Kümmel, Elisabeth Gertrude (gen. Lisa)

Craftswoman

Born: 22.04.1897 in Wiesbaden

died: 27.11.1944 in Wiesbaden

Kümmel was the daughter of a master carpenter and glazier. In 1916, she began training at the Wiesbaden School of Arts and Crafts.

In 1918 she went to Berlin, where she first attended the so-called private Reimann School and then the Municipal School of Arts and Crafts from 1918-1921. Here she devoted herself to drawing nudes, architecture and fashion, designing fabric patterns and wallpaper as well as sculpture and goldsmithing. From July 1922 to January 1923, Kümmel worked at the Wiener Werkstätte. Here she distinguished herself as a ceramicist and enamel painter as well as designing silk prints and painting stencils. After studying in Rome in 1923 and managing a knitting factory in Frankfurt-Niederrad in 1924, she finally set up her own business as an interior designer and "arts and crafts artist" in Wiesbaden in 1925.

She met Alexej von Jawlensky in 1927. Fascinated by the man and artist Jawlensky and his work, she not only became his model, but also an intelligent and ultimately indispensable friend. She took over all of the seriously ill artist's correspondence, looked after his paintings, wrote his memoirs from 1936/37 and in 1938, among other things, the letter to his friend, the painter and Benedictine monk Jan and Willibrord Verkade, and compiled a so-called workshop directory. In 1938, she gave up her work as an interior designer to devote herself to the comprehensive care of Jawlensky; she earned her living in a nursery. After his death in 1941, she took care of his estate, but survived Jawlensky by only a few years.

In November 1944, Kümmel was buried in a bombing raid and died shortly afterwards as a result of her injuries. She is buried as a war victim in a field of honor in the South Cemetery. Part of her estate can be found in the RheinMain University and State Library.