Adolf Rettelbusch

He was nicknamed the Brockenmaler, after Brocken, a peak in the Harz mountains, which became a major focus of his work after he took a trip there in 1888.

In 1883, he was able to study at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin, thanks to a generous stipend from Max Friedrich Koch and Ernst Ewald.

The drawings and watercolors he made there led to a job offer from the Prussian Ministry of Trade and Industry, teaching decorative painting at the new arts and crafts school in Magdeburg.

Although he is primarily known as a landscape painter, his over 4,000 canvases dealt in a wide variety of subjects, including the First World War and the Krupp-Gruson armaments factory.

Hundreds of his works are in private collections, and many were destroyed in World War II, but a large selection may be seen at the Magdeburg Cultural History Museum and the Rennstieg-Hotel in Kammerforst, which is still operated by the Rettelbusch family.