This guy should be invited to the Reading Air Show.
A fascinating lesson in art, war
By STEVE SNYDER
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News
http://origin.ldnews.com/news/ci_7743374
Lancaster County resident Klaus Grutzka, a retired artist and engineer who served in the German navy during World War II, displays a print of one of his paintings to art students at Lebanon County Career and Technology Center last week. (Steve Snyder / Lebanon Daily News)Possessing a still-sharp wit and an unusual mix of skills, the silver-haired man’s eyes twinkled as he stepped into a room full of curious art students last week.
After a brief introduction from teacher Linda Hilgert, the distinguished guest put his young listeners at ease with a few self-deprecating remarks. For the next 90 minutes, he served as a history and art lecturer for the commercial-art students at the Lebanon County Career and Technology Center.
Klaus Grutzka, 84, is more than a little familiar with a classroom, having learned engineering while serving as an officer in the German navy during World War II. That background, combined with artistic talents he inherited from his father, led him to a postwar career as a commercial artist and technical illustrator in Europe and New York.
After 21 years living along the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, Grutzka and his wife moved to Pottstown, where he served as an artist-in-residence at the elite Hill School from 1982 to 1988.
Rather than return to New York, Grutzka and his wife looked for a home that had an “enormous” living room that could double as an art studio, and they located one in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County.
Grutzka agreed to the move for the benefit of his wife, his art work and his love of antiques, even though Pennsylvania “is too much old country for me.” lol
He grew up on the Swiss border and in Munich, where a young, charismatic Adolf Hitler was developing his power base.
“When Hitler came in, the first years it was very positive,” he recalled.
Germany had been devastated by World War I, and its economy was in shambles. Under Hitler’s leadership, “everything improved,” Grutzka said.
In the 1930s, Grutzka saw Hitler twice in Munich. He also saw fights between Hitler’s Nazis and German communists, who were locked in a brutal power struggle the Nazis soon won. Grutzka also described the weird juxtaposition of being a Catholic altar boy and a member of the Hitler Youth.
He asked Hilgert’s students how many had heard of Kristallnacht, the “Night of the Broken Glass” in November 1938 in which synagogues and Jewish businesses were ransacked across Germany. None had, but Grutzka admitted his father had many Jewish friends.
When Grutzka was 18, he volunteered for the German navy because “the war had started, and I had a feeling if things go the way I expected, I would be drafted.”
Besides, at that time, “everybody believed the war would soon be over,” he said.
Had he been drafted, Grutzka said, he likely would have ended up in the killing fields of Russia, where Hitler’s ill-fated eastern assault proved to be the beginning of the end for the Third Reich.
Instead, Grutzka entered officer-training school, took engineering courses and, of all things, had to learn to ride a horse “for the victory parade,” which never came. After graduation, he served on a destroyer and submarine.
His destroyer was hit by a mine. Of the 300 sailors on board, only Grutzka and 23 others survived. He still corresponds with his first officer on his submarine.
During the war, ‚Äúwe were always kidding,‚Äù he said, explaining it was a way of maintaining sanity. (Plus ?ßa change, plus c'est la m?™me chose)
In his diaries, Grutzka wrote about exhibitions, galleries and music to take his mind off the war. He also created some paintings and drawings, some of which he shared with the technology-center students.
“Being an artist and engineer made me unique for industry,” he said. “Illustration played a large part in advertising.”
Grutzka worked for General Electric, Esso (now Exxon) and American steel companies. His work took him around much of the United States and Europe, including a trip to Russia, where he could only imagine what his comrades must have experienced in the winters at Stalingrad and Moscow.
Since the death of his Northern Ireland-born wife 10 years ago, Grutzka has spent afternoons painting in Lancaster County.
“I’ve painted 320 watercolors while inside my car,” he said.
As a thank-you to the students for giving him their attention, Grutzka passed out copies of a poster he had designed.
