Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger

1902 - 1994  (91 years)

• Name	Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger
  Birth	7 Aug 1902	Simeria RO
  Gender	Male
  Death	11 Mar 1994	Vienna AT
  Notes	Painter and draftsman - great nephew of August Peter Eisenmenger ---- Caldwell, Bruce; Klausinger, Hansjörg (2021) : F. A. Hayek's genealogy, CHOPE Working Paper, No. 2021-06, Duke University, Center for the History of Political Economy (CHOPE), Durham, NC, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3844091 ---- https://www/biographien.ac.at/oebl/oebl_E/Eisenmenger_August_1830_1907.xml Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger by Harm Wulf Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger was born on 7 August 1902 in Piskitelep in the Siebenbürger region, the oldest German settlement in Eastern Europe dating back to the 12th century. The Siebenbürger was at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today the region is part of Romania and the town of Piskitelet is called Simeria. The artist's family of origin came from the Heilbronn area in Baden-Württemberg. A grandfather of Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger had to leave Vienna because he had taken part in the riots of 1948. The artist's father, Rudolf Eisenmenger, was a respected doctor in Piskitelep and nearby Broos, then a spa doctor in Bazna and at the sanatorium in Hermannstadt (Sibiu). His mother Hermine came from the Graffius family, pharmacists in the town of Broos. Young Rudolf attended the elementary school in Broos and later the secondary school in Mediasch and Hermannstadt. He was taught drawing by Hans Hermann and exhibited his first works of art in the gallery of the Bruckenthal Museum. Due to the consequences of the First World War, the painter's family had to move to Vienna in 1921, where Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger began attending the Academy of Fine Arts with Professors Hans Tichy and Rudolf Bacher. In 1923 he received the Lampi Prize and in 1925 the Kleber Prize. In 1930 he was the youngest member of the Künstlerhaus in Vienna and its president from 1939 to 1945. In 1932 he exhibited more than thirty works at the Künstlerhaus. On 18 February 1933 he joined the NSDAP and took part in the clandestine political activities of the National Socialist movement. In 1936 the Austrian President Wilhelm Miklas decorated him with the Austrian Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst. In the same year he received the silver medal for the work Läufer vor dem Ziel entered in the artistic competition for the Berlin Olympics which was purchased by the Society for Art and Sport of Tokyo. Also in 1936 he took part in the Venice Biennale and decorated the walls of the hall of honour of the Künstlerhaus in Vienna with two large frescoes, Das Leben and Der Tod über allem Irdischen. In 1937 he became a member of the Bund Deutscher Maler Österreichisches directed by the painter Leopold Blauensteiner. In the same year he was called to be part of the jury of the Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung in Munich where, between 1937 and 1944 he exhibited 14 works: Ein Volkslied and Sinkende Nacht in 1937; Die Hausfrau and Bildnis auf goldenem Grund in 1938; Abziehendes Gewitter and Bildnis meines Sohnes in 1940; Heimkehr der Östmark I, Heimkehr der Östmark II , Sommerabend (purchased by Joseph Goebbels for RM18,000) in 1941; Blumen am Weg, Die Nacht begleitet den Morgen in 1942; Drei Frauen am Brunnen in 1943; Selbstbildnis e Mädchen, eine Blume haltend in 1944. He created a series of large frescoes: one in the Baden casino near Vienna, two "Feldarbeit and Feierabend" in the Wels railway station and an Uhrzifferblatt for the central office of the Reichsarbeitsdienst in Vienna. He took part in the Venice Biennale in 1939 and 1940. In June 1939 he was appointed by the Gauleiter of Vienna as president of the Künstlerhaus, replacing Leopold Blauensteiner who had become head of the Vienna Chamber of Fine Arts. In the same year he took part in the exhibition People and Mountains of the East with a 17-metre fresco of the Home of the East. In 1940 he became a war artist. In 1942 he received the Dürer Prize of the city of Nuremberg and in March