatshefte, 1939: ‘Das FamilienBild‘
– Westermanns Monatshefte, 1939: ‘Das familienbild’
– SS-Leitheft 1939 Januar/ Mai
– Kunst dem Volk, 10 Jahrgang, 1939: Sonderheft ‘Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung‘
– Davidson, Mortimer G., Kunst in Deutschland 1933-1945, 1991: ‘Familienbild’
– Ingeborg Bloth, ‘Adolf Wissel, Malerei und Kunstpolitik im Nationalismus‘, 1994
– Helena Ketter, ‘Zum Bild der Frau in der Malerei des Nationalsozialismus‘, 2002
The 1938 Rosenberg Competition: The Pure German Family
Schmitz-Wiedenbrück’s ‘Familienbild’ won the second prize on 14 May, 1938 (the first prize was not awarded) in the Rosenberg-Competition ‘Das Familienbild’ (‘The Family’).
Earlier the ‘Rassenpolitische Ambt der NSDAP’ had complained that too many paintings depicted German families with only one or two children: ‘and it is known that a Two-Children-System will lead to the downfall of the German Race’. After this announcement in the Mitteilungsblatt of January 1937, the Reichskammer der Bildende Künste published the guideline ‘Die Kunst hilft der Bevölkerungspolitik’, in which artists were required to show at least four children when a family was depicted. The exhibition ‘Das Familienbild’ was planned and executed by the Reichsleitung NSDAP, the highest political level. Alfred Rosenberg, the Chief Nazi Party ideologist, was ultimately responsible for the organization. He was the head of ‘Amt Rosenberg’, an official body for cultural policy and surveillance within the Nazi party, founded in 1934 (other names for the ‘Amt Rosenberg’ were ‘Amt des Beauftragter des Führers für die gesamte geistige und weltanschauliche Erziehung der NSDAP’, or ‘Dienststelle Rosenberg’ or the ‘Reichsüberwachungsamt’). Co-organisers were the culture department of ‘Kraft durch Freude’ (KdF), the ‘Reichsbund der kinderreichen Deutschlands e.V.’ and the culture section of the Deutschen Arbeiterfront (DAF). The instructions for the selected group of prominent artists were to create an outstanding work which would be an allegory of a pure German family with healthy children and a happy mother. At least three or four children should be depicted and the painting should measure at least three square meters.
Participants at the competition included: Thomas Baumgartner, Theodor Bohnenberger, Bernhard Dörres, Georg Ehmig, Constantin Gerhardinger, Fritz Mackensen, Wilhelm Petersen, Georg Siebert, Karl Storch, Hermann Tiebert, Wolfgang Willrich and Adolf Wissel.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück was awarded the second prize. As the jury was not fully pleased with the results of the competition, the first prize was not awarded. However, eight of the submitted works were later displayed at the GDK in 1938 and 1939. Three painters were given a shared third prize: Thomas Baumgartner, Bernhard Dörres and Constantin Gerhardinger. Georg Siebert and Adolf Wissel were awarded a ‘Recognition Prize’.
The downfall of the German Race: ‘Die Kunst hilft der Bevölkerungspolitik’
The growth of the German population and the negative consequences of two children-families was an important part of the ‘Bevölkerungspolitiek’ in the Third Reich. Below a poster printed in the ‘Nationalsozialistische Monatshefte’, 1935 Heft 65. The text reads: ‘Wer verteidigt dein Land? Durch das Zweikindersystem schrumpft dein Volk in 100 Jahren auf ein Viertel zusammen‘ (‘Who defends Your Country? The Two Children Sytem will shrink our population to one-fourth its current size).
XXII Venice Biennale 1940: ‘Ritratto di Famiglia’.
‘Familienbild’ (‘Ritratto di Famiglia’) was displayed, together with the paintings ‘Maler unter Bauern’, ‘Bauern im Gewitter’ and 10 other paintings by Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, at the XXII Venice Biennale in 1940. On the back of the painting is still attached a sticker from the XXII Venice Biennale, 1940. From 1936 to 1942 a carefully selected group of GDK-works, which represented nationalistic Germany at its best, were exhibited at the Venice Biennale. According to the organisation responsible for the Venice Biennale, only the very best artists from all over the world were presented. The artists represented at the Venice exhibition at the German Pavilion were of course carefully selected because of their racial and ideological style. Adolf Ziegler, president of the Reichskammer was the head of the German Pavilion in Venice. Other German and Austrian artists who represented the Third Reich in Venice included Arno Breker, Richard Knecht, Rudolf Eisenmenger, Georg Müller, Wolfgang Willrich, Anton Müller-Wischin, Sepp Hilz, Georg Lebrecht and Richard Knecht.
