God’s folly is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25)
Sieger Köder was born on January 3, 1925, in Wasseralfingen, Germany, where he also completed his high school studies.
During the Second World War, Sieger Köder was sent to France as a front line soldier; there he was made a prisoner of war in 1944-45. Once freed, Köder studied engraving and silversmithing. He attended the Academy School of Art in Stuttgart until 1951, and then studied English philology at the University of Tübigen as part of his qualification as a teacher.
After 12 years of teaching art and working as an artist, Köder undertook theological studies for the priesthood and in 1971 he was ordained a Catholic priest. From 1975 to 1995, Fr. Köder was a parish priest in Hohenberg and in Rosenberg. He then retired (at age 70) in Ellwangen, not far from Stuttgart, where he died in February 2015 just after his 90th birthday.
The years of Köder’s parish ministry are among the most prolific with inspiring works of art. Fr. Köder finds synergy in being a minister and an artist. He uses his paintings as Jesus used his parables. He ‘reveals’ the depth of the Christian message through metaphors and by shedding light and color on human history. His art is heavily charged with the experience the Nazi period and the time of the Holocaust.
Köder’s paintings are also rich with theological insight. He shows a certain reserve in representing the figure of Jesus, who most of the time is outside the scene—in the position of the viewer—to convey the idea that Jesus is alive today in the person of the viewer.