SteveSnyder@LDNews.com
A fascinating lesson in art, war
By STEVE SNYDER
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News
http://origin.ldnews.com/news/ci_7743374
Lancaster County resident Klaus Grutzka, a retired artist and engineer who served in the German navy during World War II, displays a print of one of his paintings to art students at Lebanon County Career and Technology Center last week. (Steve Snyder / Lebanon Daily News)Possessing a still-sharp wit and an unusual mix of skills, the silver-haired man’s eyes twinkled as he stepped into a room full of curious art students last week.
After a brief introduction from teacher Linda Hilgert, the distinguished guest put his young listeners at ease with a few self-deprecating remarks. For the next 90 minutes, he served as a history and art lecturer for the commercial-art students at the Lebanon County Career and Technology Center.
Klaus Grutzka, 84, is more than a little familiar with a classroom, having learned engineering while serving as an officer in the German navy during World War II. That background, combined with artistic talents he inherited from his father, led him to a postwar career as a commercial artist and technical illustrator in Europe and New York.
After 21 years living along the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, Grutzka and his wife moved to Pottstown, where he served as an artist-in-residence at the elite Hill School from 1982 to 1988.
Rather than return to New York, Grutzka and his wife looked for a home that had an “enormous” living room that could double as an art studio, and they located one in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County.
Grutzka agreed to the move for the benefit of his wife, his art work and his love of antiques, even though Pennsylvania “is too much old country for me.” lol
He grew up on the Swiss border and in Munich, where a young, charismatic Adolf Hitler was developing his power base.
“When Hitler came in, the first years it was very positive,” he recalled.
Germany had been devastated by World War I, and its economy was in shambles. Under Hitler’s leadership, “everything improved,” Grutzka said.
In the 1930s, Grutzka saw Hitler twice in Munich. He also saw fights between Hitler’s Nazis and German communists, who were locked in a brutal power struggle the Nazis soon won. Grutzka also described the weird juxtaposition of being a Catholic altar boy and a member of the Hitler Youth.
He asked Hilgert’s students how many had heard of Kristallnacht, the “Night of the Broken Glass” in November 1938 in which synagogues and Jewish businesses were ransacked across Germany. None had, but Grutzka admitted his father had many Jewish friends.
When Grutzka was 18, he volunteered for the German navy because “the war had started, and I had a feeling if things go the way I expected, I would be drafted.”
Besides, at that time, “everybody believed the war would soon be over,” he said.
Had he been drafted, Grutzka said, he likely would have ended up in the killing fields of Russia, where Hitler’s ill-fated eastern assault proved to be the beginning of the end for the Third Reich.
Instead, Grutzka entered officer-training school, took engineering courses and, of all things, had to learn to ride a horse “for the victory parade,” which never came. After graduation, he served on a destroyer and submarine.
His destroyer was hit by a mine. Of the 300 sailors on board, only Grutzka and 23 others survived. He still corresponds with his first officer on his submarine.
During the war, ‚Äúwe were always kidding,‚Äù he said, explaining it was a way of maintaining sanity. (Plus ?ßa change, plus c'est la m?™me chose)
In his diaries, Grutzka wrote about exhibitions, galleries and music to take his mind off the war. He also created some paintings and drawings, some of which he shared with the technology-center students.
“Being an artist and engineer made me unique for industry,” he said. “Illustration played a large part in advertising.”
Grutzka worked for General Electric, Esso (now Exxon) and American steel companies. His work took him around much of the United States and Europe, including a trip to Russia, where he could only imagine what his comrades must have experienced in the winters at Stalingrad and Moscow.
Since the death of his Northern Ireland-born wife 10 years ago, Grutzka has spent afternoons painting in Lancaster County.
“I’ve painted 320 watercolors while inside my car,” he said.
As a thank-you to the students for giving him their attention, Grutzka passed out copies of a poster he had designed.
SteveSnyder@LDNews.com
