Nikolaus Geiger

Who was Nikolaus Geiger?

Nikolaus Geiger, born at Lauingen, Bavaria, was a German sculptor and painter. He was a pupil of Joseph Knabl at the Munich Academy. In 1873, he went to Berlin and soon achieved recognition for his ornamental work in the Tiele-Winckler Palace . After a visit to Italy he studied painting in Munich and in 1884 returned to Berlin, where he was awarded a gold medal in 1886, was elected member of the Academy in 1893, and was made professor in 1896. St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin contains examples of his work. He produced the high-relief Adoration of the Magi. His The Communion of the Saints on the ceiling of St. Hedwig's is his most noteworthy painting. He sculpted Frederick Barbarossa for the Kyffhäuser monument; a statue of Labor for the Reichsbank building in Berlin; and Centaur with Dancing Nymph for the National Gallery. Geiger produced a tall relief frieze for the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Indianapolis, Indiana.