Ernst from Weerth

Ernst aus'm Weerth (born April 11, 1829 in Bonn , full name Carl Ernst aus'm Weerth , † September 23, 1909 ibid) was a German historian and archaeologist .

family

His parents were the textile industrialist and later banker Peter Friedrich from Weerth (1779-1852) , who came from Barmen , and his wife Anna Constantine from Weerth, née Schneider († 1832). His niece, daughter of brother Jakob Friedrich from Weerth (1811–1897), who emigrated to the United States in 1856, was the writer and translator Maria from Weerth .

At the beginning of the 1820s the family acquired the Burbacher Hof of the former Cistercian convent Mariabrunn in Kessenich near Bonn as a "summer resort" and in 1832 the former Marienforst convent in Godesberg .

Five of his older brothers were employed within the family business.

Life

In the family environment, Ernst aus'm Weerth got to know Ernst Moritz Arndt (his later best man), the married couple Gottfried and Johanna Kinkel , Karl Simrock , Carl Schurz , Adele Schopenhauer and Crown Prince Wilhelm .

After attending the higher secondary and trade school in Elberfeld , which he left as a primary school student in 1849, he began studying in October 1849. Among other things, he heard from Gottfried Kinkel at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Bonn . Kinkel and his family remained on friendly terms from Weerth beyond this time.

After his studies, which he finished in Berlin in January 1853, he accompanied Peter Cornelius as secretary on his trip to Italy in 1853/54, with a stay at the Palazzo Zuccari in Rome , after returning with his dissertation "Studies on the History of the Lower Rhine" on 15 August 1854 to receive his doctorate at the University of Jena .

As a landowner, Ernst aus'm Weerth married Emma Hermine, née Bullerdieck (born September 29, 1835) in Poppelsdorf on August 17, 1855 , with whom he had two children: Paul, born in 1856, and Constanze Charlotte, born on March 1, 1858 in Poppelsdorf.

His entry into the Society of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland in 1856 was followed by the position of secretary from 1859 to 1870.

Scientific activity and response

His work includes the excavation of the baths of the Roman villa near Allenz (near Mayen ) and the participation in the publication of "Rheinlande" in the two-volume "Histoire de Jules César" Napoleon III. which appeared in 1862.

In connection with the writing of his main work "Art Monuments of the Christian Middle Ages in the Rhineland" in 1857, he had obtained a promise in Berlin from 1854 that museums and other public institutions would buy his work. He was one of the first to systematically visit and describe archaeological sites and monuments in the Rhineland. After the publication of the third volume, aus'm Weerth was awarded the title of professor by Minister of Culture Moritz August von Bethmann-Hollweg in 1860 as recognition.

During his membership in the Association of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland , he gained additional members, and from 1863 onwards, together with a specialist colleague, recorded the collection and also published it in the Bonn yearbooks .

His activity as a member of the "Royal Commission for the Conservation and Research of Art Monuments" since 1864 was followed by acceptance into the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine and participation in the implementation of the "International Congress for Archeology and History" in 1868.

Subsequently active as Vice President and from 1875 to 1886 as President, the Provincial Museum in Bonn was founded in 1874 with the participation of Hermann Schaaffhausen , the first director of which was from Weerth from July 1, 1876 to 1883.

The foundation had been preceded by numerous annual memoranda since 1869, which was followed by the construction of the museum in March 1874 through the resolution of the Rhenish Provincial Parliament .

Abuse scandal

At the end of 1882, Aus'm Weerth assaulted a 17-year-old boy. When this became public in early 1883, he withdrew to a cure because of "irritable nerve weakness". The public prosecutor's office in Bonn started a case of “unnatural fornication and immoral acts”. Aus'm Weerth resigned from his position in March and was dismissed at the end of March. In June 1883, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to prison, which was commuted to a fine. Socially and scientifically, his reputation was ruined.

Honors

Ernst aus'm Weerth received the Red Eagle Order of the fourth class in 1866, the Red Eagle Order of the Third Class with the Ribbon in 1869 , the Wasa Order in 1872, the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Gold Medal of Merit 1st Class in 1872, and the Royal Prussian Crown Order of Third Class in 1880 and the Officer's Cross to the Star of Romania .

Publications (selection)

• Moritz Arndt's bust by Afinger. In: Kölnische Zeitung No. 175 of June 26, 1855.
• Art monuments of the Christian Middle Ages in the Rhineland. 7 volumes, Leipzig 1857–1880.
  • Dept. 2, Vol. 4–5: Wall paintings of the Christian Middle Ages in the Rhineland . Leipzig 1880 ( digitized ).
• The victory cross of the Byzantine emperors Constantinus VII Porphyrogenitus and Romanus II and the shepherd's crook of the Apostle Peter. Two art monuments of Byzantine and German work of the 10th century in the cathedral church of Limburg an d. Lahn. Bonn 1866.
• The falsification of the Nenniger inscriptions. 1870.
• The grave find from Wald-Algesheim. Bonn 1870.
• Negotiations of the international congress for antiquity and history in Bonn in September 1868. 1871.
• The mosaic floor in Sankt Gereon zu Cöln, along with the related mosaic floors in Italy. Edited by Ernst Aus'mWeerth. Restored and drawn by Toni Avenarius . Bonn 1873.
• The ivory reliefs on the pulpit in the cathedral in Aachen . In: Die Wartburg 12, 1885, 111–117. 161-172.
• The von Zwierlein art collection in Geisenheim . In: Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 11, 1888, pp. 262–273.
• The wall paintings in the Chapel of the Teutonic Order in Ramersdorf , Bonn 1901.
• Kinkel in the prison in Spandau. In: Deutsche Revue November 1908, pp. 171–190.
• Bonn memories of youth. In: Bonner Zeitung of March 18, 20, 24 and April 3, 1910.

literature

• Obituary in: Kunstchronik. Weekly for arts and crafts NF 20, 1909, 363–364 digitized .
• Gabriele John: 150 years association of friends of antiquity in the Rhineland. Cologne / Bonn 1991.
• Josef Niesen : Bonn Personal Lexicon. 3rd, improved and enlarged edition. Bouvier, Bonn 2011, ISBN 978-3-416-03352-7 , p. 30.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Genealogical information , accessed on September 30, 2013.
2. ↑ Horst Heidermann : The Wuppertal villas and apartments - search for traces on the Rhine . 2011, online PDF , p. 21.
3. ↑ Real- und Gewerbschule zu Elberfeld p. 69 - online , accessed on September 30, 2013.
4. ↑ Monica Klaus: Johanna Kinkel. Romance and revolution. Register of persons - digitized .
5. ^ Paul Kaufmann: Johann Martin Niederée. A Rhenish artist picture . Heitz, Strasbourg 1908, pp. 44, 51, 52 ( OpenLibrary full text ).
6. ↑ Biographical information , accessed on September 30, 2013
7. ↑ Miscellaneous p. 39 (43) ff. Association of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland Documents from 1820 to 2008 in the archive of the Rhineland Regional Council; Status: May 2009 ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 226 kB), accessed on September 30, 2013 

Web links

• Literature by and about Ernst aus'm Weerth in the catalog of the German National Library
• Portal Rhenish History: Ernst aus'm Weerth