Abraham Wolfgang Küfner

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Abraham Wolfgang Küfner (* 1760 in Betzenstein ; † 1817 in Ingolstadt ; also written Küffner ) was a German engraver , art dealer and publisher . The editor of the Nuremberg Artist Lexicon, Andreas Andresen, called him “the Nuremberg Chodowiecki ” because of his great artistry in copperplate engraving .

Abraham Wolfgang Küfner at the age of 31

Life

Baptism book entry for Abraham Wolfgang Küfner

Abraham Wolfgang Küfner was born on February 3, 1760 in the house of the bathhouse to Betzenstein son of the barber , surgeons and Accoucheurs (=  obstetrician born) Conrad Küfner. In 1773 the young Küfner was sent to Nuremberg to be apprenticed to a businessman.

Education

He then studied at two universities. On November 24, 1779, Küfner enrolled at the University of Altdorf . His enrollment is accompanied by the addition: "ob commendationem gratis inscriptus" (he is exempt from paying the enrollment fee by a recommendation from a sponsor). In Altdorf, he applies for the vacant position of drawing teacher. In 1780 he left Altdorf. By drawing portraits of the members of distinguished Nuremberg families, he was able to finance his own living at the age of twenty. On April 14, 1781, Küfner enrolled at the University of Erlangen . He expanded his talent in the art of drawing and began with the art of copperplate engraving. “In a short time so that he became one of the first artists in this field,” as Erlangen professor Johann Georg Meusel writes in his German artist dictionary. With this talent, he managed successfully on 23 May 1786 in the city of Nuremberg , the civil rights to acquire.

marriage

Now 26 years old, Küfner seems to have achieved success very quickly with his skills, because he was soon able to start a family. On July 29, 1786, the Nuremberg church office approved the use of the trench for his forthcoming “copulation”. On August 1, 1786, he was married to Anna Maria, daughter of the barber and surgeon Johann Carl Friedrich Aichele (Aicher), who was also Feldscher in the citizen cavalry. The marriage with Anna Maria resulted in six children. The baptisms and births of these children are entered in the registers of the Nuremberg parishes of St. Sebald and St. Lorenz .

Zeidel Muttergut Feucht

He moved his place of residence in Nuremberg to Feucht near Nuremberg on August 23, 1791 when he bought the Zeidel Muttergut in Carthäuserweiher (now called Zeidlerschloss ) . He acquired the estate, consisting of the castle and manor house, at a price of 9,000  florins (florins) with a down payment of 600 florins and a mortgage of 8,400 florins from the previous owner, Johann Philipp Strobel. The “tax riches” amounted to 32 measures of honey or 3 gulp. 3 kreuzers (krz.) And three hens of 15 krz. But on August 1, 1792, he sold the Zeidel Muttergut to Johann Christian Kunze, a lawyer in Nuremberg, for 9,600 florins and 36 Karolin, and moved back to Nuremberg.

On October 13, 1792, Küfner became a founding member of the Society of Nuremberg Artists and Art Friends. In 1796 he bought the handsome house at Obere Krämersgasse 22 in Nuremberg.

Engravings for Magic Flute

In 1793 he received a commission from Vienna for eight copper engravings for Mozart's opera The Magic Flute , which he made following the directing instructions from Emanuel Schikaneder . The copperplate engravings are contained in the original edition from 1793: "The Magic Flute - A great opera in two acts / After Schikaneder for smaller theaters, reworked without the music being at least broken off - the music is by Apollo Mozzart." 1796 acquired by AW Küfner in Nuremberg the handsome house at Obere Krämersgasse 22.

Occupation Betzenstein

During the French Revolution, on the late evening of August 25, 1796, parts of the French army defeated near Amberg advanced to Küfner's birthplace Betzenstein and marched through the city the following day, pillaging. It is said that Johann Lipfert, a citizen of Betzenstein, was called to the nursing office to prepare a meal for the French commanders, General Jourdan and Marshal Michel Ney . Meanwhile, Lipfert's house is ransacked, all his money is requisitioned and he is then severely mistreated. AW Küfner illustrates these historical events with several copper engravings.

