The Schwälmer Willingshäuser Malerkolonie is the oldest artists’ colony in Europe. It was a happy coincidence, but also a personal misfortune, that an artists’ colony was founded in Willingshausen. Gerhardt Wilhelm von Reutern, who had taken part in the army, had his right arm amputated in 1814 as a result of a wound to the right shoulder. He came to recover with his brother’s parents-in-law in the Schwertzell house in Willingshausen. In the summer of 1814 he met with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe for the first time. Goethe recognised von Reutern’s artistic talent and encouraged him to paint and draw. In Willingshausen, von Reutern began to create self-taught depictions of Willingshausen peasants, maids and the Schwälmer costume.
It wasn’t as common then to paint German landscapes, as opposed to, for instance, Italian landscapes. But gradually, painters everywhere started to portray everyday life and landscapes. Painting peasant themes into your landscape painting and showcasing traditional costumes, however, was entirely born in Willingshausen.
Who lived & worked here?
Gerhardt von Reutern, Carl Bantzer, E. S. Andrews, Herbert Arnold, Lilly von Asten, Hermann Bahner, Carl Bantzer, Carl Francis Bantzer, Paul Baum, Max Barta, Peter Becker, Jakob Becker, Ludwig Hugo Becker, Emil Beithan, Friedrich Wilhelm Bogler, Jean Konrad Bohlender, Karl Breitbach, Vincent Burek, Georg Burmester, Vincent Burek, Fritz Cauer, Wilhelm Claudius, Albert Conrad, Wilhelm Degode, Carl Friedrich Deiker, Heinrich Dersch, Jakob Fürchtegott Dielmann, Karl Doerbecker, Ewald Egg, Franz Eichhorst, Emilie von der Embde, Caroline von der Embde, Hans Fehrenberg, Conrad Felixmüller, Friedrich Fennel, Holger Frank, Ismael Gentz, Heinrich Giebel, Carl Goebel, Ludwig Emil Grimm, Eduard Handwerck, Karl Hanusch, Jacob Happ, Joh. Heinrich Hasselhorst, Günther Heinemann, Marianne Heinemann-Thielmann, Willi ter Hell, Julius Hellner, Karl Henckel, August von Heyn, Dora Hitz, Franz Hochmann, Georg Höhmann, Richard Hoelscher, Karl Hofer, Jacob Hoff, Julius Jung, Hermann Kätelhön, Ludwig Knaus, Albert Kretschmer, Stanislaw Kubicki, Karl Lenz, Adolf Lins, Karl Mons, Theodor Matthei, Ingeborg Mengel, Hermann Metz, Joh. Georg Meyer von Bremen, Eduard Meyerheim, Hans Meyer-Kassel, Karl Mons, Hugo Mühlig, Bruno Müller-Linow, Hugo Oehmichen, Hans Olde, Heinrich Otto, Toni Plettner eigentlich Antonie Plettner (verheiratete Kätelhön), Otto Piltz, Carl Raupp, Kurt Reuber, Elisabeth von Reutern, Gerhardt Wilhelm von Reutern, Wilhelm Georg Ritter, Philip L. J. Sadée, Paul Scheffer, Walter Schliephacke, Henriette Schmidt-Bonn, Paul Scholz, Adolf Schreyers, Kurt Schwitters, Kurt Spangenberg, Karl Ferdinand Sohn, Hermann Sondermann, Inge Stein-Wiese. Paul Storm, Otto Strützel, Wilhelm Thielmann, Paul Thumann, Otto Ubbelohde, Benjamin Vautier, Hans Richard von Volkmann, Walter Waentig, Paul Weber, Otto Westphal, Ernst Wichert, Albert Wigand, Wilhelm Zastrow, Wolfgang Zeller, Emil Zimmermann.. the list goes on.
