Sieger Köder

Sieger Köder (1925-2015) was born in Wasseralfingen (Baden-Württemberg), Germany. He was a prisoner of war during World War II and was part of the Catholic Neudeutschland, a youth movement founded in 1919 opposed to Nazism that developed further iterations after WW II. He trained as a silversmith and painter and worked for several years as an art teacher at a secondary school. At age 41 he started to study theology in Tübingen and in 1971 he was ordained as a priest. He combined his calling as a parish priest with his artistic work and made countless paintings, altar pieces, and stained-glass windows for churches within and beyond Germany. He continued to paint after his retirement. He made a series of remarkable external murals for the St James Pilgrim House in Hohenberg, Germany and collaborated on eleven stations along the Franconian-Swabian Jacobspilgerweg, the ancient pilgrims’ way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Köder’s work is influenced by Marc Chagall and stands out for his strong colours and robust, stocky figures. His works show provocation, anger, humour, and profound tenderness. He always has an eye for the human response to God’s call. Köder has been greatly influenced by his war experiences. This can be clearly seen in his pictures of the suffering Christ and human suffering and evil. One of his best-known works is a fresco of the Last Supper for the German College in Rome. Köder’s work gained renown in his later years and he received several prizes. In 1985 Pope John Paul II awarded him the honorary title of ‘Monsignor’ and the Order of Merit. He remained his modest self and considered people who came to look at ‘the great artist’ a real trial. He once noted during a newspaper interview: ‘People come to Ellwangen and ask for the way to the painter. If they are so interested in the artist, then they have not understood his paintings.’ Gemma Simmonds, C.J. wrote a book about Köder and his work: Glimpses of the Divine: The Art and Inspiration of Sieger Koder (2010). Another publication was: Gertrud Widmann (ed.): Die Bilder der Bibel von Sieger Köder. For more images, click here.