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Ernst Linck archive

The NL’s Prints and Drawings Department holds designs for murals and glass painting works, prints, drawings and personal papers belonging to Ernst Linck (1874–1935).

Linck Christi — Ernst Linck, Crucifixion of Christ, design for a window that was featured at the Swiss National Exhibition in Bern in 1914

Ernst Linck was born in Windisch (AG) in 1874. He completed an apprenticeship as a decorative artist in Zurich while attending Albert Freytag’s school of painting. In 1899 he settled in Bern, where he ran his own painting school and gave life drawing classes at the Bern school of art and design. His painting style was heavily influenced by Ferdinand Hodler. However, his glass works and prints show a high level of originality. He was well integrated in the Bern art scene and in the 1920s also rose to become the chairman of the Bern division of the Swiss Association of Painters, Sculptors and Architects (SPSAS, known today as Visarte) and of the Swiss Werkbund (association of craftsmen). Ernst Linck‘s works were exhibited in various places, including at the Swiss National Exhibition in 1914, the International Exhibition in Paris in 1925, and at the Kunsthalle Bern on several occasions. Ernst Linck died of a heart attack in Bern in 1935 at the age of 61.

The Ernst Linck archive includes designs for a wide range of projects, as well as personal documents that provide an insight into Linck’s oeuvre and biography, and also Bern’s art scene at the time.

Content and scope

Design studies for an array of murals, coats of arms, stained-glass windows and various other projects
Prints, primarily on religious themes in the expressionist style
Drawings, mainly nudes, from Linck’s time as an art teacher
Correspondence and personal papers
Photographs of various subjects spanning the period from 1890 to 1935, including photo albums
Genealogical research documents on the Linck family

Research and access

The Ernst Linck archive is described and catalogued in detail in the HelveticArchives database.Das Archiv Ernst Linck ist in der Archivdatenbank HelveticArchives beschrieben und detailliert erschlossen.

Archiv Ernst Linck in HelveticArchives