Else Hertzer

Else Hertzer (1884–1978) was a 20th-century German artist representing the German Expressionism Movement. Her later works became more abstract.

Else Hertzer - Self Portrait

Life
22 Collegienstrasse Wittenberg
"White Camel" by Else Hertzer, 1974

She was born Else Heintze on 24 November 1884 at 22 Collegienstrasse in Wittenberg close to Martin Luther's house.[1]

In 1909 (on marriage) she moved to Altonaer Strasse in the Tiergarten district of Berlin. Between 1911 and 1913 she spent much time with her in-laws in Buttstadt in Thuringia in central Germany. Here she began producing drypoint etchings and several paintings. From 1918 she joined the Berlin Secession Movement. Her first publicly exhibited painting was "Frohnau".[2]

Around 1919 began formal studies at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, alongside George Mosson. In 1929 she went to Paris for further lessons under Andre Lhote.

During the Second World War she received a peculiar commission from her home town to create a series of wall murals for a communal bunker serving as an air-raid shelter. The murals depicted the history of Wittenberg. Wittenberg's location and lack of strategic importance meant that the town (and bunker) escaped without damage, but the bunker was later removed when under GDR control.[3]

Following her 90th birthday the Berliner Morgenpost commented on her continuing freshness of style and enduring popularity.[4]

She died at 7 Dortmunder Strasse in Berlin on 9 February 1978.

Family

In 1909 she married Otto Hertzer, gaining the name Else Hertzer.

Publications
  • Parthenon Vertag (1924) 250 hand-printed copies including six woodcuts

References
  1. Mathias Tietke: Wittenberg. The 99 Special Pages of the City, p. 59
  2. Berliner Statistik: Monatsschrift . Kulturbuch-Verlag., 1978 ( google.de [retrieved on July 29, 2018]).
  3. Heimatkalender 2005, Lutherstadt Wittenberg & Landkreis Wittenberg, p. 74
  4. Berliner Morgenpost, 12 July 1975


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