A copy of the Venice exhibition 1940 cataloque is available.
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Familienbild’, depicted in Davidson, Mortimer G., Kunst in Deutschland 1933-1945.
Right: Sticker on the back of the painting from the Venice Biennale. Exactly the same sticker, including the handwritten ‘167’, is attached to the painting ‘Bauern im Gewitter’ (below).
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Familienbild’. Depicted in the magazine ‘Kunst dem Volk’, volume 10, edition 7, July 1939.
Right: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Familienbild’. Depicted in ‘Zum Bild der Frau in der Malerei des Nationalsozialismus’, 1999.
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Familienbild’, depicted in ‘Velhagen & Klasings Monatshefte’, Mai 1939.
Right: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Familienbild’. Official Haus der Kunst postcard (nr. 7). Clearly visible are the blue eyes of the Aryan people. Purity, order and satisfaction, healthy children and farmers are all symbols of the Blood and Soil style. German blood, German race and German earth are guarantying the future, with the mother as the shepherd of the earth.
‘Woman also have their battlefield, with every child that they give birth to, they fight their own battle for the Nation’, Adolf Hitler, speech at the Party Day of Freedom in the Nuremberg town hall, 1935.
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Die deutsche Familie im Bild‘, depicted in ‘Das Bild’, 8/1938.
Right: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Familienbild’, depicted in ‘Westermanns Monatshefte’, 1939.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘FamilienBild’, displayed at the exhibition ‘Der NS.-Gemeinschaft KRAFT DURCH FREUDE’, 11. Juni – 11 July 1938, Kunsthalle Hamburg. Depicted in the official art catalogue. The exhibition, organized in co-operation with the ‘Amt Rosenberg’, was connected to the yearly congress of the NS.-Gemeinschaft KRAFT DURCH FREUDE (‘Amt Rosenberg’ was the same as the ‘Amt des Beauftragter des Führers für die gesamte geistige und weltanschauliche Erziehung der NSDAP’, also named ‘Dienststelle Rosenberg’ or the ‘Reichsüberwachungsamt’).
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : 200 x 160 cm; unframed 186 x 146 cm |
| – signed | : right, under: ‘Hans Schmitz 38’ |
| – type | : oil on canvas |
| – misc. | : sticker on the back from the XXII Venice Biennale |
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BIOGRAPHY: HANS SCHMITZ-WIEDENBRÜCK
‘Arbeiter, Bauern, Soldaten’
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, tryptichon ‘Arbeiter, Bauern, Soldaten’ (‘Workers, Farmers, Soldiers’). Displayed at the GDK 1941, room 15; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Bought by Hitler for 30,000 RM. Since 2000 the left and the right part of the tryptichon (each 2.00 x 1.00 meters) have been in the possession of the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin. The seven-foot-high central canvas depicting the German soldiers is in the possession of the German War Art Collection, U.S. Army Center for Military History, Washington D.C. (The mid-panel with its specific military scene, was not given back in 2000).
The three panels were, for the first time since 1945, reunited in 2007 at the exhibition ‘Art and Propaganda, Clash of Nations 1930-45’ held in the Deutsches Historisches Museum. The middle part of the tryptichon was on loan from the US. In 2014 the complete tryptichon was again displayed at the exhibition ‘Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937’ in the ‘Neue Galerie’ in New York.
‘Workers, Farmers, Soldiers’ represented the three pillars of the state, elevated to icons, symbolizing their contributions. The army dominated the picture, not only by its central position but also by the fact that it was painted as seen from below, an artistic device for creating awe and emphasis.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Arbeiter, Bauern, Soldaten’, the complete triptychon displayed at the exhibition ‘Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937’, ‘Neue Galerie’, New York 2014.
At the right the triptych ‘Die vier Elemente’, by Adolf Ziegler. The large bronze standing before Schmitz-Wiedenbrück’s triptych is ‘Zehnkämpfer’ by Richard Scheibe (Neue Galerie, New York, 2014).
