Highly gifted with stunted growth - the sculptor Emil Rasmus Jensen - An almost forgotten German artist

Abstract

"I was born in Nordschleswig in the small town of Tondern. I did not actually have a childhood. In any case, it is dark, I almost wish to say, sad, and therefore I am not quite aware of it as such." So oppressive and sober commences the only printed biographical reference from the hand of the sculptor Emil Rasmus Jensen (1888-1967), who, despite severe physical limitations as a rachitic small statured artist with unbridled energy and unwavering volition as a "Villa Massimo" laureate, recommended for scholarship by Max Liebermann and Käthe Kollwitz, defied his fate. Many of his sculptures and paintings can still be found today in the Landesmuseum Schloss Gottorf.
"Also because I was only able to attend a serious study at a relatively advanced age, illness and late physical development were the cause. In Flensburg, where my parents had moved, I went to the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Fine Arts Flensburg), where I carved mostly wooden sculptures. Then I went to the Hamburger Kunstschule (Academy of Fine Arts Hamburg), where I found a fine teacher in Professor Bossard. " "There", he continues, "I have been granted a study journey to Italy (Rome, Florence) by the state of Hamburg. Small I left, came back even smaller - but not discouraged. The great masters of the Renaissance are, of course, not to be surpassed; but you should not and can not admire everything on the other side of the Alps!".

Full text

Arne Jensen – Emil Rasmus Jensen, 2017
1
Highly gifted with stunted growth - the sculptor Emil Rasmus Jensen -
An almost forgotten German artist
Arne Jensen
"I was born in Nordschleswig in the small town of Tondern. I did not actually have a childhood. In any
case, it is dark, I almost wish to say, sad, and therefore I am not quite aware of it as such." 1 So
oppressive and sober commences the only printed biographical reference from the hand of the
sculptor Emil Rasmus Jensen (1888-1967), who, despite severe physical limitations as a rachitic small
statured artist with unbridled energy and unwavering volition as a "Villa Massimo" laureate,
recommended for scholarship by Max Liebermann and Käthe Kollwitz, defied his fate. Many of his
sculptures and paintings can still be found today in the Landesmuseum Schloss Gottorf. 2
"Also because I was only able to attend a serious study at a relatively advanced age, illness and late
physical development were the cause. In Flensburg, where my parents had moved, I went to the
Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Fine Arts, Heinrich-Sauermann-Werkkunstschule), where I carved
mostly wooden sculptures. Then I went to the Hamburger Kunstschule, where I found a fine teacher in
Professor Bossard. " "There", he continues, "I have been granted a study journey to Italy (Rome,
Florence) by the state of Hamburg. Small I left, came back even smaller - but not discouraged. The
great masters of the Renaissance are, of course, not to be surpassed; but you should not and can not
admire everything on the other side of the Alps!". 3
Childhood
Born on July 18, 1888 in Tondern, Nordschleswig (now southern Denmark), Nordwest-Quartier 99, as
son of the merchant, Johann Christian Jensen (1850-1921) and his wife Emilie Karoline Jensen, b.
Wensien (1851-1939), Emil Jensen suffered from the so-called English disease in the early childhood,
a disease associated with vitamin D deficiency and which caused stunted growth at the age of 4 years
with a height of 98 cm. In his early childhood he was mostly confined to bed. When he was five years
old, the family moved to Flensburg, where his father opened an insurance office. Emil, who was also
often sick and lived in almost complete seclusion in his parents' household, frequently occupied
himself with self-imposed pictorial tasks. In contrast to his six brothers and sisters, he could not attend
school, so his parents decided to let him be taught by a house teacher. The latter discovered his
striking talent in the modeling of figures. Through physical exercises and several therapeutic curative
stays on the island of Sylt, where he was lovingly nursed by a religious nurse, whom he greatly
admired and later portrayed in many ways, he was able to learn how to walk by 1908. But he only
ventured into the street at night, because otherwise teasing children would have walked behind him.
Anny Jensen, the wife of his brother, Oluf Jensen, from 1916-1933 director of the Kreissparkasse in
Schleswig, described this important step with a handwritten text in the estate of the artist: "At the age
of 20 Ene could finally walk and he was now ready to take stairs. By chance the director of the
Flensburg School of Art, Professor Huber, came to notice him (after he had seen a marble relief from
Emil Jensen's hand, A. J.) and persuaded Enes parents to allow him to attend his school for his
education. This school was placed high up on a hill in the museum. The parents now decided to move
closer, to Nordergraben 20, below the hill. Ene was then 26 years old, when he began his art training
with Prof. Huber, it was 1914, when the first world war broke out. He had to climb 100 steps a day to
1 Emil Jensen, autobiographic text in the art journal „Das Bild“, Article ‚Der Bildhauer Emil Jensen’, p. 350 ff.
2 Exhibition catalogue „Emil Jensen – Skulpturen, Schleswig 1989“. Ausstellung vom 30. April bis 16. Juni,
Schleswig Holsteinisches Landesmuseum Schloss Gottorf in Schleswig, Schleswig 1989; regarding the artist also
compare his record in: (encyclopedia) Lexikon schleswig-holsteinischer Künstlerinnen, ed. by Ulrike Wolf-
Thomsen, Heide, Germany 1994, see also: Reprint: Manfred In der Beeck „Hochtalent bei Zwergwuchs – Der
Künstler Emil Jensen“, Sonderdruck, Schleswig-Holsteinisches Ärzteblatt, Heft 10/1974, also published under
title: „Ich will dem Schicksal in den Rachen greifen“. Über den Künstler Emil Jensen in Tondern, in: Jahrbuch
Nordfriesland, 33 (Mai 1975), p. 32 ff
3 Emil Jensen, like note 2 ., Emil Rasmus Jensen (1888-1967), Sculpturest, (URL
http://www.scupturest.tumblr.com)

