The artistic career of Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler began with formal training at the Royal Arts School in Dresden, where she studied fashion and applied graphics from 1915 to 1918. Her subsequent participation in the Dresden Secession Group connected her to figures including Otto Dix and Conrad Felixmüller, establishing her early professional identity within the avant-garde movement.
Artistic Development in Hamburg
Following a move to Hamburg in 1925, Lohse-Wächtler joined the Federation of female Hamburgian artists and art lovers. After experiencing a nervous breakdown in 1929, she spent two months at the psychiatric institution in Hamburg-Friedrichsberg. During this confinement, she produced approximately 60 drawings and pastels, now known as the Friedrichsberg heads. Following her release, she entered a period of intense productivity, capturing Hamburg's harbor, local workers, and prostitutes.
Twenty questions, eight minutes on the clock, and a percentile measured against everyone who has taken it. No sign-up.
Take the IQ test →Institutionalization and Sterilization
Lohse-Wächtler returned to her parents' home in Dresden in 1931 as her financial and mental stability declined. In 1932, her father committed her to the state mental home at Arnsdorf, where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Despite her circumstances, she continued to create arts and crafts. After refusing to consent to sterilization, she was forcibly subjected to the procedure in December 1935 at the Dresden-Friedrichstadt women's hospital. The trauma of this event effectively ended her painting career.
Action T4 and Legacy
The Nazi regime classified Lohse-Wächtler’s work as degenerate art, resulting in the destruction of numerous pieces by 1937, including works titled Strassen-Musik and In der Kneipe. In 1940, she was deported to the Pirna-Sonnenstein killing center, where she was murdered on 31 July under the Action T4 euthanasia program. Her work saw a scholarly revival in the 1990s, leading to the creation of a memorial association in 1994 and various commemorative sites, including a rose garden in Hamburg-Barmbek-Süd and streets named in her honor in Arnsdorf and Pirna.
Fast facts
- Born: 1899, Dresden
- Died: 31 July 1940, Pirna
- Movement: Expressionism
- Occupations: Artist, painter, graphic artist
- Cause of death: Action T4 program
- Education: Royal Arts School Dresden
- Diagnosis: Schizophrenia
Questions readers ask
What happened to her artwork during the Nazi era?
Nine of her works were confiscated and destroyed in 1937 as part of the degenerate art campaign.
Why was she institutionalized in 1932?
She was admitted to the state mental home at Arnsdorf by her father after her mental state worsened following a return to her parents' home.
Achievements
- Movement: Expressionism
