Monument to the tenderness of the spouse and love of the people
The Monument of the spouses tenderness and love of the people was an obelisk which to celebrate the recovery of the Württemberg Duke Frederick Eugene of a dangerous disease in 1796 in Stuttgart was built. However, Friedrich Eugen died in December of the following year.
history
After the long reign of Carl Eugen , which ended with his death in October 1793, he was first followed by his brother Ludwig Eugen , who, however, also died in May 1795. Then the third brother, the 62-year-old Friedrich Eugen, took over the government. On the night of June 18, 1795, a " flux-like attack " threatened the life of this sovereign, which caused general consternation. When he showed himself to the people again on June 24th, the crowd in the courtyard spontaneously sang a song of thanks. Moved by this scene, the Duchess Sophia Dorothea is said to have decided "to immortalize such a rare occurrence, at the sight of which God's angels lingered pleasingly, with a suitable monument."
Was commissioned Philipp Jakob Scheffauer , who at that time by the resolution of the High Karlsschule his position and income already had lost as a professor and together with his wife Caroline and several children suffered from food worries. Scheffauer received four inscriptions under the heading “June 22, 1795.”, which the princess herself had put on. They read:
- God heard mother and children.
- His loyal Wirtemberger implored him.
- Grateful to his people.
- He finds his happiness in good doing.
Scheffauer then created four bas-reliefs , each 4 Schuh (i.e. about 120 centimeters) high and 3 Schuh 5 inches wide, which were intended to illustrate these four inscriptions. The first showed the Duchess with her family, surrounded by three grandchildren, sitting across from the Hereditary Prince Friedrich , whose expression supposedly testified "that he made it his happiest duty to make the affairs of government easier for his recovered father". Contrary to what actually happened, Scheffauer also depicted the Empress of Russia in this bas-relief, who could actually only share pain and joy with the family from a distance. The duchess was shown with a raised hand and grateful hope.
On the second bas-relief, country children of all ages could be seen praying, above whom the sky was opening and the answer was to be illustrated by breaking light. The third showed the people greeting the recovered prince. The fourth bas-relief depicts the serving of food, symbolized by grain stacks, and money to the people. At the request of the Princely House, Scheffauer depicted the figures dressed in ancient robes.
God heard mother and children.
His loyal Wirtemberger implored him.
Grateful to his people.
He finds his happiness in good doing.
These bas-reliefs were originally intended to be made of marble, but were only made of plaster. They were attached to a cuboid stone that rested on a pedestal over two steps. On the cube, which was "5 shoes high and 4 shoes wide, there was a 4 inch high plate, which with 3 shoes and 8 inches wide did not cover the whole block, and on this plate a 20 shoe high obelisk rose". On the four sides of this obelisk, the inscriptions for the individual reliefs were affixed in gold letters, and each side also bore the duke's name. The monument was on a grassy rise on the grading set up; an overall representation of the view from the Oberamt was drawn and etched by Jakob Gauermann .
The foundation stone was laid on June 21, 1796 in the presence of the Duke and Princes Wilhelm and Heinrich. A copper plate explaining the reason for the erection of the monument, a bottle of wine and fruit were lowered into the floor. Councilor Johann Gottlieb Schott (1751–1813), professor of history at the Hohen Karlsschule and senior librarian at the public library , gave a speech. A good year later, in December 1797, Carl Lang had a letter of homage printed in the Industrie-Comptoir in Heilbronn , in which both the memorial and its history were described.
This font was adorned with a cover picture by Thouret , engraved by Heinrich Guttenberg , Gauermann's general view of the monument and illustrations for the individual bas-reliefs after drawings by Gauermann that had been engraved by various engravers: Bitthäuser created the engraving for the first relief, Guttenberg the second, Thankful to his people , it was worked out by Christian Wilhelm Ketterlinus and the fourth engraving is from Keßler's hand. The text read, among other things: “More beautiful, nobler, more sublime than all those majestic ruins of proud antiquity - is the modest monument that in our day is the tenderest love affair of an adored princess, full of warm thanksgiving for the most unbelievable, loudest expressions of the most reverential love of subjects - To honor the contemporaries, the posterity had an instructive example [...] Every coming generation must look at it with deepest delight, and after centuries every soulful stranger will visit the modest obelisk with heartfelt pleasure [...] "
This prediction should not come true. Friedrich Eugen's son and successor, Friedrich I , had the monument removed. It was first moved to Schlossplatz in 1807 and destroyed ten years later when this square was redesigned.
A second monument, which was created on the same occasion as Scheffauer's obelisk, proved to be more permanent: In 1795, a 20-year-old monument design by Adam Bauer was reworked in the Ludwigsburg porcelain factory and redesigned into an approximately 30 centimeter high classicistically decorated porcelain column on which the Profile of the Duke could be seen. This colorful table monument was decorated with antique draped female figures who adorned the column with garlands, and floating genii. It has been preserved and is now in the Ludwigsburg Ceramic Museum .
literature
- Carl Lang: Monument of the tenderness of the spouse and the love of the people erected for the most resplendent Duke Friedrich Eugen, Duke of Würtemberg, who has recovered. Heilbronn (Industrie-Comptoir) 1797 ( online ).
Individual evidence
- ^ Carl Lang: Monument of the spouse tenderness and love of the people. P. 10.
- ^ Carl Lang: Monument of the spouse tenderness and love of the people. P. 11.
- ↑ a b c Wintterlin: Scheffauer, Philipp Jacob von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 30, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, pp. 672-676.
- ^ Carl Lang: Monument of the spouse tenderness and love of the people. P. 11.
- ^ Carl Lang: Monument of the spouse tenderness and love of the people. P. 11.
- ^ Carl Lang: Monument of the spouse tenderness and love of the people. P. 12.
- ↑ A few months after the publication of this work, Lang received a golden snuffbox with a portrait of the emperor as a token of approval. See the intelligence paper of the Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung from 1798 . November 14, 1798, number 165, col. 1364 (online) .
- ↑ Virtual Kupferstichkabinett ( Memento from June 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The names of the engravers are given on the right below the engravings.
- ^ Carl Lang: Monument of the spouse tenderness and love of the people. P. 3.
- ↑ Sabine Hesse: As a thank you for the recovery: A porcelain column. In: Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung from June 19, 2008.
Coordinates: 48 ° 46 ′ 37.6 " N , 9 ° 10 ′ 50.6" E
