Wilhelm Petersen (1900 – 1987) was a German born in the Holstein region of northern Germany. He first started studying painting at the age of sixteen under Peter Gustav Doren at the School of Decorative Arts in Hamburg. At eighteen he volunteered to fight in WWI, but the war ended before he was sent to the front. He fought in the streets of Berlin in 1919 against the Spartakists and then the next year he began work for the Forestry Academy in Eberswalde. He worked on some private paintings and restored old and damaged works, and then published his first collection of paintings in 1924. In 1927 he moved to Berlin to work as an illustrator. There he would meet with Alfred Rosenberg and join the NSDAP as part of the SA. Over the years, he would be inspired to paint a variety of figures: the people of Friesland, ancient Teutons, Vikings, nudes, portraits of families, children’s books, etc. He received a number of awards during the Third Reich. He was mobilized in 1938 and fought as a gunner during the campaign in Poland and then joined up with the Wiking Division.
He was again mobilized from 1942-1945, where he would produce a number of war scenes. He lost one of his eyes and ended up in a British POW camp. He would eventually be able to return to painting, in many ways picking up where he left off in his earlier career, until he lost the entirety of his eyesight in 1978. His legacy was carried on by two daughters from his first wife and two daughters and two sons from his second wife.
For more on this man, please check out the write-up on Galleria d’arte Thule, where most of these images and information originated. Also, h/t to NS Europa.
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