Ernst Friedrich August Rietschel

Ernst Rietschel (* December 15 1804 in Pulsnitz, † February 21, 1861 in Dresden, full name Ernst Friedrich August Rietschel ) was one of Germany's most important sculptors of the late classicism. The sculptures created by him, such as the Goethe - Schiller Monument in Weimar or the Lessing monument in Braunschweig, have the image of Germany as a land of poets and thinkers had a decisive influence.

Life and work

Ernst Rietschel was born the third child of Frederick Beutler honor God Rietschel and his wife Caroline in Pulsnitz ( Saxony). After first drawing lessons and broken business apprenticeship in his hometown, he began in 1820 to study at the Royal Saxon Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden. In the following years, he had his first minor successes and awards with drawings; one was on the young artist, who studied at the studio from 1823 with Franz Pettrich, attentive. There was his first eigenstängige work, a figure of the sea god Neptune for the market fountain in Nordhausen on behalf of the Counts Einsiedel 's ironworks Lauchhammer.

The Graf von Einsiedel mediated Rietschel 1826, the relocation in 1826 Berlin in the studio of Christian Daniel Rauch. Already in 1827 he won a Romstipendium, but which he initially deferring to work on various projects listed in Rauch's studio. In 1828 he took part in the groundbreaking ceremony of Dürer in Nuremberg still image as the representative of his workshop. On his return journey he visited the aging Goethe in Weimar. A second visit together with smoke followed in 1829. In August 1830 Rietschel took his trip to Italy. There a year he received on the job for a memorial of the late Saxon King Friedrich August in Dresden.

In 1832 he married Albertine Trautscholdt, with whom he was engaged for a year. In the same year - not even 28 years old - he was appointed professor of sculpture at the Dresden Art Academy. In 1833 his first daughter Adelheid was born. Only three weeks old was his second daughter Johanna: You died in April 1835; in July of the same year his wife died Albertine. Nevertheless, his creative work remained unabated.

In cooperation with many leading architects, among others, Gottfried Semper, he was responsible for the sculptural decorations of many buildings, especially in Dresden. Beginning of 1836 he was appointed a full member of the Berlin Academy of the Arts, only weeks later, an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

In the following years he received many important commissions, where he worked for years in some cases.

Through the creation of works such as the Lessing monument in Braunschweig ( 1854) ( and many other ) Rietschel was known beyond the borders of the German also as the most important monument artist of his time.

In November 1836 he married his second wife Charlotte Carus, a daughter of Carl Gustav Carus, who gave birth to son Wolfgang on August 28, 1837. In May 1838, he suffered a further blow: His second wife died. As even after the death of his first wife he modeled her portrait bust.

On May 2, 1841, he married Marie hand. On 10 May of the following year his second son, Christian Georg was born, the 1845, the daughter Margarethe Charlotte followed. Margaret should be a year old. In 1847, the son of Hermann Immanuel was born. Maria Hand died after six years of marriage, a few months after the birth of her son Hermann on July 18, 1847. On April 30, 1851 Ernst Rietschel married one last time. His fourth wife, Frederike Oppermann, survived him by almost 40 years. In the winter months 1851/52 Rietschel traveled to Italy and Sicily, to cure his lung ailment. On July 4, 1853 his fourth wife Friederike brought again to a daughter who was named Gertrud Charlotte Marie.

In 1855 he participated in the Paris art exhibition with a Lessing statue. In the same year he was awarded the Grand Medal of Honour and made ​​a Knight of the French Legion of Honour. In 1856 the Stockholm Academy named him an honorary member.

In 1857 he again visited his master Christian Daniel Rauch in Berlin. In the same year, on September 4, his Goethe and Schiller monument was unveiled in Weimar.

In the year 1858/1859 Rietschel was awarded the contract for the Reformation monument in Worms. One of his most important works is just there, the Luther monument. He was made an honorary member of academies and other institutions ( Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Rome, Antwerp). In addition, he was taken on May 31, 1858 in the Prussian Order Pour le Merite for Arts and Science. Finally, his longtime lung disease he succumbed on 21 February 1861. Three days later he was buried in the Trinity Cemetery in Dresden.

