Karlheinz Goedtke House
Since 1950, the bronze figure of Till Eulenspiegel has adorned the Mölln market - and has become a well-known advertising medium for the city of Mölln. Thumb and index finger are rubbed bare - this custom is supposed to bring luck and fulfill wishes...
It was the donation of a wealthy Mölln citizen that made the design of the figure and the installation of the fountain possible. The fountain was created by Karlheinz Geodtke. A small exhibition is dedicated to him on the opposite page.
Karlheinz Goedtke was born on April 15, 1915 in Katowice / Upper Silesia as the son of a civil servant, his father's professional career involved relocations. From 1918 to 1930 Goedtke lived in Breslau, and from 1931 to 1936 the first part of his artistic training took place at the Stettiner Werkkunstschule under Prof. Kurt Schwertfeger; the latter had studied at the Weimar Bauhaus from 1920 to 1924. Parallel to his studies, Goedtke completed an apprenticeship as a stone sculptor.
From 1938 to 1940 Goedtke studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin; certainly also due to the war Goedtke had to go to war as an officer from 1940 to 1945. In 1941 he married, in 1943 the daughter Ingrid-Kristina was born, in 1945 the family came to the West and lived in Farchau until 1950.
Goedtke was commissioned to create a long-desired Eulenspiegel sculpture for Mölln. His design was immediately well received - and many more commissions for artworks in public spaces followed. Karlheinz Goedtke became one of the most famous North German sculptors of his time. Until his death in 1995, he created numerous popular motifs, but also works that met the art style of his time. Since 2014, a privately arranged exhibition of his works at the marketplace commemorates his life's work.
The exhibition shows a selection of small-scale sculptures, all of which were created in the Alt Möllner studio of Karlheinz Goedtke. This exhibition space is intended to recall the workshop atmosphere of the studio. Historical photos show that Goedtke kept many designs on simple shelves along the walls. Some of these works are designs or models for larger finishes.
