Gustav Rutz
Karl Gustav Rutz (14 December 1857 – 9 August 1949) was a German sculptor. Life and work. Born in Cologne, Rutz was first a painting student of Julius Geertz in Düsseldorf. With his fellow students from the Geertz studio, Franz Thöne and August Flinker, Gustav Rutz undertook study trips within Germany. In Munich he then trained in sculpture under Anton Hess. From 1879, Rutz settled in Düsseldorf. His studio was located in 1888 directly opposite the south side of the Kunstakademie in the house Hafenwall 7 (today Eiskellerstraße). He became known for cemetery and monument sculptures as well as  numerous fountains in German cities. His sculptures, partly in the neobaroque style, earned nationwide fame at the time. Around 1899 he was a member of the I. Kunstgenossenschaft in Düsseldorf. Beim Besuch des Kaiserpaares Wilhelm II. und Viktoria Ende Oktober 1900 in (Wuppertal-) Vohwinkel wurde dort der „Siegesbrunnen mit Germania“ feierlich enthüllt. Wilhelm II. lobte Rutz als dessen Schöpfer, und am 27. Januar 1901, an des Kaisers Geburtstag, wurde der Siegesbrunnen ins Eigentum der Stadt Vohwinkel übernommen. In 1902, Rutz was awarded 1st prize in the competition for a Kaiser-Friedrich statue in Mönchengladbach, and was entrusted with its realisation . The statue was to be placed in the vestibule of the new city hall, the Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle, which was inaugurated in 1903.. Rutz was a member of the Malkasten. The Goethe-Herme made of stone was created by him on the occasion of the Düsseldorf Goethe Festival of 1899 and erected in 1903 in the Malkastenpark, the former "Jacobigarten". The architect Richard Hultsch built a two-storey villa for Gustav Rutz on the Achenbachstraße 24 plot in Düsseldorf-Düsseltal in 1905-1906. Rutz died at the age of 91 in the senior citizens' residence of the Riehler Heimstätten. Gustav