Ernst Balz

Ernst Balz was married to the sculptor Doris Balz (né Gerstel). Her father Wilhelm was one of his teachers. He volunteered for military service in 1939 and went missing-in-action in Romania during World War II in 1943 and was officially declared dead by the local court in Berlin-Zehlendorf on 27 April 1964. His official date of death is 31 December 1945, no place of death is recorded.

He began his studies at the art academy in München and continued at the Combined State Schools in Berlin. In 1934 he settled in Berlin as a freelance artist. He became known for his statues of young men, portrait busts and small sculptures. Balz is considered a German nationalist, but probably was not a Nazi, although he joined the NSDAP in 1940. He held a scholarship at the Villa Massimo in Rome, but left prematurely and travelled to Greece. He was officially declared dead on 27 April 1964 with DOD 31 December 1945.