Wilhelm Frey

Wilhelm Frey (1888 in Geislingen – 1960 in Brandenburg an der Havel) began his artistic career relatively late. After commercial training and several years in Manchester, England, he returned to Germany and founded an art dealership in Berlin. Due to the inflation of 1923, however, he had to abandon this plan. Determined to devote himself entirely to art, he moved to Königsberg in East Prussia, where he studied painting and graphic art at the art and trade school.

In 1933, Frey settled in Osthavelland, initially in Nauen. The surrounding villages and landscapes provided him with a wealth of motifs. Two years later, he moved on to Brandenburg an der Havel, where he lived and worked at Abtstraße 2 until his death. Many of his works were created there, often focusing on the picturesque area around the Paulikloster monastery with its winding alleyways. With close ties to the city of Brandenburg, Frey documented the destruction of the war and the reconstruction of the city in numerous drawings and watercolors.

In 1948, he won a competition on the subject of reconstruction in Brandenburg. His attachment to his adopted home remained tangible in both his art and his everyday life until the end of his life.