Wrong “Dürer self-portrait” by an unknown painter

Second French occupation of the imperial city of Nuremberg

During the second occupation of Nuremberg in the French Revolution , the art commissioner François-Marie Neveu, sent from Paris , stayed in Nuremberg from the end of January to the beginning of March 1801 to confiscate art treasures to complete the Louvre in Paris, which was under construction . The French commissioner François-Marie Neveu also requisitioned a painting based on the self-portrait by Albrecht Dürer from 1500 . He does not notice that it is not the original and sends it with other pictures, manuscripts and incunabula of considerable value from the city's property to the Louvre in Paris. The original had been secretly exchanged for a Dürer reproduction by an unknown painter from the art trade by Abraham Wolfgang Küfner. This life-threatening passive resistance action against the French occupation happened in secret collaboration with the council consultant of the imperial city of Nuremberg, Dr. Georg Gustav Petz von Lichtenhof , as shown in 1805.

Offer letters to Goethe in Weimar

Küfner's art trade is extensively documented by letters to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe from December 1803 to May 1804. In these eight letters, Küfner offers paintings by other artists for sale from his art trade, such as five paintings from the property of Mr. von Brandenstein. On February 7th, 1804 there was even a Madonna and Child by Dürer and a true original by Michelangelo depicting a head of Joseph.

In that year 1804, AW Küfner went to his birthplace, Betzenstein, to buy the dilapidated windmill there. He also met the local bottle maker of the imperial city of Nuremberg and dialect poet Konrad Grübel , who was commissioned to repair the gutters of the church in Betzenstein. Grübel lives in the "Alte Post" inn in Betzenstein and rhymes several poems about his stay.

Küffner works from January 1804 as editor of the monthly newspaper Eudora . “For the amount of 9 fl. 36 kr./rhein or 5 thalers. 12 gr. Saxon. It is available monthly through all bookshops and weekly through all post offices, which therefore have to contact the local Imperial Upper Post Office newspaper expedition. ”(From Eudora) Eudora publishes literary news, but also announcements of new ones Textbooks, e.g. B. on lightning rod construction or a landscape drawing school and book advertisements and a directory of new copperplate engravings and publishing works for art and book stores. Küffner also offers his own copperplate engravings here, e.g. B. the Seyfried Schweppermann for the price of 3 florins 36 kr. or 2 Thlr. 2 ggr.

Copy of the offer letter

Sale of Dürer's self-portrait to Munich

On July 15, 1805 a letter of offer was received from Küfner and Dr. Georg Gustav Petz von Lichtenhof sent to the electoral gallery in Munich to purchase Albrecht Dürer's “Self-Portrait from 1500” for 600 guilders. The original of the offer letter is now being kept in the archive of the Bavarian State Painting Collections. General director Johann Christian von Mannlich purchases the original Dürer self-portrait. The sale was supported by the Nuremberg bookseller Johann Philipp Palm , who received the bill of 600 guilders in Munich and brought it to Nuremberg. AW Küfner immediately confirmed receipt and payment of the bill of exchange in a letter of receipt on August 12, 1805.

As a result, Albrecht Dürer's self-portrait is now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. AW Küfner was the art expert for the sale. With the sale, the “evidence” for the life-threatening exchange with a reproduction in 1801 was “removed” and the danger of punishment by the French was averted. One year later, Johann Philipp Palm was shot dead in Braunau am Inn (Austria) for the unauthorized sale of a protest against the French occupation on Napoleon's orders.

Third French occupation of the imperial city of Nuremberg

During the third French occupation of the imperial city of Nuremberg, Küfner opened a specialty shop in Nuremberg on June 9, 1806, together with a dealer named Florer , whose operating license was soon withdrawn by the council. Küfner had previously sold the windmill in Betzenstein.

death

On October 5, 1817, Küfner died of Schlagfluss in Ingolstadt . His wife Anna Maria died a few days later, on October 16, 1817 in Nuremberg at Schlotfegergasse 7/9.

