Olbers monument in Bremen
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The monument to Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers , the important Bremen physician and astronomer, was created by the sculptor Carl Steinhäuser in Rome in 1848. It was erected in the Bremen ramparts in 1850 . The property has been a listed building since 1973.
Representations
The statue shows the celebrated person dressed in a robe that combines elements of the ancient toga and the bourgeois skirt. This combination expresses a compromise, the decades ago, among other things, between Goethe and Schadow waged " costume dispute " about the question of whether contemporary or antique clothing is more appropriate for a monumental representation, as still not over. Olbers holds a telescope in his right hand: he was known as a popular doctor in Bremen, but famous beyond his homeland for his astronomical discoveries and scientific work.
Four reliefs cover the base . On the front, the astronomer in antique clothing observes the stars, accompanied and inspired by a winged genius who gives the telescope the promising direction. Pallas Athene and Vesta , ancient goddesses, after whom the two asteroids discovered by Olbers (2) Pallas and (4) Vesta were named, appear on the two narrow sides . The relief on the reverse shows the scholar as a doctor at the bedside. Steinhäuser had designed the front relief as early as 1844, the plaster design, with a slightly different motif from the marble version, is exhibited in the Focke Museum . The style of the young sculptor, trained in classical antiquity, also determines the way in which the three other reliefs conceived later are depicted.
Inscriptions
Base inscription: HMW Olbers geb. 11.Octb. 1758 died March 2, 1840
Signature: C. Steinhäuser f. [Ecit] Roma 1848
History of origin
Olbers († 1840), the most important Bremen scholar of his time, had already been honored many times during his lifetime, for example the Bremen Senate had his bust, created by the most famous German sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch at the time, in the city library. In 1844, the citizens of Bremen wanted a public, more representative monument and founded an association to raise private funds for a statue, and a future installation site in the ramparts , which were redesigned as a park from 1802 , has already been inaugurated. The execution was awarded to the Bremen sculptor Carl Steinhäuser, a student of Rauch and Thorwaldsen , who was staying in Rome on a Senate scholarship. The Carrara marble statue was completed in 1848 and ceremonially erected in 1850.
A grating around the monument that was removed in 1934 was renewed in 2011.
meaning
It was the first figurative monument to be erected outdoors in Bremen. In addition to Mayor Johann Smidt (his monument is now in the New Town Hall ), Olbers was the only Bremen resident to receive such an honor here in the 19th century, a monument-friendly place.
While monuments before the 19th century were primarily intended to serve the glory of the rulers, statues did not emerge in the parks and on the squares of German townships until after around 1820; mostly by artists, poets, reformers or scholars, who were brought closer to the citizens as national or local role models and who contributed to the formation of the community's identity. On the virtue scale of the 19th century, science and education had a high priority.
Individual evidence
- ^ Monument database of the LfD
- ↑ today in the custody of the Kunsthalle Bremen
- ↑ Press release Umweltbetrieb Bremen from June 6, 2011 ( press release )
literature
- Beate Mielsch: Monuments, open sculptures, fountains in Bremen 1800–1945. Bremen 1980, p. 14 f.
- Martina Rudloff: The Bremen Wilhelm Olbers bust by Christian Daniel Rauch 1832. Bremen 1984, p. 10 ff., 16 (costume dispute), 33, 38 (plaster model), note 42.
- Herbert Schwarzwälder : The Olbers Monument. Planning, development, installation 1844-1850 . in: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Volume 80 [2001], p. 126.
- Herbert Albrecht: Bremen buildings and monuments , pp. 128–132.
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 4 ′ 27.5 ″ N , 8 ° 48 ′ 48.7 ″ E