Paul Ondrusch

sculptor who created religious works of art.

Biography

Early years

Ondrusch was born to Karl Ondrusch and Anna Granel as their second child. His father was an artist who specialized in carpentry and wished his son would go into the same profession, preparing him for it in his own workshop. Paul's talent was soon discovered when he started to carve wooden sculptures. After finishing primary school education, he was sent to a school in Würbenthal in which he was taught xylography. As soon as after a year he was able to leave that school because of his extraordinary abilities. In 1890 he did a wooden sculpture of the Christ for the Catholic church in Głubczyce (German Leobschütz at that time, now a town in Poland). Apart from that sculpture, he also contributed to numerous projects as well as the very creation of other works including a pulpit in Trinity Church (nowadays the closed St. Anne Church) and Saint Florian's altar in Głubczyce.Schmidt, Jacek, "Paul Ondrusch" in: "Kalendarz Głubczycki 1997", Głubczyce 1996, pg. 69-72, ISSN 1231-4803 pl icon]

Academic studies

Having finished the Würbenthal school, Ondrusch started his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich where he was recognized and awarded for his life-size statue of the biblical Judas Iscariot on the fourth year of his study. At the age of twenty-two, he was welcomed with open arms anywhere he would go. Despite his early age, he was many a time offered position of a professor. However, he did not accept it. He decided to devote his artistic work to religious art.Maler, Katarzyna, "Dzieła Paula Ondruscha zachowane na Ziemi Głubczyckiej" in: "Kalendarz Głubczycki 1997", Głubczyce 1996, pg. 75 pl icon] That choice was inspired by Ondrusch's deep Catholic beliefs which were instilled in him by his devout family. Most of his works were crosses, altars, pulpits and figures of the saints with a particular emphasis on the figures of Mary (mother of Jesus).

Further work

As the Academy's graduate, he returned to his place of birth, Leobschütz, where he again started to work in his father Karl's workshop where he painted and carved in wood and stone. It was the time when many of his works came into existence. These included sculptures for local schools (e.g., a monument for the perished students and teachers; and an altar in the chapel of a local gymnasium) as well as churches located in the nearest area, but also in Neisse; Königshütte; Langenbielau; and Anklam. He, among other things, carved a figure of Saint Mary (sandstone, St. Anne Church); figure of Saint John (oakwood); and figures of Saint Francis, Saint Anthony and Saint Michael defeating the devil. Other works included organ balustrades, confessionals and Stations of the Cross.

Owing to the support received from Hans Georg von Oppersdorff (born 1866), who financed Ondrusch's studies, Ondrusch became author of several notable works, including a lifesize statue of Jesus for the Oppersdorffs family tombstone; busts of the members of that family; and a statue of Saint Dorothea which was subsequently cast in bronze. All of the mentioned works have been reported missing after the war. Nevertheless, Ondrusch's artistry can be evaluated and described on the basis of the two works of art which have remained in Oberglogau, convert|20|km|mi north of his family town, Leobschütz. One of them is a sandstone sculpture of the Christ carrying the cross (1903, with a meaningful gesture of a raised hand). This work can be found on a defensive wall between a monastery and the building of a former city guard in Oberglogau (now Głogówek in Poland). The other work is a wooden figure of Saint Mary with the Infant Jesus which can be currently seen in the Regional Museum in Oberglogau, but it used to be placed in a local castle chapel.Szyndzielorz, Albert, "Paul Ondrusch - ślady Jego twórczości w naszym mieście" at [http://glogowek-online.pl/content/view/22/7/ Głogówek Online.pl] pl icon]

Paul Ondrusch was also the author of other sculpted tombstones and busts that decorated buildings' fronts. These first ones included the figure of Saint John the Baptist placed on the old cemetery in Leobschütz in 1924. Ondrusch's wooden sculpture of Remus von Woyrsch, a German Field Marshal General, decorated the main hall in the town hall of Leobschütz. General von Woyrsch was portrayed as a knight wearing a coat and a chain mail, with his hands placed on a handle of a large sword rested against the ground. That work has not withstood the destruction of the building which was bombed in March 1945 and successively pulled down in the following years.Maler, Katarzyna, "Ratusz w Głubczycach", in: "Głos Głubczyc", 6/179, pg. 6, ISSN 1234-0890 pl icon]

The mentioned busts decorating buildings' fronts were similar to cartouches placed above main buildings' doors. Those bas-reliefs, created by Ondrusch, decorated buildings constructed in the years 1922-1923 in Leobschütz and they portrayed Saint Hedwig with a church in the background; Saint Joseph with Jesus; Saint Martin with a coat with which he covers the needy; Saint Anne with Jesus; Saint Elizabeth with the roses; the Holy Family and their escape from Egypt; the Franciscan saints; Saint George who kills a dragon; and the Madonna, this single sculpture being exceptionally done in limewood. The material used for these carvings was taken from earthworks carried out during the construction of a sports field. The newly done carvings were then transported to the master potter's workshop where they were fired in a kiln. Afterwards, the sculptures were coloured adequately to the plaster of the building and then placed above the doors. Some of these cartouches measured convert|135|cm|in in length and convert|48|cm|in in height, whereas others were round.

Ondrusch was commissioned by the municipal authorities of Gleiwitz to do a sculpture of crucified Christ and mourning witnesses, which was erected at the Central Cemetery, as well as a monument to seventy-six children who were killed in a theatre in 1919. The latter work is an object characterized as modest in its message. It portrays the children embraced by Jesus and is situated in front of a flat stone. Originally, it also included an inscription in German which could be translated as follows: "Come to me children," and "In memory of 76 children of Gliwice who died a violent death on March 24, 1919."Pokorska, Ewa, "Śladami historii" in: "Miejski Serwis Informacyjny - Gliwice" 47/2007 (352), pg. 8, ISSN: 1642–1108 pl icon] Apart from these works, Ondrusch was also author of several other works for the All Saints' Church in Gleiwitz (now Polish Gliwice).

Ondrusch presented his works on annual exhibitions in Gleiwitz; Hindenburg; and Oppeln. It is reported that his works can be found in Oldenburg, Eschershausen and Wiesbaden as well as in private collections.

Family life

Ondrusch had eleven siblings. He married Martha Olbrich in 1902 and they had four daughters (Lucia born in 1902, Else - 1903, Margarethe - 1908 and Charlotte - 1912) and two sons (Paul born 1916 and Heinz - 1920). He was recruited during the World War I (1914-1918). His father, Karl, passed away in 1914. Two years later his oldest daughter's death came. His mother, Anna, died the same year (1916), and so did his wife in 1923. Two years after her death, he remarried and started a second family with Emma Werdecker with whom he had a daughter Ingeborg (1928) and a son, Gerhard (1932).

Paul Ondrusch moved to Germany in 1945 and there he continued his work. He died at the age of seventy-seven.

References