Erich Riesel was a German-American iron-worker in Texas in the early to mid 1900’s. His work can still be seen in many commercial sites and churches in Central Texas.

 

I think almost everyone has had someone along the line that has influenced them or made a difference in their life. Erich Riesel is one of those people for me. Erich was an artist, machinist and a creative iron-worker. He was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States between World War I and II and settled in the Kerrville, Texas area.

To clarify, my name is Paul Axtell, born in Montana and ended up in Texas in the early 60’s visiting an army friend after a stint in the military. It is odd circumstances that caused me to cross paths with Mr. Riesel. I was living in Kerrville, working at a nearby aircraft plant, newly married and living in a small apartment on Park Street. For several months I had heard hammering noises from what appeared to be some sort of business across the street. One day my curiosity got the best of me and I walked across the street to investigate. The sign hanging above the shop said ‘Kerrville Machine Shop.’ Inside I met the owner who was polite, not unfriendly, but somewhat stiff. He spoke with a heavy accent that I was to learn was from his German roots. This was my introduction to Erich Riesel and the beginning of a 3 or 4 year experience that I have never forgotten.

At the time I met Erich I was in my early twenties, Erich was in his ancient 60’s or so I thought and at this writing I am almost 75. So I have some excuse for this narrative to be a bit rambling as I remember stuff that made such an impression on me. Erich invited me to come back and visit and I did several times. These visits resulted in his asking me to work part time for him after my shift at the aircraft plant and on Saturdays. Erich’s work consisted of all sorts of metal work, welding, machine work and pump work. However his main work was decorative iron work. To be honest I didn’t realize the scope of his artistic talents until years later. The book ‘From Forge and Anvil’ by Candace Leslie and Dianne Hopkins Hughs detail his life story and many examples of his work. When I found the book a few years ago I was astounded to find photos of some of the pieces I had worked on with Mr. Riesel.

My job with Erich was to be a helper and assist with the work by running a band saw to cut out shapes to be hammered as well as cutting material to proper length and hammering metal. The joke I make is that I was the helper when it came to cutting metal and a journeyman when it came to making hammer marks on metal and did I ever make a lot of marks! Erich had a process of marking metal so that it looked like bark on a tree. Done by hand this is quite a process and very time consuming. Among the many examples of this is the pulpit and altar at the Lutheran Church in Bandera, Texas. It is truly a work of art. My part in that project was cutting the metal to length, making marks on the metal and making some of the grape leaves on the pulpit. This work is pictured in the book ‘From Forge and Anvil’ and is a great example of Mr. Riesel s work.

Erich Riesel was a hard man, body and soul. He was certainly a product of the harsh environment of his native country’s apprenticeship system where he was sent from his home at a very young age, worked for free and was treated sternly. We spent many hours talking about his lost dreams of being an engineer in his home country and his early years of being a cowboy in Texas. He never said one word about his wonderful work at the Mo Ranch in the Hunt, Texas area. I never realized the extent of his work until I visited the Ranch in recent years. I think he was a conflicted man because he talked at times like he felt that anyone that wasn’t raised like he was in the apprenticeship environment was inferior including me and at other times was amazingly understanding. I spent many hours watching him work when I wasn’t working as his helper and many hours watching him in his small office creating drawings of work he was planning for people. I was able to see many drawings of past work that he had done. Some of his work was experimental because he occasionally did work for inventors. I think that because of his background he had a distrust of the government and was always concerned that someone might steal his ideas and profit from them. On the other hand at times his was very open, very patriotic and proud to be a citizen of his adopted country. One of my favorite moments was when during a break in our work he said he liked all the work he did but his favorite work was the Gothic work, which meant the work in the churches that he did. The work in the churches around the Kerrville area and the Chapel out at Mo-Ranch are great examples of this.