Arne Jensen – Emil Rasmus Jensen, 2017
2
get to his workplace; so he said to me, 'Imagine, every step is as high for me as for you a chair.' We
both laughed at this, I remember that clearly". 4
Art Training in Flensburg and Hamburg
It is probable that Emil Jensen improved physically over the many years of climbing the 100 steps on
his daily exhausting path to (artistic) work so that he was able to master the many hardships that still
awaited him in his life. At the age of 26 years a new life began for him. In 1914, he was enrolled in the
"Kunstgewerbliche Fachschule der Stadt Flensburg (School of Fine Arts, Werkkunstschule, in Flens-
burg)", founded by Heinrich Sauermann, where he studied with his director Prof. Heinz Weddig (1870-
1940), who worked in wood sculpture and stone sculpture as well as - more privately – in painting. His
first important work, “Berggeist” (Oak), in cubistic manner, was created in 1917.
In 1922 he continued his studies at the State Art College in Hamburg, Lerchenfeld 2, today's Academy
of Fine Arts. Here the tradition of Viennese Jugendstil, as taught by Richard Luksch (1872-1936) and
Carl Otto Czeschka (1878-1960), reflected in Jensen's small porcelain head with the title "Passion
(Leidenschaft)" of 1923 and the elegant and pleasing shaping of the sculpture "Dying Amazon
(Sterbende Amazone)" from the first half of the 1920s. 5 He rented quarters nearby and used a studio
at the school and later one at Mühlendamm 42, where, among others, his great sculptures "Fulfillment
(Erfüllung)", "Cain (Kain)", "Apparition (Erscheinung)", "Embrace (Umarmung)", "Mother with dying
child (Mutter mit sterbendem Kind)", and the "Beethoven" bust were created. Emil Jensen became
master student of Prof. Johann Michael Bossard (1874-1950). His study record, together with the
content of the lectures and the semester certificates, is completely preserved and shows his top marks
in all courses taken. 6
Fig. 1 The 29-year-old Emil Jensen with the sculpture "Berggeist" (oak) in Flensburg, 1917
4 „Aus dem Leben eines großen Künstlers“, handwritten manuscript and personal Communication sister-in-law of
Emil Jensen, Anny Jensen, b. Waschau (1894-1992), Schleswig, Germany. Artists’ archive Emil Jensen; compare
also: Christian Rathke, „Emil Jensen – Ein vergessener Bildhauer aus Nordschleswig“, in: Exhibition catalogue,
note 2
5 Rathke, note 4.
6 Arne Jensen, „Emil Rasmus Jensen (1888-1967) Bildhauer“, Biographie in Bildern, Selbstverlag, Bochum, 2016.

