Melchior Lechter

His earliest influences came from the Nazarene painter, Joseph Anton Settegast, who worked at churches throughout that part of Germany.

He initially supported himself by producing practical art, such as advertising materials, until 1896, when the Fritz Gurlitt Gallery presented an exhibition of his serious works; including stained glass windows depicting Tristan and Isolde.

In 1898, the furniture manufacturer, Jakob Pallenberg [de], commissioned windows and a mural for the Museum of Applied Arts in Cologne.

In 1903, he completed what he considered his greatest work: the mural, commissioned in 1898, for what was by then known as Pallenberg Hall, at the Museum of Applied Arts.

Upon their return, his diary, with illustrations, was published in a limited edition by his own Einhorn Press, which specialized in books about Stefan George, Christianity, and Indian philosophy.

Melchior Lechter, photograph
by Jacob Hilsdorf (1903), The Jack Daulton Collection, Los Altos Hills, California. [ 1 ]
Sketch for the central panel from Die Weihe am mystischen Quell . The poet Stefan George is seen receiving the potion.
Surviving section of the "Pallenberg Window", now on display at the new Museum of Applied Arts in Cologne