Although Boermel was born in
Königsberg, East Prussia, he spent his youth in Berlin. He began his artistic training in 1874, under at the
Prussian Academy of Arts, continuing with
Albert Wolff and
Fritz Schaper. From 1878 to 1879, he attended the Master Class of
Reinhold Begas on a state scholarship. Later that year he married, obtained a position in the studios of
Otto Lessing and remained there for ten years, exhibiting regularly at the Academy. In 1889, he opened his own studio and soon attracted many large commissions.
Siegesallee In 1896, he was awarded a contract for the monumental
Siegesallee (Victory Avenue) project being organized by Kaiser
Wilhelm II. This honor was not achieved easily, however, as slanderous letters were directed against him, hateful
anti-semitic comments were made about his wife, and a scandal soon developed. The Kaiser directed Reinhold Begas (who was overseeing the selection process) to make sure the proceedings were kept secret. Eventually, Boermel won approval upon the recommendation of
August zu Eulenburg, the Minister of the Royal Houses. He produced Group 14, consisting of
Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg as the center statue, flanked by , the
Landeshauptmann of
Mittelmark, and Bernd Ryke, who served several terms as Mayor of Berlin in the late Fourteenth and early Fifteenth Centuries. The figures were dedicated on 6 May 1900. Critical reception was devastating, with one commentator labelling them some of the worst on the entire avenue. More thoughtful voices pinpointed the problem as a misguided effort to render smaller designs (typical of his previous work) on a grandiose scale. Little is known for certain about the last twenty years of his life, except that he continued to work from his personal studio in
Grünewald. There is much disagreement over whether or not he ever attained the title of "Professor", although he is listed under that title in the official Berlin address book of 1932, the year he died in that city. Some sources indicate that the Kaiser awarded him the
Order of the Crown, fourth class, in place of a professorship, others say that he became a Professor in 1904. == Other selected major projects ==