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Munich Stories The municipal painting school on Westenriederstraße

Westenriederstraße 20 (früher 3), 80331 München

Little is known about the painting school on Westenriederstraße that was part of the municipal trade school although several renowned teachers taught there and prominent artists prepared there for the entrance exam to the Academy.

The school building on Westenriederstraße is still home to the ‘Städtische Riemerschmid-Wirtschaftsschule für Mädchen’ (Municipal Riemerschmid business school for girls), while the old trade school premises now accommodate the Städtische Friedrich-List-Wirtschaftsschule.

The old trade school was one of four in Munich responsible for several trades. The school on Westenriederstraße was an arts and crafts school attended by apprentices and journeymen, as well as by boys and girls who had no craft training. The latter mostly availed of the free painting and sculpture school to prepare for the entrance exam to the Academy. Often confused with the School of Arts and Crafts, the trade school was founded in 1880, then moved to the building on Westenriederstraße in 1901 and was extended in 1928 to include the Master School for German Painting and Varnishing Trades. This was the achievement of the long-serving director Otto Rückert (1888-1959), who had been in charge of the school since around 1920. He was suspended from his position in 1934 and replaced by NSDAP member Bruno Goldschmitt (1881-1964). The students included Josef Henselmann (1898-1987), Ernst Klinger (1900-1962) and Elisabeth Springer (1904-1941) who probably attended the school from 1923 to 1927 and was taught among others by Georg Schrimpf (1889-1938).

