Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler
Encyclopedia
Elfriede Lohse Wächtler (December 4, 1899 in Dresden - July 31, 1940 in Pirna) was a German painter of the avant-garde whose works were banned as "degenerate art
", and in some cases destroyed, by the Third Reich. She was killed in a former psychiatric institution at Sonnenstein castle
in Pirna under Action T4
, a forced euthanasia program of Nazi Germany. Since 2000 a memorial center for the T4 program in the house commemorates her life and work in a permanent exhibition.
In June 1921 she married the painter and opera singer Kurt Lohse, following him to Görlitz
in 1922 and in 1925 to Hamburg
. The marriage was a difficult one and the couple separated several times in the following years. In 1926 Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler joined the Federation of female Hamburgian artists and art lovers, in 1928 she was able to participate in some exhibitions of the New Objectivity
.
In 1929 she suffered a nervous breakdown because of financial and partnership difficulties and was committed to a psychiatric institution in Hamburg-Friedrichsberg. During the two months' stay she painted the Friedrichsberg heads, a piece of work consisting of about 60 drawings and pastels, mainly portraits of fellow patients. After her recovery and a final separation from Kurt Lohse, she had a very creative phase. She painted numerous paintings of Hamburg's harbor, scenes from the life of workers and prostitutes, and pitiless self-portraits. But despite some exhibitions, sales, and smaller grants, she lived in grinding poverty.
Due to financial problems and increasing social isolation, she returned to her parents' home in Dresden by midyear 1931. When her mental state worsened her father admitted her to the state mental home at Arnsdorf
in 1932. There she was diagnosed schizophrenia
. From 1932 to 1935 she was still creatively active, drawing portraits and creating arts and crafts. After Kurt Lohse divorced her in May 1935 she was incapacitated due to "incurable insanity".
After refusing to consent to a sterilisation she was denied the permission to go out of the hospital any more. In December 1935, she underwent a forced surgical sterilisation in the Dresden-Friedrichstadt women's hospital on the grounds of Nazi eugenicist
policies. After this traumatic life event she never painted again. In 1940 she was deported to the former psychiatric institution at Pirna-Sonnenstein (located in the Sonnenstein castle
in Pirna
), where, on July 31, she was murdered along with the majority of the other residents as part of the Nazi euthanasia program Action T4
. The official cause of death was "pneumonia with myocardial insufficiency". In the years of 1940 and 1941 a total of 13720 mainly mentally ill or handicapped people were gassed by Nazis in this institution formerly well-known for its humanistic traditions.
" campaign by the Nazis nine of her works from the art museum Hamburger Kunsthalle and the Altonaer Museum were confiscated and presumably destroyed in 1937, as well as a large part of her paintings from Arnsdorf.
In 1999 there was a stele erected in memory of her at the Saxon Hospital in Arnsdorf and a ward house named after her. In Pirna-Sonnenstein a street was dedicated to the painter Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler in 2005, and since 2008 a street also in Arnsdorf carries her name. At the former hospital site in Friedrichsberg (Hamburg-Barmbek-Süd) a rose garden with a commemorative plaque was designed for her in 2004. In the development area closeby a further street was given her name.
Degenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
", and in some cases destroyed, by the Third Reich. She was killed in a former psychiatric institution at Sonnenstein castle
Sonnenstein Nazi Death Institute
The Sonnenstein Euthanasia Clinic was a Nazi killing centre located in the former fortress of Sonnenstein Castle near Pirna in East Germany, where a hospital had been established in 1811....
in Pirna under Action T4
Action T4
Action T4 was the name used after World War II for Nazi Germany's eugenics-based "euthanasia" program during which physicians killed thousands of people who were "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"...
, a forced euthanasia program of Nazi Germany. Since 2000 a memorial center for the T4 program in the house commemorates her life and work in a permanent exhibition.
Life
Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler grew up in a middle-class family, but left at the age of 16 to study at the Royal Arts School Dresden from 1915 to 1918 (fashion, then applied graphics). From 1916 to 1919, she also attended drawing and painting courses at the Dresden Art Academy. She came into contact with the Dresden Secession group 1919 and became part of the circle of friends around Otto Dix, Otto Griebel, and Conrad Felixmüller. Renting part oft the studio of the latter near the Dresden city center she made a living with batiks, postcards and illustrations.In June 1921 she married the painter and opera singer Kurt Lohse, following him to Görlitz
Görlitz
Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...
in 1922 and in 1925 to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. The marriage was a difficult one and the couple separated several times in the following years. In 1926 Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler joined the Federation of female Hamburgian artists and art lovers, in 1928 she was able to participate in some exhibitions of the New Objectivity
New Objectivity
The New Objectivity is a term used to characterize the attitude of public life in Weimar Germany as well as the art, literature, music, and architecture created to adapt to it...
