Hans Steinlein

Last updated July 19, 2019

Hans Steinlein (1872 in Trier - 1958) was a German sculptor of religious art who, from his studio in Eltville am Rhein, made a number of important altars and other objects for churches in the Saarland area.

Trier, formerly known in English as Treves and Triers, is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the west of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, near the border with Luxembourg and within the important Moselle wine region. Karl Marx, philosopher and founder of the theory that would become known as Marxism, was born in the city in 1818.

Saarland is a state of Germany.

Steinlein was born into a family of wheelwrights and in 1886 finished his training in a ceramics shop in Trier. During his journeyman years he worked in Ravensburg, where he broadened his expertise in working with wood and stone as an apprentice, and met the founder of the Beuron Art School, Desiderius Lenz. In the 1890s, he worked with the sculptor Caspar Weis in Frankfurt am Main, and in 1899 he settled as an independent artist in Eltville am Rhein, where he found plenty of work in religious art. He collaborated frequently with the Mainz architect and church builder Ludwig Becker. The ravages of World War II and the iconoclasm of the post-WWII area destroyed much of Steinlein's work.^[1]

Wheelwright person who builds or repairs wooden wheels

A wheelwright is a craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the archaic word "wright", which comes from the Old English word "wryhta", meaning a woodworker as in wheelwright, shipwright and arkwright This occupational name eventually became the English surname Wheelwright, akin to Arkwright and Wright, the latter pertaining to all woodworkers, or to metal workers being called Smith.

In a certain tradition, the journeyman years are a time of travel for several years after completing apprenticeship as a craftsman. The tradition dates back to medieval times and is still alive in France and the German-speaking countries. Normally three years and one day is the minimum period of journeyman/woman. Crafts include roofing, metalworking, woodcarving, carpentry and joinery, and even millinery and musical instrument making/organ building.

Ravensburg is a town in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg.

Altars and sculptures by Steinlein were found in the following churches: St. Andreas [ de ] in Reimsbach, St. Martin [ de ] in Schwalbach, St. Leodegar [ de ] in Düppenweiler, and in Herz-Jesu-Kirche [ de ] in Landsweiler-Reden. For the Wendalinusbasilika [ de ] in St. Wendel, his shop made a relief for the door on the Fruchtmarkt, "St. Wendelin und St. Matthias der Muttergottes mit dem Jesuskind huldigend", and a sculpture of the Last Judgment for the tympanum in the portal of the south entrance.^[2] Two altars in the aisles of St. Martin, Lorch, are from Steinlein's shop.^[3]

Reimsbach is a village in Germany and part of the Gemeinde Beckingen in the district ("Landkreis") of Merzig-Wadern (Saarland).

Düppenweiler is a village in Germany that belongs to the federal state of Saarland. It is a district of the municipal of Beckingen in the county of Merzig-Wadern. The village counts 3,300 inhabitants and consists of 1.254 ha land, while approximately 507 ha of it is woodland.

Schiffweiler is a municipality in the district of Neunkirchen, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately 5 km northwest of Neunkirchen, and 20 km northeast of Saarbrücken.

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References

↑ Simon, Helga (15 October 2011). "Altmeister der Kirchenkunst – Der Bildhauer Hans Steinlein schuf seine Werke in Eltville". Wiesbadener Tagblatt (in German).
↑ Schmitt, Gerd (2010). Die Wallfahrtskirche des hl. Wendelin – eine lebendige Geschichte, 650-Jahrfeier der Chorweihe, 50-Jahrfeier der Erhebung zur Basilika (in German). Stadtmuseum St. Wendel und der Stiftung Walter Bruch in Zusammenarbeit mit der Pfarrgemeinde St. Wendelin, Dillingen/Saar. pp. 30–31.
↑ Wißmann, Alexander (3 February 2016). "Die Heiligenfiguren von Hans Steinlein". Pfarrei St. Peter und Paul Rheingau (in German). Retrieved 16 July 2019.

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[1] Simon, Helga (15 October 2011). "Altmeister der Kirchenkunst – Der Bildhauer Hans Steinlein schuf seine Werke in Eltville". Wiesbadener Tagblatt (in German).

[2] Schmitt, Gerd (2010). Die Wallfahrtskirche des hl. Wendelin – eine lebendige Geschichte, 650-Jahrfeier der Chorweihe, 50-Jahrfeier der Erhebung zur Basilika (in German). Stadtmuseum St. Wendel und der Stiftung Walter Bruch in Zusammenarbeit mit der Pfarrgemeinde St. Wendelin, Dillingen/Saar. pp. 30–31.

[3] Wißmann, Alexander (3 February 2016). "Die Heiligenfiguren von Hans Steinlein". Pfarrei St. Peter und Paul Rheingau (in German). Retrieved 16 July 2019.