Reinhard Dietrich was born in
Breslau less than a year before the increasingly challenged
"Weimar" regime was replaced by the
Nazi government. By the time he was born 13
frontiers had moved and Breslau was rapidly becoming Wrocław,
ethnically and
politically part of
Poland. Between 1946 and 1950 Dietrich lived in
Wittenberg within the
Soviet occupation zone of Germany, where he undertook an apprenticeship in the art of wood carving. This was followed by a period of study at the Wood carving Academy in
Empfertshausen (1950–1952), and two or three years of further study at the College of Applied Arts at
Leipzig (1952–1954). At Leipzig he was taught by and
Alfred Thiele. After this he moved on to the
Dresden Academy of Fine Arts where he was taught by
Hans Steger and
Walter Arnold. Between 1958 and 1964 Dietrich worked as a freelance artist based in
Dresden, teaming up at one point in a shared workshop with
Wieland Förster. In 1964 he relocated to the north coast, living at
Kneese (Bad Sülze), a short distance outside
Rostock on its eastern side. He stayed in the Rostock area for nearly four decades, and it was here that he had his most productive years. Several of his works can be found on public display in and around Rostock. Some of the work from his Rostock years was produced in collaboration with
Jo Jastram (1928–2011). With his wife, Magda, he returned to live in
Dresden in 2003, where he died in 2015. == Output (not a complete list) ==