{"id":2239,"date":"2023-07-10T14:42:59","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T12:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaethe-kollwitz-digital.de\/unkategorisiert\/the-war-cycle\/"},"modified":"2023-09-05T16:39:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T14:39:26","slug":"the-war-cycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaethe-kollwitz-digital.de\/en\/permanent-exhibition\/the-war-cycle\/","title":{"rendered":"The War Cycle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Germany entered World War I in August 1914, many families went in a period of anxiety that all too often turned into a time of mourning. At the end of October, the Kollwitz family received news of the death of their son Peter, who had fallen as a war volunteer on the Belgian front. This became a significant juncture for K\u00e4the Kollwitz, who had persuaded her husband to allow her underage son to take part in the war. In the years that followed, she processed her grief, her sense of guilt, and the consequences of the war through her art, and in 1922 completed seven woodcuts in the series War<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Peter Kollwitz as a soldier, 1914; \u00a9 Nachlass Kollwitz, K\u00e4the Kollwitz Museum K\u00f6ln \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The younger son Peter (1896-1914) wanted to become an artist. He started his studies in late 1913. When in August 1914 World War I began, Peter and his friends immediately returned from a hiking trip to Norway to enlist as volunteers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Peter was still a minor, he needed his parents’ permission to do so. Karl Kollwitz wanted to refuse him, but with the support of his mother, Peter managed to persuade him. At that time the family was still convinced that it was a necessary and short defensive war. After some weeks of basic military training Peter was sent to the front line in Belgium. He died the night of October 22, 1914. <\/p>\n\n\n\n