Julie Wolfthorn, born Julie Wolf on January 8, 1864, in Thorn, West Prussia (now Toruń, Poland), was the youngest of five children in a Jewish family. Her birthplace held such significance for her that she incorporated it into her surname, becoming Julie Wolfthorn. Tragically, her father passed away shortly before her birth, and her mother died when Julie was just six years old. Following these losses, she and her sisters were raised by their grandmother, who relocated the family to Berlin in 1883.
Wolfthorn pursued her artistic education in Berlin, studying graphics and painting, before continuing her studies at the private Colarossi Art Academy in Paris in the early 1890s. At the time, women were barred from studying at the Berlin Academy until 1919, making Paris a popular destination for aspiring female artists. Her early successes came in Munich and at the Dachau artists’ colony, where she later lived. Her work gained recognition in the magazine Jugend, which featured her art on its cover twice.
After returning to Berlin, Wolfthorn attended Curt Herrmann’s painting and drawing school for women in 1895. Her artistic repertoire included portraits of girls and women, friends, and family members, as well as intimate nudes and landscapes inspired by her travels. Her style was versatile, ranging from impressionistic and expressive to Art Nouveau and New Objectivity. From the mid-1890s, she exhibited in prominent salons in Munich, Hamburg, Weimar, and at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition. Her breakthrough came in 1897 with the exhibition of a life-size pastel portrait titled Frau Konsul Auerbach.
By the early 20th century, Julie Wolfthorn had established herself as one of Germany’s leading female artists, alongside figures like Käthe Kollwitz and Dora Hitz. She was particularly renowned for her portraits, which captured many prominent personalities of Berlin society. Her clients included art patrons Ida and Richard Dehmel, actresses such as Tilla Durieux, Carola Neher, and Marlene Dietrich, director Björn Björnson, writer Gerhart Hauptmann, surgeon Carl Ludwig Schleich, and many others. Her portraits often featured influential women, reflecting her commitment to highlighting their contributions.
Wolfthorn was an active member of several artistic associations, including the Hiddenseer Künstlerinnenbund, founded in 1922, and the Berlin Secession, which she co-founded in 1898 alongside Max Liebermann and other artists in opposition to the conservative art policies of the Wilhelmine Empire. She also joined the Verein der Künstlerinnen und Kunstfreunde Berlin in 1898 and was a member of the Künstlerinnenvereinigung München (KVM), which had its own women’s academy.
At the turn of the century, Wolfthorn settled in Berlin-Tiergarten, where she lived for over 40 years at Kurfürstenstrasse 50 (a building that no longer exists). Her life was punctuated by study trips to artists’ colonies such as Worpswede, Hiddensee, and Ascona, as well as to Italy. In 1904, she opened a studio for students and married art writer Rudolf Klein. The following year, she joined over 200 female artists in signing a petition demanding admission to the Prussian Academy of Arts, which was rejected by its director, Anton von Werner.
Wolfthorn’s life took a tragic turn in 1933 with the rise of the Nazi regime. As a Jewish artist, she was excluded from associations, banned from publishing, and restricted to exhibiting only with the Jewish Cultural Association (Jüdischer Kulturbund). Despite these repressions, she continued to create and teach, even after being officially banned from her profession in 1939. Her portrait of Christian Rohlfs, a painter ostracized by the Nazis, was exhibited during the first Kulturbund event in Berlin in 1933. Around 1938, she painted Woman in a Green Dress, a portrait of Paula Lutze, the wife of high-ranking Nazi official Viktor Lutze—a commission whose circumstances remain unclear.
For a long time, she refused to flee. It was not until 1938, after the November pogroms, that she was able to decide to leave her homeland, but by then it was too late to escape. When she received her deportation notice in 1942, she hid and distributed her paintings. On October 17, 1942, she wrote a farewell letter to her friend, architect Carl Eeg: «Today I am sending you my last greeting. We are waiting here for transportation to Theresienstadt and are almost happy to finally be rid of the uncertainty. Do not forget us.»
On October 28, 1942, at the age of 78, she was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto with her sister Luise, who died shortly after their arrival. Julie survived for over two years in the ghetto, continuing to draw under dire conditions, before passing away on December 29, 1944, just days before her 81st birthday.
After the war, Julie Wolfthorn’s legacy was largely forgotten, with many of her works lost or hidden in private collections. However, her contributions to art were rediscovered in 1993 through an exhibition organized by the Association of Berlin Women Artists (VdBK). Today, she is celebrated for her artistic achievements and resilience. Her memory is honored through a street named after her at Berlin Nordbahnhof, a memorial plaque in Berlin Mitte, and Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) commemorating her and her sister Luise in Berlin and on the island of Hiddensee. She is also remembered in the «Room of Names» at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.
Featured image: Philipp Kester, Julie Wolfthorn, 1906, Wikimedia.
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