Klaus Wittkugel

Klaus Wittkugel (17 October 1910 – 19 September 1985) was one of the most important commercial and poster artists in the German Democratic Republic (1949–1989). For many years he was also a professor at the Berlin-Weißensee Arts Academy.

Life Wittkugel was born in Kiel in the extreme north of the country. His father was a businessman. Klaus Wittkugel himself undertook a commercial training in Hamburg between 1927 and 1929, while also attending the Hamburg State Arts Academy, and then studied in Essen at the Folkwang University of the Arts till 1932. Here he was a master-scholar of Max Burchartz. He then relocated to Berlin where between 1932 and 1935 he was employed as a commercial artist by a retail chain. From 1935 till 1937 he headed up a studio with a Berlin advertising agency, after which he worked in Berlin as a freelance commercial artist until war intervened.

Memberships In 1950 Klaus Wittkugel was a founding member of the East German League of Visual Artists, membership of which quickly became, for practical purposes, mandatory for those wishing to pursue a career in the visual arts. He was the first chairman of The League's Graphic Artists' Section, and from 1984 an honorary member.

He became a member of the national Academy of Arts in 1961, serving as that prestigious institution's vice-president between 1968 and 1974.

He was a member of the Artistic Advisory Board of the Postage Stamps Commission in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Postage stamp design was important in the German Democratic Republic and it was a subject on which Wittkugel was influential. In addition he designed a succession of stamps and stamp booklet covers.

Honours

1958: National Prize of East Germany 1960: Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze 1963: Patriotic Order of Merit in silver 1969: Patriotic Order of Merit in gold 1970: National Prize of East Germany 1975: Johannes R. Becher Medal 1979: GDR Trades Union Federation Arts Prize 1980: Patriotic Order of Merit gold clasp 1982: Hans Grundig Medal