Hermann Busse

Hermann Busse, born on February 25, 1883 in Lütkendorf and died on January 8, 1970 in Heilbronn, was a German painter.
He was born in Lütkendorf as the fourth and last child of the carpenter Wilhelm Busse and his wife Wilhelmine Thurmann. He attended the local elementary school and then completed a seven-year apprenticeship as a painter in Putlitz, where he specialized in decorative mural painting. After completing his apprenticeship, he embarked on a two-year educational journey through Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy between 1906 and 1907. From 1907 to 1912, he lived alternately in Berlin, where he furthered his artistic career, and in Lütkendorf, where he supported his parents. In addition to his work in the Berlin painting studio of E. Delorette, he also worked as a freelance artist and was awarded the silver medal for three of his paintings at the Perleberg Jubilee Trade Exhibition in 1911.
Thanks to the support of the knighthood director von Freier, Busse received a subsidy of 1000 gold marks from the Brandenburg Provincial Committee, which enabled him to enrol at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin in 1914. However, his academic education was interrupted from 1915 to 1919 by his service as a substitute reservist in the navy. After his military service, he continued his studies with Professor Arthur Krapf and became a master student of Professor Olof Jernberg in 1920. In 1919 and 1920, he undertook study trips to Thuringia and Württemberg, where he met his future wife Leni Kieser. From then on, he spent the summers in Jagstfeld and the winter months in Berlin.
Busse took part in the Great Berlin Art Exhibitions of 1921, 1922 and 1924, before moving to Jagstfeld to be with his wife in 1924 due to the economic crisis. In the following years, he took part in exhibitions in Munich’s Glaspalast and opened his own exhibition space in Jagstfeld in 1930. He became a member of the Heilbronn Artists’ Association and painted together with Wilhelm Schäffer. After 1933, Busse also served on the municipal council of the newly formed municipality of Bad Friedrichshall and was deputy mayor for a time.
During the Second World War, parts of his early works in Berlin were destroyed in 1944 and the inn in Jagstfeld in 1945. After the war, his restored studio and exhibition rooms were used as accommodation for refugees, which prompted him to paint more in the great outdoors.
In 1953, he took part in a group exhibition at the Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart and Heilbronn, and in 1955 he founded the Jagstfelder Kreis, a loose artists’ association. In 1960, he had to give up his rooms in the Schöne Aussicht inn and moved to Heilbronn. In 1963, the Kunstverein Heilbronn organized a retrospective to celebrate Busse’s 80th birthday. Hermann Busse died in Heilbronn on January 8, 1970. In the same year, a memorial exhibition was held at the Historical Museum of the City of Heilbronn, and in 1980 the Municipal Museums of Heilbronn once again presented an exhibition of the painter’s work.