Arne Jensen – Emil Rasmus Jensen, 2017
3
Interestingly, there are points of contact between Heinz Weddig and Emil Jensen’s most influential
teacher, Bossard, at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Hamburg. "Born in Zug in Switzerland, Bossard was a
student of the Kunstgewerbeschule, then the Academy in Munich - as well as Weddig - with the much-
employed memorial sculptor Wilhelm von Rümann. Before Bossard was appointed to the Hamburger
Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Fine Arts) in 1907, he had completed his training with Arthur Kampf in
Berlin. Since 1912, in Jensen's entry into his class for a decade, he worked on his Gesamtkunstwerk,
an "art temple" at Lüllau in the Lüneburger Heide. 7
With the death of Emil Jensen's father on October 21, 1921 and due to inflation, Emil’s mother was
practically destitute and had to be supported by her children. Therefore, Emil was in financial distress
and had to keep himself above water by selling sculptures. Thus, among others, the sculpture "Youth
(Jüngling)" was sold, bought by the Museum Altona Hamburg and the "Dying Amazone (Sterbende
Amazone)" was acquired by an art connoisseur.
Fig. 2 Emil Jensen with the sculptures "Ninth Symphony (Neunte Symphonie)"," Apparition (Erscheinung)" and
"Beethoven" in his studio at Mühlendamm 42, Hamburg.
7 Rathke, note 4; see J. M. Bossard also: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Michael_Bossard.

Arne Jensen – Emil Rasmus Jensen, 2017
4
This enabled him to continue his artistic work. Despite his support from well-known personalities, his
efforts to obtain a scholarship remained unsuccessful. The renowned director of the Kunsthalle
Hamburg, Prof. Gustav Pauli (1886-1938), and Prof. Hermann Maetzig (1888-1969), the director of the
Landeskunstschule Hamburg (Academy of Fine Arts Hamburg), took up support of Emil Jensen and,
according to his sister-in-law Anny, certified his aptitude: "When the application as master student for
a course in Berlin in 1927 was rejected, on the grounds that he was no longer a student but was a
master, Prof. Bossard conveyed to him that it would be time for him to work as an independent artist.
This testimony implied much for Emil Jensen, the ascension as artist commenced". 8
Living in Hamburg
Emil Jensen gained popularity in May 1927 following a long essay by Helmut Duve in the illustrated
weekly family journal "Das Neue Blatt". In the following year, he exhibited two non-surviving religious
gypsum sculptures and a bronze table lamp in the jubilee exhibition of living Schleswig-Holstein artists
at the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Flensburg, where he received orders for various public sculptures. 9
In 1929, after the positive assessment by Max Liebermann and Käthe Kollwitz, the Prussian Academy
of Arts bestowed on him the greatest public recognition by awarding him the "Villa Massimo
Scholarship" in Rome. But his attendance there did not materialize. He was on the list, but was
ignored after the transfer of power to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) in 1933.
Fortunately, he found further support from the publisher of the ‘Flensburg Illustrated News’
(Flensburger Illustrierte Nachrichten), Albert Wacker, who published not only an article about him in
1929, but also wrote a reference letter for the mayor of the city of Hamburg, Dr. Carl Wilhelm
Petersen, regarding a travel scholarship. Even though the request was rejected in writing, the Senate
of Hamburg gave Emil Jensen the opportunity to travel to Italy in 1931 to devote himself to an in-depth
art study in Rome and Florence.10 In 1931/1932, Emil Jensen was also invited by the City of
Copenhagen to arrange a "Emil Jensen Collective Exhibition" in Charlottenborg Palace in two large
rooms. "The exhibition was discussed in detail by the Copenhagen newspapers and illustrated by
many works. The ideational and artistic success was important!" 11
Fig. 3 Emil Jensen at his studio at the Ohlendorff palais, Hamburg, Germany
8 Rathke, note 4.
9 Arne Jensen, wie Anm. 5.
10 Scholarship file in: Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Senatsakten, Bestandsnr. 363-2, Signatur Eb 157, herein also:
Memorandum reference letter Prof. G. Pauli, Director of the Kunsthalle Hamburg, dated 8. 11. 1930 herein.
11 Inka Dassow, Life companion, „Abschied für immer!, 28. 12. 1967“, Manuscript, Artists’ archive Emil Jensen.

