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Alfred Schwarzschild (Artist)
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Alfred
married Theodora Luttner in
1924 & had three daughters.
The
family moved to Munich and resided at Holbeinstrasse and then
Mauerkircherstrasse, where Alfred also had his artist studio.
When the Nazi party began placing restrictions upon the
movements of Jews,
Alfred
found it extremely difficult to sell his work. Living under such
conditions became intolerable and in 1936 Schwarzschild fled
Germany to avoid Nazi persecution. He arrived in England in the
hope of trying to earn a living. In doing so he left his wife
and children behind in Munich.
In 1937, fearing for his family's safety, Schwarzschild bravely
returned to Munich for a brief visit where
they
was reunited. He fled Germany for a second time soon after.
Alfred was finally reunited with his wife and children for good
when they also fled to England in 1938, thereby escaping the
Nazi holocaust. He was subsequently
reported to the Nazi authorities and his bank account was seized
and stripped of its money.
Alfred was the second child born into
a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt. His parents Moses &
Henriette had six boys, the eldest of which
Karl was to become a world renowned
astronomer.
Alfred came next, then a third boy who sadly died in infancy
followed by Otto, Hermann, Robert and Clara their only daughter.
They were a happy family & Moses & Henriette brought their
children up to be liberal minded & free thinkers.
From an early age Alfred showed great
potential and the desire to become an artist. Amongst other
things, for many years he studied anatomy in great detail as can
be seen by his wonderful and skilled portrayal of the human
body.
From1890 - 1892 he studied under
Anton Burger in Kronberg and then at the
Academy of Karlsruhe & finally with
Wilhelm von Diez
in Munich. Here he received early acknowledgements among which
was an ‘ Honourable Mention’ in a 1903 Paris exhibition. He was
renowned for his portrait paintings many of which are scattered
round the world.
Alfred in his studio 1909
He was born in an era of political unrest and two world wars.
During WW1 he joined the (Imperial
German Flying
Corps) as an
observer. He had a large camera that he had to hold over the
side of the plane to photograph the terrain and he also made
sketches of the enemy positions.
There are postcards he drew for his brother
Karl showing
him on a ladder painting murals on the wall of one of the huts.
For his endeavours he was awarded the Iron Cross (2nd
Class).
Alfred Schwarzschild remained living in the UK until his death
on 19 August 1948. His artwork suffered at the hands of the
Nazi's where it was discriminated against on the basis that it
was sectarian and therefore deemed unworthy. Thankfully, some of
his paintings have survived and hang in European and Middle
Eastern galleries.
Grüß aus München!
Alfred was commissioned to paint a typical Aryan girl.
The painting was reproduced and distributed in Germany
before WW2 as a postcard under the title 'Grüß
aus
München!'
However, what he failed to tell the authorities was
exactly who the little girl he had drawn was. This
information he revealed later in a scrapbook after he
fled Germany in 1936.
"This is supposed to be typical of an
(Aryan) German child of Munich. But it is a Jewish
(German) portrait painter! And the model was his little
girl, half Jewish and half Bavarian (Mother)!! with
München on the background. There is a subtle humour in
this!"
His
hand drawn
postcards to members of his family amount to hundreds
and can be found
here.
These in themselves are
a unique recording of the history of those turbulent times.
He was interned for a short while on the Isle of Man where he continued
to draw & sketch at every opportunity. He had a small silver coloured
tin in which he kept his drawing materials. He was allowed to go out and
was sitting in the dunes one day sketching when a policeman turned up to
say that there was a report that he was signalling to the enemy. After
checking Alfred’s tin he realised that the safety of the British Nation
was not under threat so Alfred was allowed to finish his picture.
During the war years there was a great shortage of all painting
materials so he would make use of anything he could find, odd scraps of
cardboard or paper were like gold to him. He never let a single day go
by without sketching or painting and was a consummate and prolific
artist. Even till the day he died he was drawing nurses & patients from
his hospital bed.
Some memories from Alfred's youngest daughter Theo.
As
his youngest daughter I can really only write about his
last few years as he sadly
He always came back whenever possible but by 1938 it was too difficult
so my mother put all our possessions into storage, ready for the day
(which never came) when she would retrieve them. We said goodbye to our
friends and managed to get
a train to take us part of the way to England
We had scarcely any luggage and were very fortunate not to be
taken off the train at Aachen where many of the Jewish families were
forced to get out.
Once reunited we were able to stay with good
friends & cousins until we found a house to rent in London. It was
during this time that my father was interned but not for too long. His
health had deteriorated during the years and his heart was not strong
but he continued to paint and get a few commissions.
One of his cousins gave him a pass for the London Zoo which gave him
great pleasure and he drew wonderful sketches of the animals. Life was
not easy for him during this time as art materials were virtually
unobtainable but somehow he managed.
By the end of the war work began to come his way again, just little bits
and the occasional portrait at first but gradually building up. Sadly
though, his asthma was getting very bad and London was at that time a
very smoggy place and sadly he died in 1948.
Even after all these years I have only to smell turpentine and I see my
father standing there in his painting overall with a
palette and brushes in his hand.
| Some family photographs | ||
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| Studio | Alfred, Theodora, Luise & Bettina | Studio |
| Alfred joined the Imperial German Flying Corps during WW1 as an observer | ||
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| Decorating the skittle hall | ||
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| Self portrait | ||
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