.
In 1929 she suffered a nervous breakdown because of financial and partnership difficulties and was committed to a psychiatric institution in Hamburg-Friedrichsberg. During the two months' stay she painted the Friedrichsberg heads, a piece of work consisting of about 60 drawings and pastels, mainly portraits of fellow patients. After her recovery and a final separation from Kurt Lohse, she had a very creative phase. She painted numerous paintings of Hamburg's harbor, scenes from the life of workers and prostitutes, and pitiless self-portraits. But despite some exhibitions, sales, and smaller grants, she lived in grinding poverty.
Due to financial problems and increasing social isolation, she returned to her parents' home in Dresden by midyear 1931. When her mental state worsened her father admitted her to the state mental home at Arnsdorf
Arnsdorf
Arnsdorf is a municipality in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany....
in 1932. There she was diagnosed schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
. From 1932 to 1935 she was still creatively active, drawing portraits and creating arts and crafts. After Kurt Lohse divorced her in May 1935 she was incapacitated due to "incurable insanity".
After refusing to consent to a sterilisation she was denied the permission to go out of the hospital any more. In December 1935, she underwent a forced surgical sterilisation in the Dresden-Friedrichstadt women's hospital on the grounds of Nazi eugenicist
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
policies. After this traumatic life event she never painted again. In 1940 she was deported to the former psychiatric institution at Pirna-Sonnenstein (located in the Sonnenstein castle
Sonnenstein castle
The Sonnenstein castle is a castle in Pirna, near Dresden, Germany. It housed a mental hospital, which operated from 1811 to the end of World War II in 1945. During the War, it functioned as an extermination centre for the Third Reich Action T4 program...
in Pirna
Pirna
Pirna is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 40,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt...
), where, on July 31, she was murdered along with the majority of the other residents as part of the Nazi euthanasia program Action T4
Action T4
Action T4 was the name used after World War II for Nazi Germany's eugenics-based "euthanasia" program during which physicians killed thousands of people who were "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"...
. The official cause of death was "pneumonia with myocardial insufficiency". In the years of 1940 and 1941 a total of 13720 mainly mentally ill or handicapped people were gassed by Nazis in this institution formerly well-known for its humanistic traditions.
Works
Her most creative period falls within the time of her stay in Hamburg. From 1927 to 1931 she painted some of her major works. The portraits of mentally ill people she drew in Hamburg-Friedrichsberg (1929) and Arnsdorf (1932-1935) have attracted much interest. As part of the "degenerate artDegenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
" campaign by the Nazis nine of her works from the art museum Hamburger Kunsthalle and the Altonaer Museum were confiscated and presumably destroyed in 1937, as well as a large part of her paintings from Arnsdorf.
Commemoration and legacy
The rehabilitation of this long forgotten artist started with a presentation of some of her paintings in Reinbek near Hamburg. In 1994 an association for the promotion of the works of Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler is founded (Förderkreis Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler). 1996 sees the publication of the first monograph on her works written by Georg Reinhardt. This and the exhibitions in Dresden, Hamburg-Altona and Aschaffenburg mark the beginning of a broader reception of the artist's work and fate.In 1999 there was a stele erected in memory of her at the Saxon Hospital in Arnsdorf and a ward house named after her. In Pirna-Sonnenstein a street was dedicated to the painter Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler in 2005, and since 2008 a street also in Arnsdorf carries her name. At the former hospital site in Friedrichsberg (Hamburg-Barmbek-Süd) a rose garden with a commemorative plaque was designed for her in 2004. In the development area closeby a further street was given her name.
Exhibitions
These were some of the most important expositions on the work of Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler:- 1991 Castle Reinbek bei Hamburg
- 1997 Art Gallery Finckenstein, Dresden
- 1999 Municipal museum of Dresden, Altonaer Museum in Hamburg and Municipal Gallery of the City of Aschaffenburg
- 2002 Gallery Kunsthandel & Edition Fischer, Berlin
- 2003 Municipal museum of Pirna 2003
- 2004 Prinzhorn Collection, Heidelberg
- 2005 Representation of the Free State of Saxony to the Federation, Berlin
- 2006 During the exhibition Female Artists of the Avant-garde (II) in Hamburg from 1890 to 1933 (2006) in the art museum Hamburger Kunsthalle there were also several works by Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler. Amongst them one of her most famous paintings, the "Lissy" from 1931 was on display.
- 2008/09 Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance and Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Bremen: comprehensive exhibition on the life and work of the painter: Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler. 1899-1940 with about one hundred of their works from all phases (with extensive catalog of the same title)
- 2010 Käthe-Kollwitz-house, Moritzburg (near Dresden): watercolors and drawings