Arne Jensen – Emil Rasmus Jensen, 2017
5
In 1932, Emil Jensen was able to obtain a large studio at Ohlendorff's Palais in the Hamm district
through recommendation by Prof. G. Pauli. With the help of a legate of the well-to-do-merchant
Heinrich Ohlendorff, the city of Hamburg made studios available to artists for a low rent. In the palace,
built by the architect Martin Haller, in which Elisabeth and Heinrich Ohlendorff celebrated their golden
wedding anniversary in 1908, Emil Jensen, supported by the artist's emergency aid (Künstler Nothilfe),
was allowed to occupy a large studio on the first floor. At the same time, he had a small living room
where he lived a relatively untroubled life among his collegues from the avant-garde “Hamburger
Sezession”, e.g., Karl Kluth, Hans-Martin Ruwoldt, Martin Irwahn, Arnold Fiedler, and Anita Rée. 12
" A particularly productive working period then began. - Approx. 50 sculptures, some of which were
executed in bronze, wood, porcelain, and ceramics, and many pictures were created of every kind of
painting and sketches." 13 His sister-in-law, Anny Jensen, describes these years as follows: "Now for
Ene, you can say, 'Golden years' commenced; as a freelance artist in a large studio to create his own
ideas, he could hardly have imagined ... In Hamburg, he had a big circle of friends and acquaintances.
Including several women; one was the wife of a Hamburg pharmacist (Kosmale, Colonnaden,
Hamburg). He called her Lillibeth, she was very much in love with him, she was a wonderful woman. I
met her at Ene’s studio, and later we met again in Segeberg. Through his exhibitions, he also met Inka
(Dassow) (his later life companion); the acquaintance became a faithful friendship up to Enes's death.
When Vati was studying in Hamburg (Dr. med. Uwe Jensen, Schleswig, nephew of the artist), he often
visited Ene, and there were often convivial gatherings with other friends. At the Karneval, there were
also artists festivals in the Ohlendorffhaus, which Ene, in costume, liked to join and where he amused
himself." 14
Artists in National Socialism
But this untroubled life did not last long, because in January 1933, the National Socialists took over
the power, which had several detrimental effects on Emil Jensen. "After the takeover of power, the
residents of the Ohlendorffhaus experienced a strong fluctuation. The artists were checked. The
blockkeeper (Blockwart) checked whether the brushes were wet, whether and how much they had
worked ... he also searched the studios. SA, later SS patrols looked around, disturbed and harassed
the 'culture-bolshevists' and 'degenerate' ... Karl Kluth, chairman of the Ohlendorffhauses and
negotiater between the artists and the state, was subpoenaed by the Gestapo and had to justify his
manner of painting ".15
In addition, Emil Jensen was in great financial distress, because his brother, bank director of the
Kreissparkasse Schleswig, Oluf Jensen (1886-1964), was no longer available as a main supporter.
After a denunciation, Oluf was arrested by the National Socialists, imprisoned, and dismissed on
September 1, 1933 without notice. He was regarded as politically unreliable, opposed to becoming a
NSDAP party member, and his demissal was directed specifically to allow the installation of loyal
NSDAP people, a "Clique Alter Kämpfer (old Nazi propagandists)", by Nazi Landrat Joachim Meyer-
Quade and his deputy Otto Gestefeld. This purposeful extermination of the existence of Oluf Jensen
by national socialists in Schleswig was a traumatic experience for the family, despite the fact that the
procedure had ended in 1934, because, as director, he lived on the upper floor of the Kreissparkasse
and therefore, without salary or pension and without living space, he had to leave the city with his
young family. Further financial support for his brother Emil had thus become impossible. 16
In this situation, on August 30, 1933, Emil Jensen wrote a letter to the Kunstpflege-Kommission (Art
Commission) in Hamburg, where he again asked for the granting of a scholarship. His request,
however, was rejected. Supported by several previous letters of recommendation and by the director
of the Kunsthalle Hamburg (Museum of Fine Arts), Prof. G. Pauli, as well as by another written
12 Karin von Behr, „Die Ohlendorff’s – Aufstieg und Untergang einer Hamburger Familie“, Hamburg 2010, Edition
Temmen; also in Arne Jensen, note 6 and Maike Bruhns‚ „Kunst in der Krise: Hamburger Kunst im Dritten Reich“,
Band I und II, München 2001, Dölling und Galitz Verlag GmbH, Hamburg - München.
13 Inka Dassow, note 11.
14 Anny Jensen, note 4.
15 Maike Bruhns, note 12.
16 Matthias Schartl, Eine Clique „Alter Kämpfer“. Aufstieg und Fall regionaler NSDAP-Eliten in Stadt und Land-
kreis Schleswig, in: DG 15 (2003), p. 161 ff., also see Matthias Schartl, Der Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg und seine
Sparkassen. Die Geschichte eines kommunalen Finanzunternehmens im Dienste der Region und ihrer Men-
schen. Schriftenreihe der Kulturstiftung des Kreises Schleswig-Flensburg, Vol. 9, Schleswig 2007, p. 55 ff..