Ancestors, siblings and descendants

Küfner's parents, Conrad and Barbara married in Betzenstein in 1759. He had a younger brother; so it can be found in the baptismal register of the Betzenstein parish. He was born on October 21, 1762 in Betzenstein and baptized Lorenz on the same day.

He had six children with his wife Anna Maria:

  • Wolfgang, born May 13, 1790, 〰 May 14, 1790 in the Lorenz Church in Nuremberg
  • Johann Friedrich Carl, born November 21, 1792, 〰 November 22 in the Lorenz Church
  • Margareta Ulrica, 〰 June 17, 1794 in the Lorenz Church
  • Georg Friedrich, 〰 June 30, 1795 in the Sebalduskirche in Nuremberg
  • Johann Balthasar, 〰 December 7, 1796 in the Sebalduskirche
  • Lorenz Albrecht, 〰 June 16, 1800 in the Sebalduskirche

Works (selection)

Hans Hermann Katte's execution in front of the Crown Prince's window. Copper engraving by Abraham Wolfgang Küfner.

Copper engravings

  • Hans Hermann Katte's execution in front of the window of the Crown Prince (Nuremberg), 1789
  • Sweppermann, Chevalier = Seyfried Schweppermann , (Nuremberg), 1791
  • eight copper engravings for Mozart's opera The Magic Flute (Nuremberg, Vienna) 1793
  • Despite the French in the port of Naples (Nuremberg, Royal British Calendar 1794), 1793
  • Withdrawal of the French from the Upper Palatinate Aug. 1796 , (Nuremberg), 1796
  • The imperial assaults the French avant-garde in Lauff, December 16, 1800 , (Nuremberg), 1800

Editor / publisher

  • Homilies to explain the verbal understanding of the usual Sunday and holiday gospels throughout the year (Bamberg), approx. 1803
  • Collection of the ruins and knight castles of Franconia (in six coppers, at Korn in Fürth) 1803 & 1809
  • EUDORA, a daily paper for art, culture and taste (monthly from January 1804, Nuremberg) 1804

literature

  • Apollo Mozzart, Die Zauberflöte, Paßau, by Niklas Ambrosi 1793
  • Goethe-Gesellschaft Weimar (Ed.): A notebook of Goethe from 1788. Verlag Herman Böhlaus successor, Weimar 1965, DNB 451590341 .
  • Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung , Jena and Leipzig, 1797
  • Ludwig Albrecht Schubart , Gallery of Excellent Acts, Speeches and Characters from the French Revolution (1795 to 1797)
  • Christoph Girtanner, Almanach der Revolutionscharaktere (1796), in the Mainz Landsturmalmanach to the year 1800
  • Ernst-Ludwig Posselt , paperback for the latest history. Several volumes from 1794 to 1800, Nuremberg
  • Georg Kaspar Nagler New general artist lexicon, 1835. Schwarzenberg & Schumann publishing house, Leipzig
  • Georg Kaspar Nagler, Albrecht Dürer and his art. Munich 1837
  • The number of employees at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen in its first century (1743–1843), Erlangen 1843
  • Christoph Gottlieb von Murr , description of the most distinguished peculiarities in the imperial city of Nuremberg , 1801
  • Hans-Ulrich Seifert: Tamino is beautiful for painting. Eight illustrations (Abraham Wolfgang Küfners) for the 'Magic Flute' in the 'Historical Pocket Book for Lovers of Trier History from the year 1797, in: Kurtrierisches Jahrbuch 31 (1991), pp. 158–171.
  • Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlung, description of all paintings exhibited in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, edition 1999, page 167
  • Hans Recknagel, Altnürnberger Landschaft eV, French occupations of Nuremberg 1796–1806. Lecture on March 25, 2006