‘Contadini durante il temporale’
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbruck, ‘Bauern im Gewitter’ (‘Farmers in Storm’). In 1939 rewarded with the ‘Großen Staatspreis für Malerei’ by the Senat of the Prussian Academy of Art in Berlin. Currently in the possession of the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin. Size 2,30 x 1,70 meter.
Displayed at the exhibitions:
– GDK 1939, room 15; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Bought by Hitler for 4,500 RM;
– XXII Venice Biennale 1940 under the name ‘Contadini durante il temporale’;
– ‘Kunst der Ruhrmark Gauausstellung Westfalen-Süd’, 5. Sauerländische Frühjahrsausstellung 1942, Hagen:
– ‘Kunst der Ruhrmark. Westfälisch-Niederrheinische Kunst, Mauritshaus, The Hague, The Netherlands, 1942;
– ‘Aufstieg und Fall der Moderne‘, Weimar, 1999;
– ‘Geschichten im Konflikt‘, 2012/13, held in the Haus der Kunst, Munich.
Left: ‘Bauern im Gewitter’ in the possession of the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin.
Right: ‘Bauern im Gewitter’ displayed at the exhibition ‘Geschichten im Konflikt‘, 2012/ 13, held in the Haus der Kunst, Munich.
Below: sticker at the backside of the XXII Venice Biennale 1940.
Displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst der Ruhrmark. Westfälisch-Niederrheinische Kunst, -Gauausstellung Westfalen-Süd 1942’, held in the Mauritshaus, The Hague, The Netherlands, 1942:
‘Kunst der Ruhrmark’, Mauritshaus, The Hague, 1942 (Bridgeman Images footage nr. BEG497716) 
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbruck, ‘Das Johannisfeuer’ (‘St. Johns Night’). GDK 1940, room 15; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Bought by Hitler for 14,000 RM. Currently in the possession of the Deutsches Historische Museum, Berlin. Size 3.50 x 2.00 meter. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1940, and in ‘Deutsche Kunst der Gegenwart’, Breslau, 1943.
Right: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Studie zum Johannisfeuer’ (‘Study on St. John’s Fires’). Displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst der Ruhrmark’, Mauritshaus, The Hague, 1942. Depicted in the exhibition catalog. 
‘Pittore fra i contadini’
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbruck, ‘Maler unter Bauern’ (‘Painter and Farmers’). GDK 1938, room 21. Also displayed at the XXII Venice Biennale, 1940 under the name ‘Pittore fra i contadini’. Depicted in Westermanns Monatshefte, 1938/39, and in ‘Die neue deutsche Malerei’, 1941.
‘Maler unter Bauer’ by Schmitz-Wiedenbruck, at the Biennale 1940. At 17.15 min.
‘Kämpfendes Volk’ (‘Nation in War’), postcard. GDK 1942, room 15; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Bought by Joseph Goebbels for 56,000 RM. In the possession of the German state (on permanent loan to the Deutsches Historisches Museum). Size 4.20 x 3.00 meter. Depicted in ‘Zucht und Sitte‘, Folge III, 1943.
‘Kämpfendes Volk’ by Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, depicted in the ‘Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland‘, 29 July 1942.
The opening of the GDK 1942. In the centre Joseph Goebbels, right from him director Kolb, left from him Gerdy Troost and on the far left Bavarian Prime Minster Siebert. At the back ‘Kämpfendes Volk’. Photo: New York Public Library.
‘Tischgesellschaft’ (‘Company at Table’). GDK 1944, room 25. Bought by Martin Bormann for 25,000 RM. In the possession of the Neue Pinakothek, Munich.
Left: ‘Tischgesellschaft’ depicted in the ‘Illustrierte Beobachter’, 24 August 1944.
Right: ‘Tischgesellschaft’ depicted on a postcard.
‘Il re dei tiratori’
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Westfälischer Schützenkönig’ (‘Westphalian Shooting-Champion’).
In 1937 Schmitz-Wiedenbrück made a portrait of Heinrich Repke as ‘Westfälischer Schützenkönig’ (‘Westphalian Shooting-Champion’). This work, rewarded with the first price by the ‘Deutschen Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst’, was 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 in the 1937-exhibition catalogue.
Westfälischer Schützenkönig was again displayed at the exhibition ‘NS.-Gemeinschaft KRAFT DURCH FREUDE’, Kunsthalle, Hamburg, 1938.
In 1940 ‘Westfälischer Schützenkönig’ was deplayed under the name ‘Il re dei tiratori’ at the XXII Venice Biennale (‘XXIV Esposizione Biennale Internationale d’Arte). It was sold at the Biennale. The painting is in private possession.
