Gustav Nonnenmacher (1914 - 2012)

Gustav Nonnenmacher lived and worked in Worms since 1951. He can not be attributed to any school and has worked all his life on his own as a freelance sculptor. He did his sculpture apprenticeship as a young man, but World War II meant that he could not work as a freelance sculptor until years later. Nonnenmacher survived the war as a pilot, and the war as a horror and catastrophe would henceforth help shape his work.

One of the first major works with which Nonnenmacher attracted attention was therefore a memorial to the victims of the world wars. It was erected as early as 1960 in the cemetery of Worms-Pfeddersheim and shows, grouped around a large cross with the inscription "Haltet Frieden. In memory of all who went out and did not return" a relief depicting the apocalyptic horsemen war, famine, plague and death. With the Winzerbrunnen (1982) in the pedestrian zone of the city of Worms and the Schicksalsrad (Wheel of Fate) at the Obermarkt in Worms (1986), Nonnenmacher created two works of art that have virtually grown on the locals as landmarks of their own city.

Since 1974, Nonnenmacher's bronzes and objects have been shown again and again in individual and group exhibitions. As before, the sculptor's work, no matter in which material it finds expression, is always a commentary on the historical development of his almost hundred-year life. Gustav Nonnenmacher passed away on 02.11.2012.