Ferdinand Spiegel

Ferdinand Spiegel was a painter and graphic artist in Berlin and representative of a “völkisch” traditionalist style. The son of a shoemaker, he attended the Art Academy in München and subsequently became a student of Wilhelm von Julius Diez at the Arts and Crafts School. Until 1914, he worked primarily as a decorative painter for showrooms and restaurants and as an illustrator for the magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus. In 1914/15 he took part in World War I, depicting soldiers and battlefields in watercolors.

In 1916 Spiegel was appointed teacher, and in 1918 professor, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. From 1924, he taught at the Vereinigte Staatsschulen für freie und angewandte Kunst (United State Schools for Free and Applied Arts) in Berlin. Here he particularly distinguished himself with the depiction of large, vigorous peasant figures and with numerous, heroizing portraits of soldiers. Two stamp series were issued in the German Reich in 1934 and 1935 based on his designs. He also became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts. From 1939 he headed a master studio at the Berlin Academy. In 1940, he became a war artist and made numerous pictures at the front.

Spiegel was an esteemed artist during the Nazi era. He was represented at the Great German Art Exhibitions in Munich with a total of 35 works, including eleven paintings each of aviators in 1941 and of members of the paramilitary engineering Organisation Todt in 1943. Two triptychs were bought for the Neue Reichskanzlei (New Reich’s Chancellery) In the final phase of World War II, Adolf Hitler included him in the Gottbegnadeten (God-gifted) list of the most important art painters.