Else Hertzer


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

Life

She was born Else Heintze on 24 November 1884 at 22 Collegienstrasse in Wittenberg close to Martin Luther's house.
In 1909 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".
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 escaped without damage, but the bunker was later removed when under GDR control.
Following her 90th birthday the Berliner Morgenpost commented on her continuing freshness of style and enduring popularity.
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