Knowra Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) was a German artist and printmaker whose drawings, prints, and sculptures depict poverty, grief, war, and working-class life.
Woodcut : A relief-printing process in which an image is carved into a wooden block and printed from its raised surface. Kollwitz adopted woodcut for stark, forceful images, especially in her later antiwar work.
The Weavers' Revolt : Käthe Kollwitz’s 1893–1897 print cycle portraying the causes and course of the 1844 Silesian weavers’ uprising. This early cycle established her reputation through its depiction of workers’ suffering and resistance.
Karl Kollwitz : A German physician who practiced in Berlin and was the husband of Käthe Kollwitz. His medical work brought Kollwitz into sustained contact with working-class patients and their conditions.
Königsberg : A historic city on the Baltic Sea, now known as Kaliningrad, where Käthe Kollwitz was born. Her childhood in Königsberg preceded the Berlin studies that shaped her career.
World War I : A global war fought from 1914 to 1918, involving the Central Powers and the Allied Powers. Her son’s death in the war redirected her art toward mourning and opposition to militarism.
Etching : An intaglio printmaking technique in which acid bites lines into a metal plate protected by a resistant coating. She used etching to render working-class hardship with dense, expressive lines.
Peasants' War : Käthe Kollwitz’s 1902–1908 print cycle depicting the German Peasants’ War of 1524–1525. The cycle turns a historical revolt into an exploration of oppression and rebellion.
Peter Kollwitz : The younger son of Käthe and Karl Kollwitz, killed while serving in World War I in 1914. His death deeply shaped her antiwar art and the memorial she made with Karl.
Berlin : Germany’s capital and largest city, a major center of art, politics, and publishing. Kollwitz lived and worked there for most of her career, observing the city’s working-class life.
Nazi censorship : The suppression and control of expression by Germany’s Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945. The regime forced Kollwitz from the Prussian Academy and restricted public presentation of her work.
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