Mr. Riesel was a perfectionist in his work and demanded perfection, however I could never figure out for sure when to ask for help and when to just stumble along. My first day of actual work Erich handed me a piece of metal about ¼ inch by 6 inches by 4 feet and told me to put hammer marks on it. It was to be a footer for a fireplace or something. He put it on the anvil and hit it a couple of times and walked away. I pounded on it for about 3 hours. Not only did it look like a big metal pretzel, but I was blistered and bleeding. I will have to say at this point that I grew up on a Montana farm, had suffered the elements and knew hard work, but this was a new experience for me. He looked at me in disgust, showed how to hammer the metal so it remained straight and suggested I wear gloves. But I could see he was a bit amused. Lesson learned.

During our work on the Bandera church project one of my jobs was to cut 3/4 inch squares bars 4 foot long for the alter railing. Erich’s men’s church group was going to come to the shop to put hammer marks on the bars. Because I lived next door I could hear all the hammering that entire evening. The next day I walked into the shop and there was this three foot pile of bars on the floor. Again they looked like pretzels and these were heavy chunks of metal. Again the amused look on Erich’s face as he pointed to the pile and directed me to straighten them. It took several evenings to accomplish with a lot of sweat and anguish. Years later I was working at Boeing and had straightened a fairly large piece of metal that amazed one of my bosses. It was a piece of cake alongside what it took to straighten those bars.

Another great project that I worked on with Erich on was the brass polar bear fireplace screen he did for a retired rancher. Because of the nature of brass a lot of the pieces had to be cut with a band saw so he gave me the job of doing a lot of work on this piece. I cut out the bears that he had drawn on the metal of the mounted polar bears in this gentlemen’s house. He then hammered the fur and details on the bears and grumbled at me because I had cut away too much of the metal from the paw and claw areas. But he was able to correct for that. This is an unbelievable piece of art, one of a kind and is also pictured in the book about his life.

Earlier I referred to the work at the Bandera Lutheran Church. One of my tasks was to cut out the large grape leaves used on the pulpit and hammer the veins on them. I remember he corrected me as to how I veined some of the leaves. It was not as correct as it should be. I was pleased, however, when I visited the church just a few years ago, I was able to recognize the leaves that I had done by the small flaw that no one else would ever notice. That alter, pulpit, and railing in that church is an amazing work of art and a credit to Mr. Riesel’s talent and faith.

Some of my most memorable times working with Erich was riding around in his truck, checking on pumps he had built at some of the wells in the area, installing fireplace screens and railings or just looking at stuff around the area. On one of these little excursions we measured the steps for a railing at one of the large hotels in Kerrville and he wrote on the concrete step and explained the formulas to figure the rise and depth of the railing.

Erich could fix or make anything. He came from an era when if you wanted or needed anything you did it yourself. The modeling of that mindset is one of the tools I have found valuable in my life.

I don’t remember the shop ever being locked up. Erich owned 2 of the largest Doberman Pincher dogs I have ever seen to patrol the place at night. Those guys just stared at you. I pity the people that ever dared to enter the place uninvited.

In recent years I have been back to Kerrville a few times and showed my family some of the pieces that I worked on. I have been fortunate to meet one of the authors of the book, ‘From Forge and Anvil’, Candace Leslie, and tour the MO-Ranch facility. The ironwork there is in process of being restored. Both the Leslies and Mo-Ranch folks have been very gracious and it has been a privilege to meet them.

One the gifts Erich gave to me, of course he never knew, was an appreciation for iron work as an art. I left Texas, worked in the auto industry as a technician, instructor and an administrator for over 40 years. As I neared retirement I was searching for an avocation/hobby. I decided to build a hobby style blacksmith shop in my backyard that I have used for almost 10 years. I remembered some of the skills I learned from Erich and I use those, but I have been careful to never copy what he did. I have happily passed on some of those skills to my children and grandchildren who are enthusiastic about learning from me. So if you drove by my front yard in the Seattle Washington area you would see quite an assortment of ironwork such as blue herons, rose panels, and New Orleans style railings. The work and my time in that hot Texas shop made a lasting impression on me and made a lot of memories.

Erich Riesel was a man that was rock solid in his faith in God, love of his craft and love of his country.