Adolph Gottlieb Friedrich

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Caspar David Friedrich: Adolph Gottlieb Friedrich, around 1798
Caspar David Friedrich: Adolph Gottlieb Friedrich, 1802

Adolph Gottlieb Friedrich , also Adolf Gottlieb Friedrich (born September 30, 1730 in Neubrandenburg , † November 6, 1809 in Greifswald ) was a German candle maker and soap maker . He was the father of the painter Caspar David Friedrich .

Life

Adolph Gottlieb was the third child of the tailor Gottfried Friedrich (Friderich) († 1748) in Neubrandenburg and his wife Christina, b. Worms. He learned the profession of light pourer and soap boiler in his hometown, but the trade did not give him an adequate existence there. The economic conditions for this professional group had deteriorated in the middle of the 18th century. The "Land constitutional inheritance comparison" of 1753 forbade the practice of some handicrafts in the countryside in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , whereupon the craftsmen pushed into the cities and the guild rules for the sale of goods were relaxed.

It was not until the age of 33 that Adolph Gottlieb decided to leave the city for Swedish Pomerania . There were no producers of soap and tallow candles in Greifswald. Ludwig von Hess’s factory in Greifswald had been closed for years. In 1763 Friedrich founded a light foundry workshop in Greifswald. In 1765 he bought the house at Lange Gasse 28 (today Lange Straße 57) and set up workshops there. Before that, the light founder brought Sophie Dorothea (* May 1, 1747 - March 7, 1781), the daughter of the Neubrandenburg young blacksmith Konrad Friedrich Bechly, from Neubrandenburg to Greifswald, who was eighteen years his junior. Both married on January 14th, 1765. On October 14th, 1763 Friedrich acquired the citizenship in the second class as "manufacturer and wholesaler in soap and light".

Friedrich built up his business against resistance. "Because of the bad smell and other inconveniences," the pastors of the nearby St. Nikolai Cathedral raised objections to the establishment of the workshops. The grocer's guild sued him for selling candles in quantities under two pounds, which was considered a privilege of the grocer. Nevertheless, in 1766 he got the approval to run a soap factory in addition to the light drawing and to sell candles in all batches. Adolph Gottlieb was finally able to assert himself with his trade.

In 1808 Adolph Gottlieb, suffering from illness, handed over his business to his son Johann Christian, to whom he left a prosperous business.

In her memoirs, his granddaughter Lotte Sponholz reports on the character of Adolph Gottlieb and the circumstances in the family. He is said to have a strict and godly upbringing for his children.

“Strict legality and a certain noble pride were probably the main features of his character. He carried on his trade with great diligence, but tried to give his children the best possible education. "

- Lotte Sponholz

After Adolph Gottlieb's wife died in 1781, the housekeeper, Mother Heiden, took care of the household and the children. The children received an adequate education. Caspar David showed an artistic talent and received instruction in drawing from the university drawing teacher Johann Gottfried Quistorp in preparation for studying at the Copenhagen Academy (1794–1798).

At the end of his life, Adolph Gottlieb had made a substantial fortune by his standards. A year before his death, the sons fought over the inheritance that the seriously cancerous father would leave behind. The occasion was a considerable loan that he gave through his son-in-law August Sponholz to his lord of the manor, Chamberlain Adolf von Engel from Breesen , whose repayment was in question. Caspar David defended his father and Sponholz against the allegations of his brothers.

children

  1. Catharina Dorothea (* July 19, 1766 - December 22, 1808), from December 1791 married to (August Jacob) Friedrich Sponholz (1762–1819), pastor in Breesen near Penzlin.
  2. Maria (Dorothea) (* April 5, 1768 - † May 27, 1791 with typhus), married to Joachim Praefke (* 1773), a merchant in Greifswald.
  3. (Johann Christian) Adolf (born March 10, 1770; † June 23, 1838), first a merchant in Neubrandenburg, then soap boiler in Greifswald, married since 1801 to Margarethe (Friederika Magdalene) Brückner (1772-1820), daughter of the pastor and writer Ernst Theodor Johann Brückner from Great Many.
  4. Johann David (March 27, 1772 - April 18, 1772)
  5. Johann Samuel (* May 18, 1773; † August 25, 1844), master of the blacksmiths and arms smiths in Neubrandenburg, married to Wilhelmina Stoy (* 1783) from Neubrandenburg since 1801
  6. Caspar David (born September 5, 1774; † May 7, 1840), painter in Dresden, married to Caroline Bommer (1793–1847)since 1818.
  7. Johann Christoffer (born October 8, 1775 - † December 8, 1787) drowned while saving his brother Caspar David from drowning.
  8. (Johann) Heinrich (born January 19, 1777; † February 28, 1844), light pourer and soap boiler in Greifswald, married to Erdmute Amalie Henriette Hube (1791–1814) since 1809.
  9. Christian (Joachim) (born February 22, 1779 - † May 8, 1843), cabinet maker and carpenter-altermann in Greifswald, married to Elisabeth Westphal (1795–1866) since 1813.
  10. Barbara Elisabeth Johanna (born June 7, 1780 - † February 18, 1782 at the Blattern).

