Werner Berg

Elberfeld, Wuppertal 1904 - 1981 St. Veit im Jauntal

Werner Berg was born in Wuppertal-Elberfeld in Germany in 1904. He already started creating drawings and paintings with watercolors during his time at school. But due to the bad economic situation, he decided to study political science in Cologne, Bonn and Vienna, after graduating from a Realgymnasium. After a promotion, he decided to pursue painting again. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Karl Sterrer from 1927 to 1928 and afterwards at the Munich Academy under Karl Caspar from 1928 to 1930. In 1931 he decided to move to Carinthia with his wife Amalie Kuster, where he worked as a farmer and painter until he died in 1981. Werner Berg created many works that focus on the everyday life of farmers in Carinthia. He received the Albrecht-Dürer price early on in his career. After World War II, where the Nazis labelled his works as “degenerated art”, he was honored with many exhibitions and awards. Today his oeuvre can be viewed at the Werner Berg museum in Bleiburg.