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück,’Frau mit Stier‘ (‘Woman with bull‘). GDK 1944, room 15. Bought by Martin Bormann for 20.000 RM. In the possession of the Neue Pinakothek, Munich. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst’, 1944.
Right: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, second version of ‘Frau mit Stier’. Offered by a German auctionhous, 2014.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Herbst‘ (‘Automn‘). Displayed at the ‘Gau Ausstellung Westfalen-Süd, VII Grosse Sauerländische Ausstellung, Hagen 1944‘; depicted in the exhibition catalog. The drawing was in the possesion of Heinrich Vetter, mayor of the city of Hagen from 1933-45 and Substitute Gauleiter Westfalen-Süd. Apparently the Head of the Karl-Ernst-Osthaus-Museum (nowadays Osthaus-Museum Hagen) gave the drawing by Schmitz-Wiedenbrück to Vetter as a birthday gift. The work is privately owned.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Bilnis eines Bauern’ (‘Farmer’), also named ‘Alter Mann mit Sense’. GDK 1944, room 15; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Also depicted in ‘Die Kunst im Deutchen Reich’, August/September 1944, and in the newspaper ‘Die Glocke’, 3 December 1949.
The farmer Peter Höhner from Nordrheda stood model for this work.
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Bauer’. Depicted on the cover of ‘Kunst und Volk’, January 1937. In 1936 ‘Bauer’ was displayed at the exhibition ‘Lob der Arbeit, -NS Kultergemeinde, Berlin; depicted in the exhibition catalogue.
Just like on the painting above (‘Bildnis eines Bauern’) Schmitz-Wiedenbrück has used as model the farmer Peter Höner from Nordrheda.
Right: the exhibition ‘Lob de Arbeit’, 1936, with at the background ‘Bauer’ by Schmitz-Wiedenbrück.
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Bauer mit Sense’ (‘Farmer with Scythe’). Depicted in ‘Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1941.
Right: displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst der Ruhrmark. Westfälisch-Niederrheinische Kunst, -Gauausstellung Westfalen-Süd 1942’, held in the Mauritshaus, The Hague, The Netherlands, 1942:
‘Kunst der Ruhrmark’, Mauritshaus, The Hague, 1942 (Bridgeman Images footage nr. BEG497716) 
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Der Holzhacker‘ (‘Lumberjack‘), 1943. Size: 176 cm x 126 cm. Sold by a German auction house in 2015.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Soldat als Holzsammler’ (‘Soldier collecting Wood’), charcoal-drawing. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst der Front’ (‘Art of the Front-line’), organized by the Luftgaukommandos VI in Münster, 1942. Depicted on postcards (Feldpostkarte) with the text: ‘Gefreiter Schmitz-Wiedenbrück’ (‘Lance-corporal Schmitz-Wiedenbrück’), ‘Soldat als Holzsammler’.
‘Feldpostkarten’, depicting works displayed at the exhibition Kunst der Front 1942. Issued in sets of six.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Fernsprechdienst’ (‘Telephone Operations’), pastel. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst der Front’ (‘Art of the Front-line’), organized by the Luftgaukommandos VI in Münster, 1942. Depicted on postcards (Feldpostkarte) with the text: ‘Gefreiter Schmitz-Wiedenbrück’ (‘Lance-corporal Schmitz-Wiedenbrück’), ‘Fernsprechdienst’.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Market-scenes’. Three wall paintings in the foyer of the town hall in Wiedenbrück, created in 1937 (still existing). Displayed in November 2017 in the ‘Wiedenbrücker Schule Museum‘, Rheda-Wiedenbrück.
‘Ritratto di mia Madre’ and ‘Contadina con la Pipa’
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Meine Mutter’ (‘My Mother’), 1937. Displayed at the ‘Herbstausstellung Düsseldorfer Künstler’, 1941, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. Also displayed at the XXII Venice Biennale in 1940 under the name ‘Ritratto di mia madre’, at the exhibition ‘NS.-Gemeinschaft KRAFT DURCH FREUDE’, Kunsthalle Hamburg, 1938, at the ‘Lippstädter Kunstausstellung’, 1943, and at the exhibition ‘Westfaalsch-Nederrijnsche Kunst’ in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, 1941.
