Heinrich Weizsäcker

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Heinrich Weizsäcker (born October 18, 1862 in Munich ; † January 14, 1945 ) was a German art historian and director of the Städelsche Kunstinstitut from 1891 to 1904 .

Life

Heinrich Weizsäcker belonged to the Weizsäcker family in Württemberg. Heinrich Weizsäcker's father was the historian Julius Weizsäcker ; his cousin was Karl Hugo von Weizsäcker , later Prime Minister of Württemberg

At the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and the Academy of Arts in Berlin , he completed his training as a painter , although he was unable to practice this profession due to an eye disease. Therefore Heinrich Weizsäcker studied in Berlin and Göttingen also art history and in 1885 a doctorate .

Sisley: Banks of the Seine in autumn

He then worked as a research assistant in the department for paintings and renaissance collections of the Berlin museums headed by Wilhelm von Bode . Weizsäcker achieved recognition from his superior, and later he and von Bode had a trusting relationship. Wilhelm von Bode also promoted Weizsäcker's career by recommending him for the post of director of the Städelsche Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt am Main . Heinrich Weizsäcker received this post in 1891, initially together with Heinrich Pallmann , who was responsible for the library and the copperplate cabinet , until 1895 . He was perceived with mixed feelings in Frankfurt because Bode's influence on museum politics was criticized. Weizsäcker himself came into conflict with the bourgeois administration of the Städel. Acquisitions of pictures by Max Liebermann and Wilhelm Leibl , which he supported, were not approved. In 1899 he founded the Städel Museum Association with Leopold Sonnemann , the publisher of the Frankfurter Zeitung . In the same year, the Frankfurt art patron Viktor Mössinger presented the Museum Alfred Sisley's painting Seine-Ufer from 1879, the first picture by a French impressionist in the collection of the Städelsche Kunstinstitut. Weizsäcker left the museum in 1904. Ludwig Justi was his successor as director .

In 1904 Weizsäcker moved to the Technical University of Stuttgart , where he took up a professorship at the art history institute. In the period that followed, he continued to publish primarily on art in Frankfurt am Main, including the first scientific inventory catalog of the collection of the Städelsche Kunstinstitut. He also wrote the monograph Adam Elsheimer . The painter from Frankfurt in two volumes in 1936 and 1952. He also devoted himself to contemporary art in Stuttgart, for example with the work Stuttgart Contemporary Art from 1913. Well-known art historians such as Julius Baum and Hans Hildebrandt completed their habilitation under Heinrich Weizsäcker. From 1915 to 1919 he was also head of the Stuttgart painting collection . In 1923/24 he was rector of the TH Stuttgart.

Publications (selection)

  • The Frankfurt art life in the 19th century (= art and artists in Frankfurt a. M. in the nineteenth century, vol. 1). Frankfurt 1907
  • Adam Elsheimer. The painter from Frankfurt . 2 volumes, 1936 and 1952.

literature

  • E. Fiechter: Heinrich Weizsäcker on his 70th birthday . In: Württemberg. Monthly in the service of people and homeland 1932, pp. 451–453.
  • Andreas Hansert: History of the Städelschen Museum Association Frankfurt am Main. Published by the board of the Städelschen Museums-Verein. Umschau-Buchverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 3-524-67070-9 , pp. 15-18.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Weizsäcker, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian and museum director
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1945