of the same year Baldur von Schirach proposed that he be awarded the title of Professor on his fortieth birthday. The request was refused because of his young age but was reiterated in 1943. The coveted title of professor was awarded to him on 26 June 1943. In the same year he created a series of three tapestries inspired by the Nibelungenlied for Joseph Goebbels and intended for the Reich Propaganda Ministry: Wie Siegfried und Kriemhild nach Hochzeit nach Xanten fuhren , Wie Siegfried und Kriemhild Abscheid nahm und zur Jagd auszog , Wie Hagen den Schatz der Nibelungen im Rhein versenken ließ. This last tapestry, which like the others measured 4 m. by 2.80 m. was found by chance in Oldenburg in 2009. In the 1944 exhibition Deutsche Künstler und die SS in Breslau he presented the Heimat tapestry: the Kraft von uns allen liegt nicht in einem internationalen Phantom "sie liegt in unserer Heimat Native land: the strength of all of us does not come from an international ghost" it lies in our native land. After the capitulation of Germany, Eisenmenger received the Arbeitsverbot, a ban on practicing his profession due to his involvement with the National Socialist regime. Only in 1947, thanks to the intervention of State Councilor Viktor Matejka who vouched for his "integrity", was he rehabilitated and the ban on painting was lifted. Eisenmenger resumed his career despite various political attacks by creating thirteen tapestries for the Gobelinsaal of the Wiener Staatsoper of approximately 170 square meters inspired by Mozart's Magic Flute; he also decorated the curtain with a 171 square meter painting inspired by Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera Orpheus and Eurydice. In 1955, the Vienna Opera reopened and became the symbol of reconstruction, and the curtain designed by Eisenmenger was considered the undisputed masterpiece of the post-war period. The success also led to several newspaper campaigns accusing him of collaborating with National Socialism. From 1951 to 1972, he was appointed professor at the Vienna University of Technology. In 1957, he received the Austrian Honorary Medal for Science and Art, first class. In 1971, he underwent a successful operation to avoid the risk of blindness. He began painting again for his numerous admirers and acquaintances. In 1972, he received the Golden Lorbeer from the Vienna Künstlerhaus . In 1973, he was decorated with the Great Silver Medal for Performance in the Republic of Austria. Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger died in Vienna, at the age of ninety-two, on 3/11/1994. ---- http://galleria.thule-italia.com/rudolf-hermann-eisenmenger/ Decorations and awards 1923: Lampi-Preis (Akademie der Bildenden Künste) 1925: Kleber-Preis 1927: Meisterschulpreis 1929: Rompreis für das ?Bildnis auf goldenem Grund? und den Tapisserieentwurf "Tageszeiten" 1933: Jubiläumspreis der Schützengilde (Wiener Künstlerhaus) 1936: Silberne Medaille im olympischen Kunstwettbewerb für das Bild "Läufer vor dem Ziel" 1936: Österreichisches Verdienstkreuz für Kunst und Wissenschaft 1936: Goldene Ehrenmedaille des Künstlerhauses Wien 1936: Preis der Stadt Wien für Malerei 1938: Anton-Waldvogel-Stiftungspreis (Wiener Künstlerhaus) 1938: Preis der Stadt Wien 1941: Künstlerhaus-Jubiläumspreis 1942: Albrecht-Dürer-Preis (Nürnberg) 1944: Schirach-Preis 1956: Silberne Mitgliedsnadel des Wiener Künstlerhauses 1957: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class 1972: Goldener Lorbeer des Wiener Künstlerhauses 1973: Grand Silver Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria ---- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Eisenmenger (accessed 15 Jun 2025)
  Person ID	I1311	Flack Genealogy
  Last Modified	17 Jun 2025

  
  

  Father	Rudolf Eisenmenger,   b. 1871   d. 1946 (Age 75 years)
  Mother	(Spouse) Eisenmenger
  Family ID	F457	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 7 Aug 1902 - Simeria RO Death - 11 Mar 1994 - Vienna AT  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger Self Portrait
  		Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger - The Youth
  		Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger - Still Life with Strawflowers
  		Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger Self Portrait