Mural in hesselbach threatens the end
Demolition work is underway on the former school in hesselbach, which was built in 1959 and 1960. The building is completely demolished and a new village community center is erected in the course of the north-east bavarian demand offensive.
“I regret the total demolition of the school demanded by the office for rural development (ALE). One should deal more neutrally with the legacies of the first decades after the second world war, which have their qualities and are an expression of their time of origin”, denounces district curator robert wachter. The building was structurally in good condition and almost fully used, so he could not understand the decision in terms of sustainability and resource conservation. Since the demolition was a done deal, he had hoped that at least the works of art inside – a marian sculpture and a mural – could be saved and integrated into the new building.
Mary, the patron saint of schoolchildren, stands just to the right of the main portal in the entrance hall. The sculpture was made in 1964 by the famous bamberger sculptor hermann leitherer (1919 – 1991), who created sacral works of art in the whole archdiocese of bamberg. The virgin of protection – classic with blue coat and red dress – protects with her coat two schoolchildren.
The “animal worlds” stretched out on a rough area of five by 1.20 meters-mural is located on the east wall of the entrance hall on the first floor. This was created by the also famous lichtenfels artist hubert weber (1920 – 2013) in 1960. “It is a kind of applied dispersion paint”, so wachter. He did not recognize a special system. The animals are motley – from snail, rabbit and pig to goose, rooster and dog to bird, antelope and giraffe. On the left you can see a sun, on the right the moon; next to it probably also an owl as a night bird. This “day and night-the theme was, for example, also in the “art in construction” also created by weber depicted in the stairwell of the now demolished former kronach nurses’ home. Similar animal worlds – also by weber – adorn a mural from 1963 in the old school in tschirn.
While the mary sculpture in hesselbach can be preserved without any problems, the mural will fall victim to total demolition. The preservation or a conceivable relocation of the painting would certainly have been difficult – according to wachter – but not impossible. “The mural is apparently close to the heart of the people”, tells wachter, who also received inquiries from concerned burghers about the demolition.
“We have first tried to preserve the building in its broad outline and possibly convert the upper floor into apartments and keep the teacher’s house as a rental apartment”, explains wilhelmsthal’s mayor susanne grebner. By the demand offensive northeast bavaria however no housing construction is demanded and the barrier-free change would have been very cost-expensive with the old schoolhouse. Therefore, the economic viability of new construction/renovation has been examined. “The decision was made to completely demolish the house and to erect a new smaller building. It will also reduce the permanent maintenance costs”, grebner emphasizes. The latter is very grateful to the ALE for obtaining the 90 percent requirement for this house. “The municipality had never been able to renovate this building”, she highlights. The painting had been very gladly received, but the costs for it had been too high. In addition, it had also grobenmabig no longer fit into the new building.
Unfortunately, the consequence of the “art on the building” nothing corresponding from the economic miracle period, regrets robert wachter. On new buildings, as a rule, no more current building art is attached. “With the current destructive frenzy affecting this particular era, serious thought should be given to the preservation of 1960s architecture and art.”, he denounces. Just remember how in the 1950s and 1960s the neo-gothic furnishings in the churches were destroyed – removals that today are often gladly reversed.
He makes an urgent appeal to once again check all possibilities for preserving the mural – for example, whether the wall plaster on which the picture is painted is applied to styrofoam panels. In this case, one could try to cut out at least parts of the original painting.
Art in construction
Series after the second world war, public buildings were decorated with “art on building” spared. These works of art are often threatened, as many of the buildings are now undergoing major renovation or even demolition. In a small series we present some of these “demolition candidates” in front of.
Hubert weber was born in staffelstein in 1920 and died in 2013. At the age of 21, he slipped between two wagons on his way to the russian front and was run over by a train. Thereby he lost both arms. The famous surgeon prof. Sauerbruch, who worked at the charite in berlin. Ferdinand sauerbruch operated on him several times and gave him back new possibilities of movement with hand prostheses developed especially for him. He recognized weber’s artistic talent and demanded it. In the county of kronach, he created a rough mural for the vocational school in the 1960s and also painted the school in gehulz-breitenloh. Also the sgraffito of the “sparer family” on the former on the former savings bank headquarters at the kronach train station from the 1950s was also his work. In the 1960s, he also created the concrete stained glass windows for the church. Heinrich” steinbach/wald and “st. St. Mary’s” hirschfeld and the county coat of arms on the kronach district office. In 1990, he made the bronze figure of johann kaspar zeub at kronach’s marienplatz.
Hermann leitherer was born in 1919 in dillingen a.D. Born and died in 1991. He studied at the nurnberg academy of fine arts. He has created numerous sacred works of art in the district, such as the statue of the virgin mary in christkonig tettau (1954), figures (the madonna, st. Peter, st. John, st. Peter the baptist, st. John the baptist, st. John the baptist), and many others. Henry, hl. Kunigunde) of the church in schnaid (1955), artistic decoration of the church in nurn (consecration 1956), the fountain statue “st. Francis” before st. Heinrich steinbach/wald (1976), altarpiece of st. Marien kehlbach (1977/78), statue of the virgin mary in the chapel on the flurberg by friesen, the priest’s grave with st. Christophorus at the cemetery in friesen (1961) or the monumental cross for the cemetery in teuschnitz (1965).
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