Hohlwein, Ludwig

Poster artist, graphic artist, architect

born: 27.07.1874 in Wiesbaden

died: 15.09.1949 in Berchtesgaden

With his highly publicized style, Hohlwein, son of master locksmith and manufacturer Jakob Karl Hohlwein and his wife Hermine (née Plank), was one of the most sought-after representatives of advertising art in the first half of the 20th century. He studied architecture at the Royal Technical University in Munich under Friedrich von Thiersch, one of the most important painters and architects of historicism.

Initially working as an architect, Hohlwein worked for the Munich furniture factory Anton Pössenbacher and was self-employed from 1903. He was appointed Royal Professor in 1914. As an interior designer, he took on commissions to furnish ocean liners, hotels and department stores. His work ranged from furniture, glassware, beer mugs, lamps, tiles, plaques, stamps and book covers to bookplates and postcards.

The focus of his work, however, was on advertising posters. Here he developed the unmistakable hollow wine style. In order to emphasize the individual pictorial elements, light and shadow areas were strongly contrasted and thus lent plasticity to the depiction. His works were influenced by his teacher and patron von Thiersch, Art Nouveau and later New Objectivity.

The artist, known as the "Munich Poster King", created advertising posters for well-known industrial companies such as Hacker-Bräu, Paulaner, Spaten-Bräu, Audi, Leica, Zeiss, Mercedes, M. A. N., BMW, Bahlsen, Erdal, Kaffee Hag, Märklin, Pelikan and the tourism industry. His posters for the 1910 World's Fair in Brussels, the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the advertising for the cosmopolitan spa town of Wiesbaden (around 1925) are well known. One of the first designer brands was also created here: Together with the Menes cigarette factory, he created the so-called L'Hohlwein cigarette and created his own packaging for it. Hohlwein was represented at many exhibitions in Munich and Berlin.

From 1933, he was a member of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts and received a number of commissions for NSDAP propaganda posters. The professional ban imposed in 1945 was lifted a year later.

His works focus on people or animals and often express his attachment to tradition. As a hunting and nature lover, he wrote "Ludwig Hohlwein's Jagdbuch" in 1924.