Jürgen Böttcher, painter and filmmaker, also known as “Strawalde,” was born on July 8, 1931 in Frankenberg (Saxony). He grew up in Strawalde (Oberlausitz).

Böttcher studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts from 1949 to 1953 under the artist Wilhelm Lachnit. From 1953 to 1955 he worked as an independent artist and taught at an evening college in Dresden where he also met the now famous painter A.R. Penck.

Because of Böttcher’s ideological incongruence with the system he was blacklisted from the Association of Fine Arts. It wasn't until the 1980s that his original work as a painter was finally recognized.

From 1955 to 1960 Böttcher studied film directing at the Film Academy in Potsdam-Babelsberg and worked as a director in the DEFA Studio for Documentary Films until 1991. Having made more than 30 artistically provocative films, he has attained cult status among cineastes.

Böttcher’s only narrative film Born in '45 (1966) was inspired by the Italian neo-realists. In it he developed a sensitive style, characterized by acute social observations and poetic verse. Officials described the film as “indifferent and insignificant” and banned it. It wasn’t seen by audiences until 1990 at the Berlin International Film Festival, where he also won the critics’ prize as well as the European Film Prize (Felix) for the film The Wall.

Böttcher received the Art Prize from the city of Dresden in 1997. For his life’s work he was awarded the Golden Film Ribbon in 1992 and the Golden Dove at the Leipzig Documentary Film Festival in 2000.

Jürgen Böttcher has been working as an independent artist since 1991 and lives in Berlin.

Filmography

Three of Many (1961/1988); Stove Fitters (Ofenbauer 1962); Stars (1963); Barefoot and Without a Hat (1964); Born in '45 (Jahrgang 45 1965/66); The Secretary (1967); Laundresses (Waescherinnen 1972); Martha (Martha 1978); Venus to Giorgione (1981); Potter's Bull (1981); Woman at the Clavichord (1981); Shunters (Rangierer 1984); Short Visit at Hermann Glöckner's (1984); Kitchen (Die Kueche 1986); In Georgia (In Georgien 1988); The Wall (Die Mauer 1989/90); A Place in Berlin (Konzert im Freien 2001).