Arne Jensen – Emil Rasmus Jensen, 2017
6
acquisition proposal by Prof. H. Maetzig, director of the Landeskunstschule Hamburg, to the Senate,
the bronze sculpture "Prayer (Gebet)" was purchased for 900 RM instead. In the memorandum of
September 20, 1933, which has been drafted, the following is said: "The sculptor Emil Jensen, a dwarf
figure (98 cm), is, according to the judgment of the relevant artists' circles, including Professor
Maetzig, a gifted artist, who is only hampered in his studies because of his lack of funds.
Nevertheless, some of his works (e.g., the Beethoven bust) have to be characterised as almost
perfect. Jensen's efforts to obtain a scholarship or a governmental commission have been in vain
according to the statistics accumulated since 1925. Since, according to the decision of the Lord
Mayor, that financial support of fine artists should be avoided, the letter of 30 August 1933 can
scarcely be taken into account, but it would be advisable to take the sculptor Emil Jensen into
consideration for the awarding of public contracts. 17
Maetzig stated himself on the date of October 16, 1933: "As a representative of the fine arts, I am
honored with the intention of awarding state contracts to Hamburg artists for the purchase of the
bronze "Prayer" by the sculptor Emil Jensen. It is a very successful work by the artist, which would be
very well suited for installation in a state building. A photograph is attached. The request of the artist,
which can be regarded as very moderate, is RM 900.-. Jensen is a gifted artist known in artists' circles,
who, despite his dwarfish stature, has succeeded in asserting himself with admirable strength and has
already created several other well-known works of art. Since, apart from the assignment of a studio in
the Ohlendorffhaus, he can not be granted money support at the moment, I would consider it
appropriate to allow him to continue his work through the proposed purchase. 18
Fig. 4 The bronze sculpture "Apparition (Erscheinung)" in the sculpture park of Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig, Ger-
many
Apart from financial distress, Emil Jensen was also increasingly exposed to discrimination because of
his dwarfish stature. "The fact that the Ohlendorffhaus was partly occupied by artists of the Hamburg
17 Arne Jensen, note 6.
18 Also, note 6

