1896 Otto Niemeyer was born on May 11th in Kiel as the fifth child of the internationally known professor of public international law Prof. Dr. Dr.h.c. Theodor Niemeyer and his wife Johanna.
1902-1914 elementary school; secondary school
1905 The parents give the sailboat Lütter, to their children, which Otto Niemeyer will take to the waters of the island of Usedom and to Lüttenort (the place of the Lütten) in the early 1930s.
1914-1916 War volunteer; trained to be a hussar in Schleswig. Wounded at the front; stays in military hospitals; convalescence in Switzerland; begins to draw and paint intensively.
1917 On the advice of the writer Werner von der Schulenburg, he adds the designation of his geographical origin to his family name and henceforth calls himself Otto Niemeyer-Holstein.
1918 Meets Alexej von Jawlensky and Marianne Werfkin in Ascona, who become important influences on him
1919 First participation in an exhibition for the first time (artists of Ascona in Kunstsalon Wolfsberg, Zürich). Painting courses with Arthur Segal in Ascona, later in Berlin.
1920 Marriage to Hertha Langwara. Several months at the art academy in Kassel (Prof. Curt Witte).
1921 Birth of first son Peter.
1922 First own exhibition in the gallery Commeter in Hamburg.
1923 Meets Paul Klee and Lyonel Feininger.
1924 founding member of the artist group ‘Der Große Bär’ in Ascona.
1925 Divorce. Relocation to Berlin, trip to France and courses at the Académie Ranson, Paris.
1927 Marriage to Dr. Anneliese Schmidt.
1929 First comprehensive solo exhibition at the “Berliner Kunststube” gallery.
1930 Meets Otto Manigk and Hubert Wegehaupt, and they become artistically stimulating partners and friends.
1931/32 He is repeatedly on Usedom. The landscape of the coast becomes a central artistic theme.
1933 purchase of a wasteland between Koserow and Zempin: Lüttenort. They live in a retired railway wagon of the Berlin S-Bahn, which was later extended with individual buildings. Establishment of a southern painting garden.
1933-1945 He withdrew to Usedom. No more solo exhibitions. Some paintings entered public ownership, subjected to Nazi verdicts.
1935 Purchase of the sailing boat ‘Orion’; until 1939 cruise to Scandinavia.
1937 Birth of son Günter.
1940 The north-west part of the island was closely guarded as it was used as a guided missile testing area; Establishment of a military checkpoint at the smallest part of the island. Preparation of a hiding space in Lüttenort for the Jewish mother-in-law.
1941 The President of the Reichs Chamber of Fine Arts seeks information from the secret state police about ONH and his wife.
1943/44 compulsory service; forced employment with the Reichsbahn, Death of the son Peter as a naval long-range reconnaissance airman over the Skagerrak.
1945 The swift occupation of the island of Usedom by Soviet troops prevents the blasting of the isthmus and the flooding of the estate.
1946 Number of solo exhibitions increases and more frequent participation of Otto Niemeyer-Holstein in major exhibitions.
1953 The artist finds himself caught in the crossfire of the art dispute in the GDR. The jury for the 3rd German Art Exhibition in Dresden rejects all paintings submitted by Niemeyer-Holstein.
1954 Exhibition of the complete works at the Kunsthalle Mannheim. In the following years, exhibitions both in Germany and abroad.
1960 Voyage to China by boat, numerous oil paintings and studies
1961 Exhibition at the National Gallery in Berlin; greeting from Erich Heckel.
1963 Purchase of the diesel cutter ‘Mot-Orion’. Elected President of the International Baltic Sea Biennale in Rostock.
1964 Awarded the title of a Professor.
1965 Painting trip to Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara.
1968 Refusal to issue an official statement in support of the suppression of the Prague Spring. Paintings from the complete works exhibited in Santiago de Chile.
1969 Corresponding member of the Academy of Arts. Paintings from the complete works at the Kunstsalon Wolfsberg, Zurich.
1970 Continued surveillance by the State Security Service of the GDR.
1971 Heart attack
1972 Exhibition at the Museo Comunale in Ascona.
1974 National Prize for Art (II. Class); purchase of the windmill in Benz. Exhibition in the Galerie Neue Meister, Albertinum, Dresden
1975 Honorary President of the Ostsee Biennale. Exhibition in Uppsala
1976 Works of six decades presented in the Nationalgalerie Berlin. Movie: signiert unten links: ONH. (signed at the bottom left)
1981 Exhibition from the complete works in the Kunsthalle Rostock
1982 Movie: und der Strand ist meine große Geliebte (and the beach is my great lover)
1984 Otto Niemeyer-Holstein dies on February 20th in Lüttenort. Burial at the cemetary in Benz on Usedom. Death of Annelise Niemeyer on October 5th.
1985 Lüttenort becomes a museum and meeting place (legacy)
1991 Lüttenort becomes cultural responsibility of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Exhibition from the complete works at Husum Castle.
1995-1997 In honour of his 100th birthday, exhibitions from his complete works were held in Rostock, Kiel, Stade, Greifswald, Potsdam, Dresden and Berlin, among others.
1999/2000 New gallery building in Lüttenort. The building, built in close proximity to the painter's studio, gives visitors an overview of Otto Niemeyer-Holstein's artistic work with changing exhibitions.