Pictures of the family (by Caspar David)

  • Caspar David Friedrich: Mother Heiden, around 1798

  • Caspar David Friedrich: Christian Friedrich, around 1798

  • Caspar David Friedrich: Self-Portrait, 1803

  • Caspar David Friedrich: Catharina Dorothea Sponholz, around 1798

  • Caspar David Friedrich: Pastor Friedrich Sponholz, 1806

  • Caspar David Friedrich: Lotte Sponholz, 1806

Pictures of the family (by Finelius )

  • Christian Friedrich, before 1820

  • Johann Heinrich Friedrich, before 1820

Family legend

According to an unproven family legend, the Friedrich family descends from a Silesian count dynasty. For example, the granddaughter of Adolph Gottlieb Friedrich's granddaughter, Charlotte (Lotte) Sponholz (* 1795), tells in her memoirs that a count with the first name Friedrich, because of his Protestant faith, with Karl XII. went to Sweden from Silesia. Since he belonged to the defeated party in the unrest after the Northern War , he and his son had to flee Sweden by ship. He is said to have thrown his count's diploma into the water with the words: "The Swedish Count NN is buried in the sea, but Friedrich lives and will live on in you". This son is said to have been the father of Adolph Gottlieb Friedrich, who was born between 1690 and 1700. Even William of Kügelgen leads "an old man's memories of youth," the legend of the (alleged) lineage Frederick of a Silesian Counts in his.

Such family legends, which always reflect on roots in a higher birth class, are widespread and in the vast majority of cases lack any real basis. Caspar David Friedrich's parents and grandparents were civic births and were often socialized in Neubrandenburg in lower and middle working class and craft circles. The Bechly family also belonged to this social level in the 18th century, and the family legend believes they know something of Huguenot roots.

One can assume that the relatives of Caspar David Friedrich was embarrassed by his descent from a craftsman class and that such a legend was invented. In Adolph Gottlieb's hometown, in Neubrandenburg, "soap boiler" was a dirty word for a particularly cultured person.

Historical show workshop

Show workshop in the Caspar David Friedrich Center

In 2011, the Caspar David Friedrich Society set up a demonstration workshop and a sales room in the historic Friedrichschen soap factory (today Caspar-David-Friedrich-Zentrum). There, visitors get an insight into the old craft of making candles and soaps. Workshops are also offered. Display boards provide information about the life of Adolph Gottlieb Friedrich and the history of handicrafts in Greifswald.

Web links

literature

  • Helmut Börsch-Supan , Karl Wilhelm Jähnig: Caspar David Friedrich. Paintings, prints and pictorial drawings . Prestel Verlag, Munich 1973. ISBN 3-7913-0053-9
  • Detlef Stapf: Caspar David Friedrich's hidden landscapes. The Neubrandenburg contexts . Greifswald 2014, network-based P-Book
  • Kurt Wilhelm-Kästner among others: Caspar David Friedrich and his home . Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1940, p. 31 ff.
  • Hermann Zschoche: Caspar David Friedrichs Rügen. A search for clues . Verlag der Kunst Dresden, Husum 2007, ISBN 978-3-86530-086-7

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Detlef Stapf: Caspar David Friedrichs hidden landscapes. The Neubrandenburg contexts . Greifswald 2014, p. 7, network-based P-Book
  2. ^ Annalize Wagner: From the old Neubrandenburg . Strelitzer Geschichte (n) series No. 18, Verlag Lenover, Neustrelitz 1998, p. 47
  3. ^ Helmut Börsch-Supan, Karl Wilhelm Jähnig: Caspar David Friedrich. Paintings, prints and pictorial drawings . Prestel Verlag, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-7913-0053-9 (catalog raisonné), p. 211
  4. ^ Hermann Zschoche: Caspar David Friedrich. The letters . ConferencePoint Verlag, Hamburg 2006, p. 46 f.
  5. ^ Helmut Börsch-Supan, Karl Wilhelm Jähnig: Caspar David Friedrich. Paintings, prints and pictorial drawings . Prestel Verlag, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-7913-0053-9 (catalog raisonné), p. 211
  6. ↑ Wilhelm von Kügelgen: Memories of the youth of an old man . Leipzig 1954, p. 79.
  7. ^ Wilhelm Ahlers : Historical-topographical sketches from the prehistory of the Vorderstadt Neubrandenburg. Publishing house by Carl Brünslow, Neubrandenburg 1876, p. 50
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich, Adolph Gottlieb
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Friedrich, Adolf Gottlieb
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German light pourer and soap boiler
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1730
PLACE OF BIRTH Neubrandenburg
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1809
Place of death Greifswald