Horst Janzen was born on 5 October 1930 in Seegertswalde, then East Prussia and today’s Poland.

Childhood and flight

Horst was born as the youngest son of Richard and Emma Janzen. As a 14-year-old boy, he was diagnosed with diabetes and had to live with his fragile health. 

In the confusion of the last years of war, his mother fled with him to Denmark. His father and two older brothers were imprisoned. 

For two years, Horst lived with his mother in an international camp in Oxbøl, Denmark. From there, they moved onto the North Frisian island of Amrum in 1947. Here, the young man discovered his passion for painting and created a number of ink drawings, aquarelles and tempera paintings.

Training

After the family reunited, Horst engaged more intensively with art for the first time in 1948, taking private painting and graphic design lessons in Kiel. Two years later, he moved to Oberhausen with his family and trained as a poster designer and decorator. 

Horst Janzen was part of the ‘Oberhausener Künstlerverein’, with which he regularly organised exhibitions from 1953 onwards. In 1955, at age 25, he received a scholarship from the City of Oberhausen. 

Between 1957 and 1978, he undertook several study trips in, inter alia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Spain, Yugoslavia and Austria.

On own feet

In 1957, during the wedding of his brother Gerhard, Horst met Edith – the woman of his life. They married and Horst established himself as a graphic designer and decorator in Bergneustadt, the home town of his wife. The marriage resulted in three children: Thomas (1958), Christine (1961) and Jan (1966).

Horst Janzen was a member of the 'Oberbergischer Künstlerverein´, with which he regularly organised exhibitions. 

In 1970, his health condition forced him to quit his employment as decorater and Horst started teaching as an art teacher at a school in Bergneustadt. 

In 1974, he won the ‘Salon de Paris’ prize as an award for his art work.

Last life years 

Horst Janzen was a spontaneous, lively human being, despite being marked by his strong diabetes his entire life.

In 1973, he suffered a heart attack and his health continued to deteriorate. Nevertheless, he never quitted his artistic drive and produced art until shortly before his death. 

He died from cancer at the Bonn University Hospital on 8 September 1978.

A a photo collection of images of Horst Janzen is available here.