Right: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Alter Mann mit Tonpfeife’ (‘Old Man with Clay Pipe’). Displayed at the exhibition ‘Deutscher Bauer – Deutsches Land’, 1938, Berlin; depicted in the exhibition catalog. Again displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst der Ruhrmark. Westfälisch-Niederrheinische Kunst’, Mauritshaus, The Hague; also depicted in the exhibition catalog. Again displayed at the XXII Venice Biennale in 1940 under the name ‘Contadina con la Pipa’.
The Biennale 1940. Fom left to right: ‘Ritratto di Famiglia’, ‘Contadina con la Pipa’ and ‘Ritratto di mia Madre’.
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Bildnis Prof. Dr. Geisberg‘ (‘Portrait of prof. dr. Geisberg). Max Geisberg was director of the Landesmuseum für die Provinz Westfalen in Münster from 1910 – 1934. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Westfaalsch-Nederrijnsche Kunst’ in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, 1941; depicted in the exhibition catalog.
Also displayed in 1940 at the XXII Venice Biennale (‘XXIV Esposizione Biennale Internationale d’Arte 1940’).
Right: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Ländliche Tischgesellschaft’ (‘Country People at Table‘). Displayed at the exhibition ‘Westfaalsch-Nederrijnsche Kunst’ in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, 1941; depicted in the exhibition catalog.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Bäuerin aus Wiedenbrück’ (‘Female-farmer from Wiedenbrück’). Displayed at the ‘Kunst der Ruhrmark Gauausstellung Westfalen-Süd’, 5. Sauerländische Frühjahrsausstellung 1942, Hagen. Depicted in ‘Das Bild’, 1942.
Left: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Bagger am Autobahn’ (‘Dragline near Autobanhn’). Displayed at the exhibition ‘Lob der Arbeit, -NS Kulturgemeinde’, 1936, Berlin.
Right: Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Weide mit Graben‘ (‘Meadow with Ditch‘), 1939. Depicted in ‘Die Pause‘, Heft 1/2, Jahrgang 6, 1941.
Left: Hans schmitz-Wiedenbrück, ‘Der Kriegsmaler’ (‘The War-painter’). Displayed at the ‘Grosse Kunst Ausstellung’, 1943, Gau Westfalen-Nord, im Schloss zu Münster. The large military object in the middle is an anti aircraft searchlight, or ‘Flakscheinwerfer’.
Right: Flaktscheinwerfer. A copy is displayed in the Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr, Dresden.
The extreme scarcity of National Socialistic art
Massive, systematic destruction of Nazi art since 1945: the Potsdam-Agreement
From 1933 to 1949 Germany experienced two massive art purges. Both the National Socialist government and OMGUS (the U.S. Military Government in Germany) were highly concerned with controlling what people saw and how they saw it. The Nazis eliminated what they called ‘Degenerate art’, erasing the pictorial traces of turmoil and heterogeneity that they associated with modern art. The Western Allies in turn eradicated ‘Nazi art’ and forbade all artworks military subjects or themes that could have military and/or chauvinist symbolism from pictorial representation. Both the Third Reich and OMGUS utilized the visual arts as instruments for the construction of new German cultural heritages.
The Potsdam Agreement of 2 August 1945, subparagraph 3, Part III, Section A stated that one purpose of the occupation of Germany was ‘to destroy the National Socialistic Party and its affiliated and supervised organizations and to dissolve all Nazi and militaristic activity or propaganda.’ In accordance with Allied Control Council laws and military government regulations, all documents and objects which might tend to revitalize the Nazi spirit or German militarism would be confiscated or destroyed. For example, Title 18, Military Government Regulation, OMGUS stated that: ‘all collections of works of art related or dedicated to the perpetuation of German militarism or Nazism will be closed permanently and taken into custody.’ As a consequence, thousands of paintings –portraits of Nazi-leaders, paintings containing a swastika or depicting military/war sceneries– were considered ‘of no value’ and destroyed. With knives, fires and hammers, they smashed countless sculptures and burned thousands of paintings. Around 8,722 artworks were shipped to military deposits in the U.S.
OMGUS regulated and censored the art world. The Information Control Division (ICD, the key structure in the political control of post-war German culture in the American zone) was in fact a non-violent version of the Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture). With its seven subdivisions (i.e. press, literature, radio, film, theatre, music, and art), the ICD neatly replaced the Reich Chamber of Culture. The ICD established through its various sections a system of licensed activity, with screening and vetting by Intelligence to exclude all politically undesirable people.