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Entrance to the former Städtische Gewerbeschule, now the Städtische Friedrich-List-Wirtschaftsschule, 2025 | The school building on Westenriederstraße (at the time number 3, now 20) was designed in 1900/01 by architect Robert Rehlein (1859-1941), who specialised in school buildings. Its façades also faced Zwingerstraße and Frauenstraße, with a second entrance at Frauenstraße 19. | Created by: Susanna Partsch
Entrance to the former Städtische Gewerbeschule, now the Städtische Friedrich-List-Wirtschaftsschule, 2025 | The school building on Westenriederstraße (at the time number 3, now 20) was designed in 1900/01 by architect Robert Rehlein (1859-1941), who specialised in school buildings. Its façades also faced Zwingerstraße and Frauenstraße, with a second entrance at Frauenstraße 19. | Created by: Susanna Partsch
Westenriederstraße 20, detail of the relief above the door, 2025 | The banner on the relief reads: ‘Hard work is worth it / To strive is to live / Always progress / Never stay still / Anno Domini 1901’. It was not possible to find out who made the relief. | Created by: Susanna Partsch
Westenriederstraße 20, detail of the relief above the door, 2025 | The banner on the relief reads: ‘Hard work is worth it / To strive is to live / Always progress / Never stay still / Anno Domini 1901’. It was not possible to find out who made the relief. | Created by: Susanna Partsch
The Riemerschmid School around 1905 | The building still houses the ‘Riemerschmid Business School for Girls’, which was founded in 1862 by spirits manufacturer Anton Riemerschmid (1802-1878) as a ‘commercial school for women’. Anton was the grandfather of Art Nouveau artist Richard Riemerschmid (1868-1957), so the name Riemerschmidschule refers to Anton, not the more renowned Richard. | Source: Munich City Archives, FS-HB-V-a-1256
The Riemerschmid School around 1905 | The building still houses the ‘Riemerschmid Business School for Girls’, which was founded in 1862 by spirits manufacturer Anton Riemerschmid (1802-1878) as a ‘commercial school for women’. Anton was the grandfather of Art Nouveau artist Richard Riemerschmid (1868-1957), so the name Riemerschmidschule refers to Anton, not the more renowned Richard. | Source: Munich City Archives, FS-HB-V-a-1256
Drawing room in the municipal trade school around 1905 | It was common knowledge at the time that drawing called for bright light, as evident in this photograph. | Source: Munich City Archive, FS-HB-V-a-1267
Drawing room in the municipal trade school around 1905 | It was common knowledge at the time that drawing called for bright light, as evident in this photograph. | Source: Munich City Archive, FS-HB-V-a-1267
Karl Killer sculpture class, 1908 | Karl Killer (1873-1948) was professor of sculpture from 1907 to 1932. In 1926 he also began teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts. One of his students at the Gewerbeschule was Josef Henselmann. | Source: Ernst Schur: The ‘Munich 1908’ exhibition. The schools, in: Kunst und Handwerk. Zeitschrift für Kunstgewerbe und Kunsthandwerk seit 1851, 1908/09, No. 59, Issue 5, 126.
Karl Killer sculpture class, 1908 | Karl Killer (1873-1948) was professor of sculpture from 1907 to 1932. In 1926 he also began teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts. One of his students at the Gewerbeschule was Josef Henselmann. | Source: Ernst Schur: The ‘Munich 1908’ exhibition. The schools, in: Kunst und Handwerk. Zeitschrift für Kunstgewerbe und Kunsthandwerk seit 1851, 1908/09, No. 59, Issue 5, 126.
building facing Zwingerstraße, a depiction of the square before the school was built, was probably created by one or more students of a sculpture class. | Source: Munich City Archives, FS-HB-V-a-1266
building facing Zwingerstraße, a depiction of the square before the school was built, was probably created by one or more students of a sculpture class. | Source: Munich City Archives, FS-HB-V-a-1266
Mural painting before 1929, Lois Gruber class | The school courtyards were regularly adorned with fresh murals. This painting was created in a Lois Gruber (1884-?) class. | Source: Otto Rückert: Malerhandwerk und Schule, in: Zeitschrift für Kunstgewerbe und Kunsthandwerk 1929, No. 79, Issue 4, 101.
Mural painting before 1929, Lois Gruber class | The school courtyards were regularly adorned with fresh murals. This painting was created in a Lois Gruber (1884-?) class. | Source: Otto Rückert: Malerhandwerk und Schule, in: Zeitschrift für Kunstgewerbe und Kunsthandwerk 1929, No. 79, Issue 4, 101.
Elisabeth Springer in front of a mural, undated photograph | Elisabeth Springer also attended Lois Gruber's class. She is standing in front of a presumably unfinished mural that shows the influence of Georg Schrimpf, another of her teachers. | Source: Family property - © Rosenthal-Springer Archive
Elisabeth Springer in front of a mural, undated photograph | Elisabeth Springer also attended Lois Gruber's class. She is standing in front of a presumably unfinished mural that shows the influence of Georg Schrimpf, another of her teachers. | Source: Family property - © Rosenthal-Springer Archive
Georg Schrimpf, Oskar Maria Graf, 1918 | Canvas, 65.2 cm x 47 cm - Georg Schrimpf (1889-1938) was appointed to the school in 1926 despite massive resistance from Otto Rückert, given that Schrimpf was associated with the New Objectivity style viewed with scepticism at the time and was a close friend of left-wing writer Oskar Maria Graf (1894-1967). | Source: Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau Munich
Georg Schrimpf, Oskar Maria Graf, 1918 | Canvas, 65.2 cm x 47 cm - Georg Schrimpf (1889-1938) was appointed to the school in 1926 despite massive resistance from Otto Rückert, given that Schrimpf was associated with the New Objectivity style viewed with scepticism at the time and was a close friend of left-wing writer Oskar Maria Graf (1894-1967). | Source: Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau Munich
Josef Scharl, Drei Korporierte (Larven), 1925 | Canvas, 50 cm x 65.5 cm - Josef Scharl (1896-1954), who later turned to critical realism, first began his training as a decorative painter in 1910 at the Gewerbeschule. In addition, he took nude courses in preparation for his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he was accepted in 1925. | Source: Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau Munich
Josef Scharl, Drei Korporierte (Larven), 1925 | Canvas, 50 cm x 65.5 cm - Josef Scharl (1896-1954), who later turned to critical realism, first began his training as a decorative painter in 1910 at the Gewerbeschule. In addition, he took nude courses in preparation for his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he was accepted in 1925. | Source: Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau Munich
By Susanna Partsch
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