page_title: Ludwig Gies
section_title: 1945 to 1966
hierarchical_section_title: Ludwig Gies / Life and work / 1945 to 1966
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. 2. Lesung der Pariser Verträge im Deutschen Bundestag am 25. Februar 1955
context_page_description: Ludwig Gies was a German sculptor, medallist and professor of art. He is best known for his crucifix in Lübeck Cathedral, vandalized in March 1922 and later considered a typical work of degenerate art, and his famous Federal Eagle, which is hung at the front of the Plenary Hall of the Reichstag in Berlin.
context_section_description: After the end of World War II, he was active as a freelancer in Berlin. From 1950 to 1962, he was professor of sculpture at the Kölner Werkschulen (Cologne Academy of Fine and Applied Arts) and from 1953, an Honorary Member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich.
  Between 1959 and 1962, Gies designed the windows of the choir of Essen Minster and received the Große Kunstpreis des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen ("Great Art Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia"). In 1957, Gies, a professing Catholic, received from the hands of the Federal President Theodor Heuss the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Ludwig Gies died in Cologne and was buried in the Melaten Cemetery.
  The Letter Foundation awards a scholarship for sculptors and modellers which bears the name "Ludwig Gies-Preis für Kleinplastik" ("Ludwig Gies Award for Small Sculpture").
caption: Gies' eagle, the "Fat Hen", Bundestag in the Bundeshaus in Bonn
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