“It was a complete coincidence”, says Mr Stephan Aderhold ph.d, a musicologist from Berlin who investigates the history of the Church of Peace. It was in the German city of Nürnberg, in an art gallery named “Galerie Jacobsa” that specializes in paintings from the sixteenth century to the present day, that he spotted a woodcut which appeared very familiar to him. According to the musicologist, in the description it was merely written that it is a “child in the background of the gates,” without any indication that it is a gateway to Peace Square.
The author of the graphics, Adolf Emil Helmut Bodo Zimmermann (1902-1945), was a respected graphic artist associated with Wroclaw’s artistic scene. He spent his childhood years in Świdnica, immortalizing the city’s monuments on his excellent woodcuts.
He was an illustrator in publishing houses in both Świdnica and Wrocław. The theme of his works were mostly Silesian landscapes.
In 1937 he was awarded for his works by the city of Wrocław, and in 1938 he received The Silesian Artistic Award . He spent the entire war on the frontline while also working as a graphic designer – his war drawings were published in the German press under the nickname Bozi. He volunteered to defend Fortress Breslau, and after the capitulation of Wroclaw he was captured by the Soviets. He was then transported to Stalingrad before he died in the summer of 1945. His woodcut has enriched the archives of our Church.
