Hermann Glöckner
Illustration — Hermann Glöckner in front of a work by Horst Bartnig in a private exhibition in Dresden in 1974 • Illustration — "Durchbruch" – plastic by Hermann Glöckner in front of the Bundeshaus Bonn • Illustration — "Mast mit zwei Faltungszonen" – plastic by Hermann Glöckner, Technische Universität Dresden Hermann Glöckner (21 January 1889 – 25 May 1987) was a German painter and sculptor. He was an important representative of constructivism. Glöckner was born in Cotta near Dresden.
Also recorded as Herman Glockner · Hermann Glockner
Hermann Glöckner

Roderich Kahn · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1889 · Cotta.
- Died
- 1987 · Berlin.
- Nationality
- Germany
- Occupation
- sculptor · painter · printmaker
- Honours
- National Prize of East Germany
- Languages
- German
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Hermann Glöckner in front of a work by Horst Bartnig in a private exhibition in Dresden in 1974 • Illustration — "Durchbruch" – plastic by Hermann Glöckner in front of the Bundeshaus Bonn • Illustration — "Mast mit zwei Faltungszonen" – plastic by Hermann Glöckner, Technische Universität Dresden Hermann Glöckner (21 January 1889 – 25 May 1987) was a German painter and sculptor. He was an important representative of constructivism. Glöckner was born in Cotta near Dresden.
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gnd · 1219131490 · wikidata · Q881639 · wikipedia · Hermann Glöckner
In this article
Works
Works
He attended the vocational school in Leipzig in 1903 and worked as a designer for textiles. From 1904 to 1911 he attended the evening classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Dresden, where he became friends with Kurt Fiedler. Among their lectures were Oskar Seyffert and Carl Rade, who later was a renowned professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts and remained a friend of Glöckner for many years. Glöckner was mainly interested in drawings, but also in projections and geometry. From 1914 to 1918 he served in infantry divisions in France, Russia, and Poland. After World War I, Glöckner earned some money with the copying of paintings for the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. At the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts he studied with Otto Gussmann from 1923 to 1924. Hans Grundig was among his fellow students. His experimental style, however, did not find everyone's appreciation and Glöckner left the academy again. In 1932 he became a member of the re-founded Dresdner Sezession. The Nazis refused him any opportunities to exhibit and sell his paintings and graphics. So he turned to sgraffito to earn his living. Glöckner lost his home during the bombing of Dresden in World War II and moved to Loschwitz. Because of his formalist style, the officials of the GDR refused him the appreciation he deserved for a long time. His rehabilitation began with an exhibition of his graphical work in the Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden in 1969. In 1979 he received a permanent visa for the Federal Republic of Germany. Finally, in 1984, he was awarded with the National Prize of the GDR and the DEFA dedicated a film to him. Centrally in the area of the Technische Universität Dresden he was allowed to erect a sculpture, which had been banned just a few years before. Another sculpture was erected one year later in the park of the Hotel Bellevue, Dresden's first address that time. In his later years Glöckner regularly visited West Berlin, where his cohabitee lived and where he died in 1987. Glöckner's urn was entombed in Loschwitz. A street in Loschwitz, newly built in 2008, is named after him.
The recorded working language is German. Places of work recorded in the authority are Dresden. Work by Hermann Glöckner is recorded in the collections of Städel Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Hungarian National Gallery and Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. Distinctions recorded are National Prize of East Germany.
Glöckner made his works from objects he had on hand: twine, cardboard, match boxes, and wood scrapes. These common objects were put together in a unique way to create something entirely new. This art was private with the only audience being his wife.
Identity
Identity
Hermann Glöckner is recorded with the occupation sculptor. Recorded as sculptor, painter and printmaker. Recognition and collections. Glöckner received National Prize of East Germany.

Das Brauhaus der Adler-Brauerei Coswig
Jens Jäpel
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1889–1987
The full dated record · 4 entries
1889
Hermann Glöckner born at Cotta.
1965
Durchbruch (Hermann Glöckner) is dated 1965.
1985
Two Intersecting Discs is dated 1985.
1987
Hermann Glöckner died at Berlin.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Cotta.
Birth place
Berlin.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q881639: Hermann Glöckner
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Hermann Glöckner”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Hermann Glöckner: Waste as a Figure of Thought?, New German Critique, 2017
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2017
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1219131490, Widmung für Hermann Glöckner.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Hermann Glöckner – Ein Patriarch der Moderne. Ed. by John Erpenbeck. Der Morgen. Berlin 1983
- 2.Die großen Dresdner. 26 Annäherungen. Ed. by Karin Nitzschke. Insel Verlag. Frankfurt am Main und Leipzig 1999
- 3.Günter Meißner: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: die bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker. K.G. Saur Verlag 1992.
- 4.Exhibition at the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa).
- 5.Hermann Glöckner in Dresden.
- 6.A History of Hermann Glöckner | Austere.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Institutional witnessauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1219131490, Widmung für Hermann Glöckner.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q881639: Hermann GlöcknerWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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