The Life and Art of Georg Meistermann
Georg Meistermann was a German painter, draftsman, and stained glass designer. He studied art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Werner Heuser, Heinrich Nauen, and Ewald Mataré. Following the condemnation of his studies by the Nazis in 1933, he worked as an independent painter and art teacher in Solingen. His artistic output included abstract paintings influenced by late Cubism and Alfred Manessier, as well as portraits and wall paintings.
Meistermann became famous for his stained glass windows across Europe, utilizing an interaction of color, form, and line to immerse spaces in colored light. Notable works include:
- A window installed in 1957 at Berlin's Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche.
- Four windows designed for the Collegio Teutonico, Rome, in 1976.
- A design for St. Gereon's Basilica, Cologne (1979-1986).
- A large spiral stained glass window for the Church of Bottrop, which is regarded as the first purely abstract stained glass work in a German church.
Academic Career and Legacy
Meistermann held several prestigious teaching positions. He was appointed professor at the Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main, in 1953. He later held professorships at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1955 to 1959 and at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe from 1960 to 1976. His students included Gotthard Graubner, Raimund Girke, HA Schult, Gerold Bursian, Wolfgang Glöckler, Otto Mindhoff, K.J. Overkott, and Hans-Günther van Look.
He participated in the documentas I (1955) and II (1959) in Kassel and served as President of the German Artists Federation from 1967 to 1972. In 1994, the Georg-Meistermann-Museum opened in Wittlich.
