Käthe KollwitzGerman, 1867–1945The Volunteers
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “The Volunteers” now? Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
In this image a group of young boys have volunteered to fight for the cause and are being swept away by the figure of Death beating his ominous drum. Kollwitz's two sons, Hans and Peter, both volunteered for the army in 1914. Hans survived his duty but eighteen-year-old Peter was killed in action shortly after he enlisted. Kollwitz was deeply affected by her son's death and her pain was revisited when her grandson was fatally wounded in World War II. She felt strongly that too many Germans had sacrificed themselves to the death for the Fatherland and was outspoken in her belief that the young should not be killed for the cause.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Details
- Accession number
- P.71.141
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — © Minneapolis Institute of Art
In the life of Käthe Kollwitz
The whole life1918–1919
The Working Council for Art and the Liebknecht memorial sheet
A committed socialist and pacifist, eventually attracted to communism, she expressed her political and social sympathies in her woodcut memorial sheet for Karl Liebknecht and in her involvement with the Arbeitsrat für Kunst, part of the Social Democratic government in the first few weeks after the war.
1919
The first woman professor at the Prussian Academy of Arts
In 1919 she was appointed professor and elected a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts, the first woman to hold the post. Membership brought a regular income, a large studio and a full professorship.
1919–1925
Destroys the first monument and begins again
In 1919 she destroyed the monument to her son, and in 1925 she began again.
1924
Her work at the “First General Exhibition of German Art”
In 1924 her work was shown in Moscow at the “First General Exhibition of German Art”.