‘Free’ German artists producing ‘free German art’ after 1945
In the ideology of OMGUS, painting was conceived of as a strategic element in the campaign to politically re-educate the German people for a new democratic internationalism. Modern art allowed for the establishment of an easy continuity with the pre-Nazi modernist past, and it could serve as a springboard for the international projection of Germany as a new country interacting with its new Western partners.
‘Free’ artists producing ‘free art’ was one of the most powerful symbols of the new Germany, the answer to the politically controlled art of the Third Reich. Modern art linked Western Germany to Western Europe – separating the new West German aesthetic and politics from that of the Nazi era, the U.S.S.R., and East Germany – and suggested an ‘authentically’ German identity.
Die Glocke, 15 December 1944: ‘Last Farewell to a Genius Artist’.
At the funeral ‘Die Himmel rühmen des Ewigen Ehre‘ (‘The heavens declare the glory of God’) by Beethoven was played, the favorit music of Hans Schmitz Wiedenbrück.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, date unknown.
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück
Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück (1907–1944), sun of a hotelkeeper, was born in Lippstadt, West-phalia. At the age of 16 he started as a pupil in the atelier of the painter Heinrich Repke, a representative of the ‘Wiedenbrücker Schule’. Schmitz-Wiedenbrück, who painted mainly folk and rustic motifs, worked (with some interuptions) for 17 years in Repke’s atelier. He studied at the Art Academies in Kassel, Munich and Brussel, and made study-trips to Danmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy. In the 20s and 30s he became well known as a wall-painter for churches. Later his folk and canvases of a political or military nature were especially liked by the National Socialists.
In 1936 Schmitz-Wiedebrück participated with three works in the exhibition ‘Lob der Arbeit, -NS Kultergemeinde, Berlin. A year later he created three wall paintings (depicting market scenes) in the foyer of the town hall of Wiedenbrück (still existing), and he participated in the exhibition ‘Kunstausstellung Hilfswerk für Deutsche bildende Künst in der NS-Volkswohlfahrt’. Also in 1937, he made a portrait of Heinrich Repke as ‘Westfälischer Schützenkönig’ (‘Westphalian Shooting-Champion’). This work, rewarded with the first price by the ‘Deutschen Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst’, was 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. Westfälischer Schützenkönig was again displayed at the exhibition ‘NS.-Gemeinschaft KRAFT DURCH FREUDE’, Kunsthalle, Hamburg, 1938. Also in 1938, he won with ‘Familienbild’ the second prize (the first not having been awarded) in the open NS-Competition ‘Die neue Deutsche familie’ (‘the New German Family’). ‘Familienbild’ was also displayed at the exhibition ‘NS.-Gemeinschaft KRAFT DURCH FREUDE’, 1938. In the same year he displayed his work ‘Alter Mann mit Tonpfeife’ at the exhibition ‘Deutscher Bauern – Deutsches Land’ in Berlin; the work was depicted in the exhibition catalog (‘Ausstellung unter der Schirmherrschaft von Reichsbauernführer Reichsminister R. Walther Darré und Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg’). In 1939 Schmitz-Wiedenbrück went into military service. He served as war-painter in the Luftwaffe Quakenbrück; during the time he was stationed near the French Channel Coast, he created a series of army-related sketsches and paintings. He was awarded the ‘Westfälischen Kunstpreis 1939’ by the exhibition ‘Jung Westfalen’ and the ‘Großen Staatspreis für Malerei’ in the same year by the Senat of the Prussian Academy of Art in Berlin for his work ‘Bauern im Gewitter’. In 1942 he received the ‘Gaulkulturpreis Westfalen-Süd’, a year later the ‘Heimatkulturpreis des Kreises Lippstadt’. At 33 years of age he was appointed as Extraordinary Professor at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf (earlier, as a student, the Düsseldorfer Academy rejected him).
In 1941 Schmitz-Wiedenbrück displayed three works at the exhibition ‘Westfaalsch-Nederrijnsche Kunst’ in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. In the same year he participated with his work ‘Bauarbeiten an der Reichsautobahn’ (‘Autobahn-construction) at the exhibition ‘Rheinische Kunstausstellung’, Danzig. In 1942 he was represented at the ‘Frühjahrs-Ausstellung’ in the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. In the same year his self-portrait ‘Gefreiter Schmitz-Wiedenbrück’ (‘Lance-corporal Schmitz-Wiedenbrück’) was displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst der Front’ (‘Art of the Front-line’), organized by the Luftgaukommandos VI in Münster. Also in 1942 he took part in the exhibition ‘Gauausstellung Westfalen-Süd, 5. Sauerländische Frühjahrsausstellung‘, Hagen; two years in the ‘Gau Ausstellung Westfalen-Süd, VII Grosse Sauerländische Ausstellung, Hagen 1944.