Rietschel's birthplace in Pulsnitz

Goethe and Schiller Monument in Weimar, unveiled on September 4, 1857

Grave Rietschel on the Trinity Cemetery in Dresden

Discount

Much of the extensive estate Rietschel was presented 1869-1889 at the Palais in the big garden in the former Rietschel Museum. Since 1889 he is in possession of the Sculpture Collection of Dresden Albertinum on Brühl's Terrace and is also exhibited there in part. Parts of the personal estate located in the offspring (drawings, sketches, diaries and letters in the archive Rietschel, Remscheid ).

His memories from my life was his great-grandson, the writer and graphic artist Christian Rietschel, in 1963, re-issued.

Progeny

The descendants of Ernst Rietschel are very numerous today. In particular, the two sons of the third marriage of Ernst Rietschel with Mary hand, Georg Rietschel and Hermann Rietschel, witnessed numerous descendants (including, inter alia, Christian Rietschel, Hans Rietschel and Wigand of Salmuth ). Today, the descendants of Ernst Rietschel meet at irregular intervals to the limitation period of birth and death days of the artist, reminiscent of the life and work of the ancestors.

Works (selection)

• Neptune figure on a fountain in Nordhausen (1828 ). A reproduction cast from 1838 stands in front of behind the castle Klein-Glienicke, Berlin.
• King Frederick Augustus monument in Dresden (1828-1835), since 2008 on the Schlossplatz
• Pediment at the Berlin Opera House Unter den Linden (1844 )
• Pietà in the Kaiser Friedrich Mausoleum in Potsdam 1847-1854
• Lessing monument in Braunschweig (1849 ), prepared by Prof. Georg Howaldt in Braunschweig
• Goethe and Schiller monument in Weimar ( 1856)
• Quadriga with Brunonia for the castle in Braunschweig (1857 ), prepared by Prof. Georg Ferdinand Howaldt in Braunschweig
• Carl -Maria -von -Weber monument in Dresden ( 1858)
• Gellert Monument in Hainichen (1865; executed by Friedrich Wilhelm swivel )
• Luther Memorial (the largest Reformation monument in the world ) in Worms (1868 inaugurated )
• Rietschel gable, spoils of the first Dresden Semperoper in Bautzen

• Next he has created, among other sculptures for the Leipzig university buildings, for the Semperoper in Dresden and for the opera house in Berlin.

Illustrations and Writings (selection )

• In: Alphabet for children big and small / drawn by Dresdner artists. With stories and songs by R. Reinic and Sing ways of Ferdinand Hiller. - Leipzig: Wigand, 1845 - Digitized edition of the University and State Library Dusseldorf.

• Ernst Rietschel, Christian Rietschel (ed.): memories from my life. 2nd edition. Evang. ET - Anst. , Berlin 1963.

Honors

• Monument in Dresden (before Sekundogenitur on Brühl 's Terrace ) by Johannes Schilling.
• Monument on the Pulsnitzer marketplace, designed and implemented by one of his students.
• 1853: Honorary Citizen of the City of Brunswick.
• 1855: Large Medal of Honor.
• 1855: Knight of the French Legion of Honour.
• 1856: Honorary Member of the Stockholm Academy.
• 1858: Inclusion in the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts.
• Honorary member of academies and other institutions ( Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Rome, Antwerp)
• After Ernst Rietschel in 1991 discovered asteroid ( 20016 ) Rietschel was named.
• The Pfefferküchlerei E. C. Groschky from Pulsnitz, which was founded by a brother Ernst Rietschel, bakes and sells a named after Ernst Rietschel gingerbread specialty, the so-called Rietschel cake. The seat of the Pfefferküchlerei located in the Rietschel Straße 15 in Pulsnitz, whose foundation building, Rietschel House ( the birthplace of Ernst Rietschel ), is opposite.

Ernst Rietschel Art Prize

The Ernst Rietschel art prize is awarded by Ernst Rietschel Kulturring eV has been awarded since 1991. The prize is awarded every two to three years to outstanding sculptors. Previous winners were: