Hans Werner Schmidt

Hans Schmidt, full name Hans Werner Schmidt (* October 6, 1859, in Hamburg; † May 31, 1950, in Weimar), was a German painter, illustrator, and etcher. He created figurative works, landscapes, and depictions of animals, focusing primarily on historical paintings of past and contemporary events.

Schmidt grew up as the son of a craftsman family in Hamburg and began studying at the Weimar Art School in 1879. As a student of painters Albert Brendel and Theodor Hagen, he became a master student in 1885 and was appointed professor in 1903. Many of his historical paintings deal with the life of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and significant events in the history of the city of Weimar.

During World War I, Schmidt was one of the most active war painters, creating his own war sketches and also producing printing plates from them. At the beginning of the Weimar Republic, he provided illustrations for newspaper reports about the Weimar National Assembly.

In the early 1930s, he created an impressive series of paintings featuring key scenes from the urban history of Weimar for the Weimarhalle, inaugurated in 1932. These large-format oil paintings depict figures such as Lucas Cranach, Johann Friedrich the Generous, Johann W. Bach, and Grand Duke Carl Alexander. Some of these works were also reproduced on postcards.

To celebrate Schmidt’s 90th birthday, a special exhibition of his works was held at the Alt-Weimar book and art store Schaller.