Klaus Rudolf Werhand

Klaus Rudolf Werhand
Born December 4, 1938
Neuwied, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Died March 20, 2009 (aged 70)
Neuwied, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Nationality  Germany
Occupation Blacksmith

Klaus Rudolf Werhand (4 December 1938 – 20 March 2009) was a German Blacksmith. He worked mainly as a Metalsmith and a Coppersmith, but also as an Art Metal Sculptor.

Early life and family

Werhand came from an old craftsman family from Niederbieber and was the son of the plumber and electrician Master Peter Werhand and the master tailor Helene Werhand, (née Neumann). In 1960 he married Renate Kuhn (born 3 October 1939 in Neuwied), daughter of the locksmith and racer Hermann Kuhn, and his wife Helma Gondolo. From this marriage came the daughter Susanne and son Martin Werhand. The son studied German studies and took the career of a publisher - Martin Werhand Verlag.

Life and career

After leaving school Klaus Rudolf Werhand completed a training in the family business as a Plumber. In 1959 he went to the Bundeswehr. In the Air Force he made a practical training as a mechanic aircraft-cell constructor until 1964. In 1965 he acquired his Master craftsman as a plumber and electrician and then he worked from 1965 to 1970 with his older brother Dietrich Werhand, who leads the family business which was founded by their father in 1939. His older brother Dietrich then transformed the Werhand Company into a medium-sized enterprise as a Kommanditgesellschaft.

At the early age of 14 Klaus Rudolf Werhand began blowing his first works in copper manufacture. In 1970 he finally started his own business as a metal sculptor. He learned his craft among others from an artist in Kaufbeuren. Werhand was the last student of the famous German Blacksmith Carl Wyland in Cologne, where he studied the intricacies of the art blacksmithing. Carl Wyland died of old age a few years later in 1972 in his hometown.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Werhand had numerous exhibitions of copper repousse, including the cities of Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich and also an exhibition at the Koblenz Chamber of Crafts (Handwerkskammer Koblenz), which was documented by the German photographer Herbert Gauls.

In 1979 the city of Neuwied inaugurate a fountain on Place Luis (Luisenplatz) created by the artist Klaus Rudolf Werhand. At the beginning of the 1980s, Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Wied turned to Werhand with the order for the production of wrought iron lamps for the electoral Schloss Neuwied.

In the course of his life Klaus Rudolf Werhand made numerous artifacts from the materials of Copper, Brass, Bronze, Aluminum and Steel. In addition to the contracts for the public sector he created also different sculptures mainly with the technique of Repoussé and other works of art including: fireplace aprons, door panels, sculptures, numerous metal images and engravings, (inspired by Pictures of Albrecht Dürer), coat of arms, lights, reliefs and copper portraits as well as hand-forged window grilles, railings, candle holders, lamps and various art objects.

Since 1970 Werhand has been a registered Member of the Professional Association of Visual Artists in Rhineland-Palatinate (Berufsverband Bildender Künstler Rheinland Pfalz).

For health reasons, Klaus Rudolf Werhand had to retire in the end-1990s from his job as a blacksmith. He died on 20 March 2009 at the age of 70 after a long illness in his home town of Neuwied.[1]

Exhibitions (selection)

Works (selection)

Art and Metalwork

Werhand created a complex sculptural and artistic work with a variety of Art Metal works for the Public Sector. His work has been shown at numerous exhibitions and erected in public.

News media (selection)

Quote: "Dating from the Neuwied born and multi-award winning metal sculptor Klaus Rudolf Werhand in Melsbach, the work of art whose execution is transferred was a fountain of running 180 meters and about seven hundred pounds of heavy, hand-forged copper tape. When the Copper Fountain was artfully crafted in 1971, it would take another eight years until he finally found his place on the Luisenplatz. Since the days when Neuwied staged his great dike city festival, the Copper Fountain as a jewelry of downtown Neuwied now enriched and towering its almost delicate cascade forms at the parish road opposite the post round four meters and its illuminated water column in the dark as an eye-catcher."[4]

External links

References

  1. ↑ Biographical data at the German National Library
  2. ↑ Klaus Rudolf Werhand at the Handwerkskammer Koblenz
  3. ↑ Iron Lamps of Schloss Neuwied by Klaus Rudolf Werhand
  4. ↑ Klaus-Rudolf Werhand in: Rhein-Zeitung Nr. 273 von 24-25/11/1979- Kupferner Brunnen als Schmuckstück der Neuwieder Innenstadt