Andreas Möller: Memories of the artist from Kleinmachnow

Andreas Möller: Memories of the artist from Kleinmachnow

In Kleinmachnow, a tranquil suburb of Berlin, the eventful history of the 20th century comes to life. Andreas Möller, a talented journalist, followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, Andreas Niessen, who led an eventful life in this area. His new book, “The intelligentsia lives on the edge of Berlin: Kleinmachnow, my grandfather and advertising for the people,” takes readers on a journey through three political systems - from the Empire to National Socialism to the GDR. [RBB].

Andreas Niessen, born in Bonn in 1906, was a typesetter and graphic artist who had a successful career at Mosse-Verlag, a Jewish publishing house, during the Weimar Republic. In 1937, however, he was banned from working because of his marriage to a Jewish woman. His wife later fled to Amsterdam with their child, where they survived the horrors of the Holocaust. Niessen himself was sent to the Eastern Front during World War II and was taken prisoner by the Americans. After the war he found a new job as a commercial artist in the GDR, but a rejected calendar shows how politically charged his work was. His art was not intended to be subordinate to an ideology; rather, he was a representative of his generation who had to navigate between dictatorships.

A life between worlds

Kleinmachnow was not only the home of Niessen, but also a center for intellectuals and artists in the GDR. Möller draws parallels to other cultural milieus, such as in Weißer Hirsch near Dresden, where greats like Christa Wolf also lived. Möller's work highlights how Niessen remained true to his artistic principles amid systematic censorship and societal pressure. His life reflects the struggles of a generation constantly torn between art and political doctrine. Möller analyzes the “down-regulation of feelings” that Niessen shows as a vital mechanism for self-protection against the oppression of time.

His grandfather, who worked as an advertising artist, had to navigate a complex relationship with art during the Nazi era and later in the GDR. After his divorce from his Jewish wife, he found himself in a propaganda unit. Despite these stressful circumstances, Niessen remained true to inner emigration, a retreat into his own creativity that did not want to serve the ideologies of his time. According to Möller, these experiences should provide a better understanding of the complexity of his character and his work. His book is an alternative to other biographies, which often remain one-sided.

A bibliographic legacy

The 298-page work, published by Friedenauer Presse and available for 25 euros, not only provides insights into Niessen's life, but also addresses the challenges of freedom and the pursuit of artistic expression in times of lack of freedom. Möller's call for memories that go beyond the individual and offer a deeper understanding of contemporary society is easy to understand, according to Tagesschau.

With his book, Andreas Möller helps to make the wounds of the past visible and encourages people to come to terms with the dark chapters of German history. One aspect of his story is also the examination of art under National Socialism, where only art that corresponded to the regime's ideals was accepted, while modern and Jewish art was rejected as "degenerate" - a sad time that Niessen also experienced, as can be read on Wikipedia's pages.