Arne Jensen – Emil Rasmus Jensen, 2017
7
Secession in 1933 also led to conflicts. As a state institution, it attracted the attention of the new Nazi
cultural functionaries ... "Carl Vincent Krogmann (NSDAP) (mayor) visited, for example, on 18
September 1933 Paul Bollmann and sculptor Emil Jensen. They were not taken into account for
government contracts ... 1940/41 a sculpture master training was foreseen. The special course came
in the second half of 1940 with seven sculptors under the direction of J. M. Bossard. Emil ('Lille')
Jensen was found 'unsuitable' for the course after inspection of his studio in the Ohlendorffhaus. The
artist was short in stature and, according to the racist Nazi conception, was unable to shape ideal
figures." He was excluded. 19
But the misfortune quickly advanced. In July 1943 came the great air attack on Hamburg, which laid
the city in rubble. The Ohlendorffhaus was also hit and burnt down. For Emil Jensen this was probably
the most serious fate that could befall him. He was just about to prepare a big exhibition again; there
were many works in his atelier. "Almost all his oeuvre was destroyed." 20
In the bombing, the artist's colleague, Martin Irwahn, who had been appointed as an air defense
guard, saved all 400 occupants in the air-raid shelter of the house, which was designed for only 50
persons. "Irwahn, Ruth Godbersen, Hannah Kluth and Lille Jensen were heading towards Horner
Kreisel ... and later found accommodation in Winterhude, in the Krochmannsstraße at G. Irwahn’s." 21
He could save "Only the naked life" just barely, according to the memories of Anny Jensen. "In this
despair, the caretaker found him sitting on a bench in Ohlendorff Park. He took care of him, and
helped him to get transport south towards Munich. Those who had survived the inferno had to be
evacuated, the trains moved people in all directions. For days Ene was on the road until he reached
Bayrischzell.
"There his sister Olga Jürgens operated the pension "Sonnenschein". They got a call from the railway
administration, "they had a very small person in miserable condition, whom they wanted to be picked
up." When she met him there, she found a seriously traumatized brother. It would be weeks before he
could talk again. "Then the first questions were, where is Inka, is she alive?". When he later learned
that she too had saved her life and would come to Munich, he was relieved." Anny Jensen continues:
"Olga has taken care of him with a touch of affection and immediately gave him one of her best rooms.
But two years would pass before Ene could face up to new work; sculptures, of course, were not to be
thought of, so he began to paint. A large number of his pictures covered the walls of his room.
Amazingly and admirably his energy allowed the small body to physically cope with all the hardships".
22
Fortunately, in the destruction of the Ohlendorffhaus some sculptures, and also large sculptures, were
preserved and after the war found their way back to the artist, or to his family. Only recently, the
sculpture "Mourning (Trauer)" with clear soot marks of the fire in the Ohlendorffhaus was discovered
on the art market and reintroduced to the oeuvre. The sculpture "Death and the Maiden (Tod und das
Mädchen. The correct name of the sculpture is “Leben und Tod”)" has also re-emerged, was
auctioned in the Southern German region and is now on display on the internet in ‘Europeansculpture’.
23
Final station Starnberg
In 1953 Emil Jensen moved with his sister to Söcking near Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany. Here he
worked in quiet seclusion. In a quick succession, work was created after the other, expressing a
fascinating expression and appealing to the inner. It is felt that not only a great artist, but also a man
was at work, who struggled with human and superhuman problems. "Years went by until new energy
and a new breakthrough of the creative power overcame the shock-induced paralysis," stated a short
biography published in the journal of Schleswig-Holstein in 1953 about the almost unknown artist in
Schleswig-Holstein. "This great vigor is to be attributed to him all the more highly, since, by his small
size, he has already been disadvantaged by his fate. But the same energy which had made him find
his professional path after a difficult period of childhood, made him a master of his fate and made him
capable of new creative work. It is peculiar to see how, besides the many portfolios and large boxes,
19 Maike Bruhns, note 12.
20 Anny Jensen, note 4.
21 Maike Bruhns, note 12
22 Anny Jensen, note 4.
23 http://europeansculpture.tumblr.com/post/102528262275/emil-rasmus-jensen-1888-1967-der-tod-und-das?

