Eduard Hopf

German Eduard Hopf first was trained as a goldsmith in Hanau and attended a local drawing school then set up a studio in Hamburg. As a painter, he was mainly self-taught but was commissioned with murals, amongst other things. Over time he approached the style of the Hamburg Secession. Several trips took him to Norway.

In 1940, the Gestapo (Nazi police) searched his home and confiscated paintings and drawings. Nevertheless, Hopf received permission to produce over 100 charcoal drawings of the destroyed town Lübeck, which in 1943 were shown in two exhibitions, using funds from the Nazi propaganda “against the enemy”. The same year his studio in Hamburg-Hamm was destroyed in an air raid and many of his works were burned. After World War II he illustrated his war experiences, the moving fates of frightened people, war returnees, and refugees in his figurative paintings. He also continued to teach in Hamburg.