Fritz Roeber
1851–1924 · German illustrator, lithographer and history painter
Fritz Roeber (Elberfeld, 1851 – Düsseldorf, 1924) was a German illustrator, lithographer and history painter associated with the Düsseldorf School. He is best known for his work as director of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.
He studied painting at a private school run by Eduard Bendemann, but his studies were interrupted by military service in the Franco-Prussian War. In the mid-1870s he exhibited large lithographs on Biblical subjects and received a commission to design figurative jewellery for a gold trophy presented to Prince Wilhelm, later Kaiser, on his wedding. He taught at the academy from 1893 and directed it from 1908 to 1924. His tastes were considered conservative, yet he expanded the curriculum with workshops for church art and stained glass. In 1919, after a partial merger with the Kunstgewerbeschule, he hired seven instructors for the new subjects and oversaw new studio buildings along the Rhine, demolished in 1937. A street beside the academy bears his name.