Science city honors painter on the 60th anniversary of his death
The city of Darmstadt is commemorating the German-Jewish artist Ludwig Meidner, who died in Darmstadt on May 14, 1966. The occasion is the 60th anniversary of his death.
Mayor Hanno Benz praised Meidner as a "world-class painter" who had made art and cultural history and was closely associated with Darmstadt.
A prominent representative of Expressionism
Ludwig Meidner was born in 1884 in what was then Bernstadt an der Weide and is one of the most important artists of urban expressionism in the 20th century.
Influenced by the First World War and his Jewish faith, he explored themes such as big-city life, social unrest, and war in his paintings, prints, and literary works. He became known, among other things, for apocalyptic cityscapes with burning houses and panicked crowds.
Connection to Darmstadt since 1919
As early as 1919, Meidner worked for the expressionist Darmstadt magazine "Das Tribunal," which was published by the later SPD politician Carlo Mierendorff. The Darmstadt writer Kasimir Edschmid was also part of his circle.
Meidner was also a member of the Darmstadt Secession.
Persecution under National Socialism
During the Nazi dictatorship, Meidner was persecuted as a Jewish artist. His works were considered "degenerate art," and numerous pieces were confiscated or destroyed. He was forced to flee into exile in England.
It was there that he created his later much-discussed cycle of works on the persecution and extermination of European Jews.
Return to Germany and final years in Darmstadt
Meidner returned to Germany in the 1950s. At the invitation of Heinz-Winfried Sabais, then Darmstadt's cultural affairs officer and later mayor, he moved to Darmstadt in 1963.
Here he experienced the recognition of his life's work. His grave is located in the Jewish cemetery in Bessungen.
Exhibition in Darmstadt commemorates Meidner
The Netuschil Gallery is showing the exhibition “Ludwig Meidner. The hottest crater of his time” until May 30, 2026.
The much-discussed retrospective “Encounters” at the Museum Künstlerkolonie Mathildenhöhe had already brought the artist renewed attention in 2016/17.
(DARMSTADT – RED/PSD/stip)
Featured image: Ludwig and Else Meidner at an exhibition opening in 1949. Photo: Ludwig Meidner Archive Frankfurt/Press Office Darmstadt