In 1940 Schmitz-Wiedenbrück was represented with 13 works at the XXII Venice Biennale (‘XXIV Esposizione Biennale Internationale d’Arte 1940’) including ‘Familienbild’ (‘Ritratto di Famiglia’), ‘Maler unter Bauern’ (‘Pittore fra i contadini’), ‘Bauern im Gewitter’ (‘Contadini durante il temporale’), ‘Prof. Dr. Max. Geisberg’, ‘Meine Mutter’ (‘Ritratto di mia madre’) and ‘Schützenkönig’ (‘Il re dei tiratori’). In 1942 he displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst der Ruhrmark. Westfälisch-Niederrheinische Kunst, Mauritshaus, The Hague, six works: ‘Bauern im Gewitter’, ‘Alter Mann mit Tonpfeife’, ‘Bauer mit Senze’, ‘Studie II zum Johannisfeuer’, ‘Sturmboot’ and ‘Bauerngruppe’. In 1943 he took part in the exhibition ‘Esposizione d’Arte Contemporanea di Duesseldorf’, in Florence (with ‘La sentinella’ and ‘Contadina e toro’).
In the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellungen (1939-1944) nine of his works were shown; three were bought by Hitler, two by Martin Bormann and one by Joseph Goebbels for prices of up to 56,000 RM. His ‘Kämpfendes Volk’ (4.20 x 3.00 meter!) and the tryptichon ‘Arbeiter, Bauern und Soldaten’ became very famous.
Hans Schmidt-Wiedenbrück died from a heart attack in 1944 at the Angermund railwaystation.
The Deutsches Historisches Museum holds since 2000 the left and right part of the tryptichon (each 2.00 x 1.00 meter), as well as ‘Kämpfendes Volk’, ‘Bauern im Gewitter’ (2.30 x 1.70 meter) and ‘Das Johannisfeuer’ (3.50 x 2.00 meter). The seven-foot-high central canvas of the tryptichon depicting the German soldiers is in the possession of the German War Art Collection, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Army Art Collection. The mid-panel with its specific military scene was not given back in 2000. The three panels were, for the first time since 1945, reunited in 2007 at the exhibition ‘Art and Propaganda, Clash of Nations 1930-45’ held in the Deutsches Historical Museum in Berlin. The middle part of the tryptichon was on loan from the US. In 2014 the complete tryptichon was again displayed at the exhibition ‘Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937’ in the ‘Neue Galerie’ in New York. Other GDK paintings ‘Tischgesellschaft’ and ‘Frau mit Stier’ are in the possession of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen. It is unknown whether the Landesmuseum in Münster still holds ‘Frau mit Schlapphut’ and ‘Portrait of Landesmuseum-director Professor Dr. Max. Geisberg’. The Osthaus Museum in Hagen holds one work by Schmitz-Wiedenbrück.
‘Bauern im Gewitter’ (‘Farmers in Storm’, GDK 1939, bought by Hitler) was displayed at the exhibition ‘Aufstieg und Fall der Moderne‘, Weimar, 1999. Again it was displayed in 2012/ 13 at the exhibition ‘Geschichten im Konflikt’ in the Haus der ‘Familienbild’ by Schmitz-Wiedenbrück was again displayed at the exhibition ‘Nazi Design’, Design Museum Den Bosch, The Netherlands, 8 September 2019 – 1 March 2020. This world-wide highly publicized exhibition attracted over 130.000 visitors in six months. The exhibition was covered on the front page of the New York Times and Bild, and i.a. in the Guardian, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Paris Match, Spiegel, Welt, Tagesspiegel, El Pais and all Dutch newspapers. On television the exposition was covered i.a. by the ARD, ZDF, DW News, Aljazeera, AFP News Agency, SBS World News, and all mayor television chanels in The Netherlands. Because of the enormous popularity of the exhibition, the museum extended opening hours, opened its doors also on Mondays, and finally it extended the exhibition by 6 weeks.