Biography

“If one were to name the quality that distinguishes Käthe Kollwitz as an artist above all others, it is her character. Rarely has an artist, from the very beginning, charted her own path so surely and adhered to it so purposefully over decades as this woman has. She is a remarkable creator driven by her calling to struggle for social justice and a better world for society’s lower classes.”

Curt Glaser (Berliner Börsen-Courier, 1927)

1867

Käthe Kollwitz was born on July, 8 in Königsberg, East Prussia.

1886 - 1890

Art classes at the Academy for Women Artists in Berlin and Munich under Karl Stauffer-Bern and Ludwig Herterich.

1890

First own studio in Königsberg. Start of graphic work.

1891

Marriage to the doctor Karl Kollwitz. Move to Berlin. The young couple moved into an apartment on Weißenburger Straße in Prenzlauer Berg (today Kollwitz-Straße), which also served as a doctor’s practice and as a place of work for Käthe Kollwitz.

1892

Birth of son Hans.

1893

The premiere of the naturalistic drama “The Weavers” by Gerhart Hauptmann inspired her to create her first graphic series “A Weavers’ Revolt” (1893-1897).

1896

Birth of son Peter.

1898

The cycle “A Weavers’ Revolt” was presented for the first time at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition.

1898 - 1903

Teaching assignment at the Berlin Academy for Women Artists, Kollwitz offered classes in etching and drawing.

1901

Became member of the Berlin Secession. First short trip to Paris.

1902 - 1908

Started work on her etching cycle „Peasants’ War“ on behalf of Verbindung für historische Kunst (Association for Historical Art).

1904

Two months in Paris. Visited the class for sculpting at the Académie Julian.

1907

Was awarded the Villa Romana Prize and several months in Florence.

1908

Completion of the first sculptural work, a portrait relief of her grandfather Julius Rupp, which is publicly displayed in Königsberg. By 1910 Kollwitz had created 14 drawings for the Munich satirical magazine Simplicissimus.

1912

Käthe Kollwitz was elected board member of the Berlin Secession. Renting of the first work space outside of the private apartment in the Siegmundshof studio house.

1914

In October, during the First World War, the younger son Peter was killed as a volunteer in Belgium near Dixmuiden.

1917

On the occasion of her 50th birthday Kollwitz exhibited at the Paul Cassirer gallery.

1919

Became the first woman to be made a full member of the Prussian Academy of Arts. At the same time, she was appointed professor.

1920 - 1925

Increasing orders from political and social institutions, resulting in posters and individual graphics.

1920 - 1922

First work with the woodcut, the series “War” was completed using this technique.

1927

Extensive exhibition in the Prussian Academy on the occasion of her 60th birthday. Trip to the Soviet Union with her husband Karl.

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1928

Directorship of the masterclass for graphic art at the Prussian Academy of Art.

1929

As the first woman she was awarded the order Pour le Mérite for Science and Art.

1932

Inauguration of the “Mourning Parents” memorial at the Roggevelde military cemetery in Belgium, in memory of their son Peter.

1933

Was forced to resign from the Prussian Academy by the National Socialists. Abandonment of the master’s studio for reasons of age.

1934

Renting of new studio rooms in the studio community at Klosterstrasse. Started the last graphic cycle “Death”, of which individual sheets were presented in the autumn exhibition of the Academy.

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1936

Exhibitions of their works are increasingly prohibited. Removal of her works from public collections. Mainly occupation with small sculptures.

1940

Death of Karl Kollwitz.

1943

Evacuation from the city due to increasing air strikes on Berlin. She initially found accommodation in Nordhausen (Thuringia), and from 1944 in Moritzburg near Dresden. In November 1943 the house on Weißenburger Strasse was destroyed by bombs.

1945

On April 22nd, Käthe Kollwitz died at the age of 77 in Moritzburg.