Arne Jensen – Emil Rasmus Jensen, 2017
8
in which the figures of his lost sculptural works and his earlier graphic works are laid, a new, large
number of pictures now cover the walls of his room." 24
Fig. 5 In his studio in Starnberg, Emil Jensen is working on the sculpture "The great suffering (Das große Leid)"
His life companion, Inka Dassow, recalls: "His happiest hours were always inspiration. This happened
even three weeks before his long journey. Those who were able to experience the atmosphere of this
unique, wonderful man after his return, the contented expression of his facial expressions, and the
hands still oriented towards shaping, know that he will remain inseparable from his work." 25 "The
striking feature in his work", as the psychologist, who became aware of Jensen in the early 1970s, and
long-time director of the Schleswiger Fachklinik, Dr. Manfred in der Beeck, elaborating on
24 E. H. Knoop, Ein Künstler der Überwindung. Vom Schaffen des Bildhauers Emil Jensen, in: Schleswig-Holstein,
1953, p. 159 f..
25 Inka Dassow, note 11.

Arne Jensen – Emil Rasmus Jensen, 2017
9
psychopathology in the expression of Jensen's art, was the "over-dimensionality" of his figures. He
had created "over-dimensional, exuberant, and overflowing female figures who deserved special
attention in relation to this man, who was physically too small, but intellectually fully fledged and
maintained". He had defied his fate, and never disheartened himself, like Ludwig van Beethoven, who
was completely deaf at the end of his life, from whom the quotation is known "I will take fate in the
throat, I am sure it shall not bow down". 26
At the age of almost eighty years, on December 22, 1967, at 11:15 p.m., the sculptor Emil Rasmus
Jensen closed his eyes forever - in his studio and in the midst of his works, including one of his most
beautiful sculptures. "He has found a worthy final resting place at the beautiful Starnberg (cemetery)
Waldfriedhof. “The Pensive (Sinnende)” in bronze adorns the hill and reminds us of the great sculptor
Emil Jensen". 27
Fig. 6 The bronze sculpture "The Pensive (Sinnende)" at the Waldfriedhof Starnberg (cemetery)
His heirs preserved his artistic legacy, captured and cataloged the entire oeuvre that had been
reunited from three hereditary parts, in order to posthumously acknowledge the artist life
achievements and to increase his recognition in the general public that he derserves. In the late 1980s
they were decisively supported by the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum Schloss Gottorf,
under the direction of Prof. Heinz Spielmann and Dr. Christian Rathke. The large sculpture "Apparition
(Erscheinung)", a central work of the artist, now adorns the sculpture park and in 1989, a large
exhibition of sculptures was held in the Deer hall (Hirschsaal) of Schloß Gottorf. A catalogue was pub-
26 Manfred in der Beeck, „Ich will dem Schicksal in den Rachen greifen“, note 2, p. 34.
27 Anny Jensen, note 4.

Arne Jensen – Emil Rasmus Jensen, 2017
10
lished that included the life and work of Emil Rasmus Jensen, this exceptional artist, born in Tondern,
Nordschleswig. 28
Acknowledgement
The author is utterly grateful to Prof. Michael A. Heymann, Carmel, Ca., USA, for proof reading the
manuscript.
_____________________________________
Prof. Dr. med. Arne Jensen, M.D.
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Campus Klinik Gynäkologie
Universitätsstr. 140
44799 Bochum
28 Owing to Dr. Ingrid and Dr. Uwe Jensen (the nephew of the artist), the oeuvre of Emil Jensen and the private
archive, which Inka Dassow, a devoted lifelong companion, had gaplessly built up, could be completely preserved
in a unique way. In appreciation and admiration of the artist, Ingrid Jensen had also made the task of
photographing the oeuvre and drawing up the catalogue of works, as well as organizing exhibitions at Schloß
Gottorf, Schleswig, State Museum Schleswig-Holstein, Tonders, and Alsen,
compare: Arne Jensen, note. 6.