The history of the Drawing Academy at a glance

Founded in 1772 as an academy of drawing to promote the advancement of the factory arts and crafts... under Landgrave William IX. The first director was the Parisian engraver Jean Louis Gallien. The Hanau gold, silver and enamelware industry was to be qualitatively strengthened through the academic training of the next generation.

In 1866, as part of the annexation of Hesse by Prussia, the institution was renamed the Royal Drawing Academy. The new building, designed by the architect Julius Carl Raschdorff in 1880, finally made it possible to set up chasing, goldsmith and silversmith workshops. From 1883 onwards, the academy was opened to women. A large collection of graphic and plaster models as well as the very high-quality library enabled studies based on models as well as the substantive examination of design and art history. Thanks to the sculptor and later director Max Wiese, sculptural design was given a special place in the creative teaching area.

In the 1930s, the drawing academy suffered massive setbacks at the hands of its directors Emil Lettré and Hermann Wandinger. During the war, until Hanau and the academy building were destroyed on March 19, 1945, students were temporarily employed in the production of war goods.

The academy was able to be rebuilt in 1947. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the focus was on training in classical jewellery, while in the 1980s, experimentation with new materials (plastics, synthetic stones) became increasingly popular.

Since the 1990s, digitalization has been gaining ground, initially with simple rendering of jewelry and devices, and now with modern design using 3D printing and digital drawing, as well as CNC-controlled engraving and LASER welding.

The introduction of the new profession of metalworking replaced traditional chasing and opened up new possibilities for the design of accessories and furnishings made of metal.

After three and a half years of training leading to a vocational college qualification equivalent to a journeyman's certificate, a two-year full-time training course can be used to obtain a technical college qualification as a state-certified designer and, at the same time, to take the master craftsman's examination.

In September 2012, academic teaching began at the Brothers Grimm University of Applied Sciences in Hanau, which was newly founded on the basis of the Drawing Academy's operations. This gave students the opportunity to obtain an academic Bachelor of Arts degree for the dual study programs in design management and product design in parallel to their design-craft-technical training at the Drawing Academy and their vocational school diploma.