Gerd Aretz
Gerd Aretz ( born February 18, 1930 in Wuppertal; † 5 July 2009) was a German graphic artist. With about 150 executed after his designs stamps he was one of the most successful stamp designer in Germany.
Life
Among other tasks, Aretz participated in design competitions for stamps of the German Post Office and the Federal Ministry of Finance since 1960. First drafts of Aretz have already been printed in the 1960s as stamps. The 150th birthday of the Mainz Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler, a member of the Frankfurt National Assembly and co-founder of Catholic social policy, published 10 - penny stamp was his first. Among others, he has also drawn the postage stamps- series "Women in German history ", which reached a circulation of 39 billion marks. Church personalities and politicians remained the certain specialty Aretzs, including Martin Niemöller, Jochen Klepper and Friedrich von Bodelschwinghstraße the Younger. Among his portraits of politicians include Franz Josef Strauss, Ludwig Erhard, Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Ernst Reuter, Carlo Schmid and Herbert Wehner.
Was published in 1982 which was designed by Aretz "President block " with the Federal President Theodor Heuss, Heinrich Lübke, Gustav Heinemann, Walter Scheel and Karl Carstens. Their successors, Richard von Weizsäcker, Roman Herzog and John Rau had refused to appear in his lifetime on stamps. After the death of design, the Federal Ministry of Finance issued the rush to submit the draft of a commemorative stamp within 72 hours; together with his son succeeded Aretz, to fulfill this task on time.
He taught until retirement at the University of Wuppertal in the tray design to illustration. His son, Oliver Aretz, is a designer in Berlin and operator of an agency that has worked with his father since 1991 on some stamps.
Aretz died in July 2009 and was buried in the cemetery Under Barmer. His last work was published on July 2, three days before his death, a 70 -cent commemorative stamp to mark the 500th anniversary of the reformer John Calvin.