Adolf Rosenthal

The bronze lions created by Adolf Rosenthal in front of the steps of the University of Hanover

Adolf Rosenthal (born April 28, 1838 in Osnabrück ; died September 23, 1866 there ) was a German sculptor .

Life

Adolf Rosenthal was born at the time of the Kingdom of Hanover as the son of the Osnabrück teacher Carl Rosenthal . At Easter 1863 he left the tertia of the real train of the Osnabrück Ratsgymnasium and initially apprenticed to his uncle Aegidius Rosenthal (1808–1875) or Egidius Rosenthal as an engraver .

With the support of the city as well as with the help of the Hanoverian king, Rosenthal then studied sculpture in Berlin with Daniel Christian Rauch . As early as 1856 he successfully participated in an exhibition at the Berlin Academy .

Rosenthal's special talent was animal sculpting. His greatest achievement is the bronze lions in front of the entrance stairs of the Welfenschloss in Hanover, which he created on behalf of King George V based on living models in the Berlin Zoo .

Numerous works by Rosenthal, such as small sculptures and relief portraits, in particular from Osnabrück personalities of his time, are now in private ownership and in the Osnabrück Cultural History Museum .

Works

Bronze lions

"Do you want to work?"

Hanover

Originally, sculptures of a lion and a unicorn were to be created for the Welfenschloss , as was shown, for example, in the royal Hanover coat of arms above the entrance to the neighboring Marstall at the Welfenschloss . However, after the decision was made for two lions, the two male bronze lions that are now on the outside staircase of the University of Hanover were commissioned in 1861 and cast by the court bronze foundry Bernstorff & Eichwede in 1862 . Initially, they were to be set up next to the staircase of honor in the inner courtyard of the Welfenschloss and only later flanked the entrance to the university after the building originally planned as a castle was converted for the technical university .

The company Bernstorff and Eichwede presented one of the lions at the World Exhibition in London in 1862 and won a medal with it . In addition, the "Official Report on the Industrial and Art Exhibition in London in 1862" noted: "This casting was to be called excellent in every respect".

After the German War in 1866 and the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover by Prussia , the lions were to be exhibited again on a larger scale, at the World Exhibition in Vienna in 1873 . On the advice of the Oberpräsident , however, this was not done, "because it was feared that the former King of Hanover, George V , might claim ownership of these objects on the occasion of the public exhibition".

"You're not working!"

The different facial expressions of the two lions provoked arguments. For example, the former university graduate and later industrialist Johannes Körting reported how the professor of mechanics, Wilhelm Keck , explained the different facial expressions of the two lions to his students: The menacing, sinister-looking lion would say "Do you want to work!" the more comfortable and somewhat renunciation-looking Leo would reply “We don't work!”.

In 1935 the Hannoversche Kurier put the same story, but with a different nuance , into the mouth of the professor of mechanical engineering, Wilhelm Riehn : “One lion, gentlemen, looks at you threateningly: Do you want to work! The other looks resigned: You are not working! "

As early as 1899, the lions were ripe for restoration , as they were also very popular with children: "Here the gold-shining metal on the flanks and thighs came to light through almost uninterrupted climbing by children, sliding and fondling." But it was not until the beginning of 2002 that the lions were restored in a special workshop in Holzminden and then put back in front of the university in July of the same year.

Munich

In 1880, the lion figures in Hanover were cast in bronze by the Hanoverian cast and rolling mill . In 1889 the models were reused for the Bavarian state monument on the battlefield of Wörth ; they also served as templates for the marble lions in front of the Feldherrnhalle in Munich . Rosenthal's plaster models stood in the vestibule of Osnabrück Castle for a long time . In 1931 they were allegedly destroyed by falling scaffolding. In the Osnabrücker Zeitung of February 3, 1931, however, the suspicion was expressed that it was not scaffolding but vandalism that was responsible for the destruction of the lion figures.

Other works

• In 1865 Rosenthal created a relief portrait of Bernhard Rudolf Abeken .

literature

• Ilsetraut Lindemann : About the sculptor Adolf Rosenthal (1838–1866) and the creation of the models for the lion sculptures in front of the old Welfenschloß in Hanover , in: Osnabrücker Mitteilungen , Volume 91 (1986), pp. 247–261
• Rita Seidel: Pictures, Figures, Monuments / The Welfenschloss , in: Sid Auffarth , Wolfgang Pietsch (Ed.): The University of Hanover / Your Buildings / Your Gardens / Your Planning History , Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2003, ISBN 3-935590-90 -3 , p. 105ff .; here: p. 107ff.

Web links

Commons : Adolf Rosenthal  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ o. V .: Rosenthal, Adolf in the database of Niedersächsische Personen ( new entry required ) of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library - Lower Saxony State Library [undated], last accessed on July 18, 2020
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Ilsetraut Lindemann : Rosenthal, Adolf , in: Biographisches Handbuch zur Geschichte der Osnabrück , p. 247
3. ↑ Communications from the Society for History and Regional Studies of Osnabrück , double volume 36-37, JG Kisling, 1912, p. 310; limited preview in Google Book search
4. ↑ ^{a b} Rita Seidel: Pictures, Figures ... (see literature)
5. ↑ see Eduard Heldberg Marstall at the Welfenschloss Königlich-Hannoversches coat of arms with lion and unicorn, including year 1865 and clock.jpg # Description, source of this photo:
6. ↑ Helmut Knocke , Hugo Thielen : Welfengarten 1 , in: Hannover Art and Culture Lexicon , / Handbook and City Guide , 4th updated and expanded edition, zu Klampen, Springe 2007, ISBN 978-3-934920-53-8 , p 216f.
7. ↑ see this photo
8. ^ Wolfgang Volz: Herrenhausen: the royal gardens in Hanover , p. 268; on-line:
9. ↑ Official report on d. Industrial and Art Exhibition in London i. J. 1862 , Berlin 1864; Maike Buß: Uni-Löwen as EXPOnat , in: Universität Hannover intern , Issue 1, 2000, p. 8; Rita Seidel: pictures, figures ... (see literature)
10. ↑ Maike Buß: Uni-Löwen as EXPOnat , in: Universität Hannover intern , Issue 1, 2000; Rita Seidel: pictures, figures ... (see literature)
11. ↑ Johannes Körting: Memories from the student days at the Polytechnic School Hanover , Hanover 1931, p. 17; Rita Seidel: pictures, figures ... (see literature)
12. ^ Stories about monuments , supplement to Hannoversche Kurier No. 127 of March 16, 1935; Rita Seidel: pictures, figures ... (see literature)
13. ↑ Note: Notwithstanding this, this quote in Hanover / Art and Culture Lexicon ... (see literature) is again ascribed to Professor Wilhelm Keck .
14. ^ University archive Hanover , files concerning the Sachsenross in front of the Technical University, 1899 to 1922; Rita Seidel: pictures, figures ... (see literature)
15. ^ The lions wake up again , in: [[Neue Presse (Hannover) |]] number 21 of July 5, 2002; Rita Seidel: pictures, figures ... (see literature)
16. ↑ Inge Jaehner: Random use and decay. The loss of importance of the castle since 1802 , in: Frank Joachim Verspohl (Ed.): Das Osnabrücker Schloss. Stadtresidenz, Villa, administrative seat (in the series Osnabrücker Kulturdenkmäler , Vol. 5), Bramsche 1991, pp. 279–300; here: p. 296; on the website of the Associazione Culturale Chronos a Roma / Kulturverein Chronos Comments (No. 53) online:  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
17. ↑ http://ora-web.swkk.de/archiv_online/gsa.Person_Info?id=42953