Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann

In the middle of World War II - Ode to the future

In 1942, Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann painted the reverse glass picture. It was her birthday present for her husband Arist Dethleffs. Her daughter Ursula, the only child of the two, was their common focus. The picture documents the happiness of their marriage and the development of the small family in its most beautiful facets. As with a collage, the individual memories are connected to the unique birthday present: The happiness of the young couple, the birth of their daughter, the life in nature, the love of art were their "highligths". In addition, the caravan developed by Arist, according to her dreams. Many citizens - not just the Nazis - turned their noses at that time: A German family, like the Gypsies in a caravan through the German Gaue pulled? "That could have no future - so the omniscient people. The three Dethleffs held together. They were strengthened by a few. The three returned to their common happiness after the war. Many caravan enthusiasts have now followed their example.
Great artists painted in horror during and after World War II in their works the atrocities of the criminals and the seduced by them. In spite of all the unspeakable crimes, Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann with her feminine empathy preserved the belief in the future of the people: her faith and thanks to Arist Dethleffs is the most beautiful message of her birthday present.
How clear the artist is of the fragility of the human Glück estimated, shows the choice of the image carrier: it is glass. Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann last painted on glass in 1923 - the picture: Sicherheit. After that, she only painted the here presented, only known back glass picture for her husband.
Thankful for her happiness, the artist has never forgotten how fragile; her luck too:
fragile like the thin glass on which she painted her ode to the future.

Bernd Riedle

with the assistance from Christian Tauscher and Franz Knittel, April 2018