Web links

Commons : Abraham Wolfgang Küfner  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nuremberg artist lexicon . Vol. XXII, page 49, 1911 at the publishing house EA Seemann in Leipzig.
  2. ↑ Baptismal register of the Betzenstein parish office from 1760, see photo on the right
  3. ↑ Georg Kolbmann: Betzensteiner historical pictures . Verlag Korn und Berg, Nuremberg 1973.
  4. ↑ Werner Wilhelm Schnabel (ed.): Athena Norica: Images and data on the history of the University of Altdorf . Ges. Für Familienforschung in Franken, Nürnberg 2012.
  5. ↑ The number of employees at the Friedrich-Alexanders University Erlangen in its first century (1743–1843) . Erlangen 1843.
  6. ^ Johann Georg Meusel: Teutsches Künstlerlexikon or directory of the German artists now living . 1778.
  7. ↑ a b c Wolfgang Wagner, Ewald Wirl: 800 years of Betzenstein . 1987, p. 70
  8. ↑ Copy from the marriage book of the parish St. Sebald in Nuremberg 1786, p. 916
  9. ↑ Dr. Wilhelm Schwemmer, Markt Feucht (ed.): "Alt Feucht". From the history of a market town in the Lorenzer Reichswald . 1977.
  10. ↑ State Archives Nuremberg, Rep. 225/1 No. 302
  11. ^ Georg Kaspar Nagler : New general artist lexicon . Schwarzenberg & Schumann publishing house, Leipzig 1835.
  12. ↑ Apollo Mozzart, Die Zauberflöte, Paßau, by Niklas Ambrosi 1793
  13. ^ Georg Kaspar Nagler New general artist lexicon, 1835. Verlag Schwarzenberg & Schumann, Leipzig
  14. ↑ Prof. Dr. Bénédicte Savoy: Art theft. Napoleon's Confiscations in Germany and the European Consequences. Böhlau 2011, ISBN 978-3-205-78427-2 ( review by Ekatarini Kepetzis ).
  15. ^ Hans Recknagel, Altnürnberger Landschaft eV: French occupations of Nuremberg 1796–1806 . Lecture on March 25, 2006.
  16. ↑ Helmut Eichler: Not stolen! Documentation 06.2015 . Munich, p. 7.
  17. ↑ Complete edition in regest form. Weimar Classic Foundation, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe archive
  18. ↑ Grübel's, all works. Eighth edition. Heerdegen = Barbeck, Nuremberg 1897.
  19. ^ "Bavarian State Library, 'Eudora'. Intelligence sheet for Eudora: a daily sheet for taste, culture and art. 1804, 1804. No. 1 - 4, Jan. 6 - 27 “  in the German Digital Library
  20. ↑ BStGS, Archiv Fach IX, lit. A, no. 1, convolute 1
  21. ↑ BStGS, archive, inventory department, "correspondence of different individuals with Mannlich or Dillis. Box: Sender with first letter "K" « 
  22. ↑ Helmut Eichler: Not stolen! Documentation 06.2015 . Munich, p. 6
  23. ↑ Johann Philipp Palm, illustration of protest writing: "Germany in its deep humiliation" 
  24. ^ "Shot on Napoleon's orders - the bookseller Johann Philipp Palm", lecture by Karl Heinz Fietta on "Day of the Franks", on Sunday, July 5th, 2015 in Erlangen.
  25. ↑ Georg Kolbmann: Betzensteiner historical pictures . Verlag Korn und Berg, Nuremberg 1973.
  26. ↑ Obituary: Ingolstädter Wochenblatt October 12, 1817: Population announcement of the parish of St.Moritz
  27. ^ Wedding book of the Betzenstein parish office
  28. ↑ Copy from the baptismal register of the parish of St. Sebald in Nuremberg 1786, p. 916
personal data
SURNAME Küfner, Abraham Wolfgang
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Küffner, Abraham Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German engraver
DATE OF BIRTH 1760
PLACE OF BIRTH Betzenstein
DATE OF DEATH 1817
Place of death Ingolstadt