Albrecht Krieger

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Albrecht Krieger (born March 30, 1663 in Nuremberg , † November 11, 1726 in Leipzig ) was a German medalist and die cutter at the Leipzig mint .

Seal and signature of Albrecht Krieger, 1717 ("Albrecht Krieger. Königl. Pohln. And Churfürstl. S. obligated Münz Eisenschneider.")

Life

Albrecht Krieger was born in Nuremberg in 1663 and baptized in the Protestant St. Lorenz Church there. His father Johann Krieger (* 1621) was a carpet maker and yarn dyer. His marriage to Rosina, a born master builder, had at least eleven children. Two of the Albrechts brothers are the important musicians Johann Philipp Krieger , who mainly worked in Weißenfels , and Johann Krieger , who was mainly active in Zittau . After completing school and apprenticeship, Albrecht Krieger must have stayed in Weißenfels around 1689, where his brother Johann Philipp worked as Kapellmeister . The first medals from the artist's hand can be traced back to the death of the local Duke Christian von Sachsen-Weißenfels in that year . Possible training trips could have led warriors to Augsburg to the outstanding baroque medalist and coin engraver Philipp Heinrich Müller and to Stockholm to the equally outstanding medal artist Arvid Karlsteen . In the mid-1690s, Krieger worked at the Dresden mint under the medalist and stamp cutter Martin Heinrich Omeis , who was also from Nuremberg . Around 1697, Krieger settled in Leipzig, where he lived from 1706 at the latest in the “Zum Birnbaum” inn on Hainstrasse , which was managed by the Saxon tax officer, Johann Friedrich Roth. Most of the medal works of art that can be attributed to him were created in this city, which turned out to be the final place of activity. At the same time he was appointed as a die cutter at the local mint between 1707 and 1714. Under the responsibility of mint master Ernst Peter Hecht, the artist was responsible for engraving the mint stamps. From around 1709 to 1717 he trained the medalist Anton Schultz, who later worked mainly in Russia . In 1726 Krieger died unmarried and childless in Leipzig at the age of 63.

Front of a medal by Albrecht Krieger for the Imperial Vicariate of Augustus the Strong from 1711, silver , approx. 55 g, Ø 49.5 mm
Corresponding back

Create

With 234 medals awarded to the artist so far, Krieger has presented an above-average extensive oeuvre. In this regard, the focus is on issuing occasions that are linked to his sovereign Augustus the Strong , but also to the dukes of Saxony-Weißenfels . Coronations , weddings , birthdays , deaths and similar events that affect the life cycle of the sovereigns and their families play a central role. Furthermore, numerous miscelain medals can be traced back to warriors, i.e. works that are often religious or moral. The stamp production required for this was usually done on the initiative of Krieger, in the hope of finding buyers willing to buy the works of art based on them. But commissioned work , mainly for the House of Sachsen-Weißenfels, also plays a role in the work of the Leipzig master.

Some of the motifs used by Krieger are undoubtedly based on templates. The main focus was on the imitation of various prints, ancient coins and works by other, often contemporary, medal artists.

Krieger produced all of his works of art using the embossing process . For this he was able to fall back on a screw press that had been set up in the Leipzig Mint and which he was allowed to use until the end of his life despite the cessation of the minting business in 1714. For the marketing of the stamps produced there, the foreman mainly used updated sales lists. In addition, numerous medal accompanying notes were created which - comparable to the lists - provide information on the occasion, content and price of the respective showpiece.

In contrast to the vast majority of the medalists active in his creative period, Krieger's oeuvre is characterized, among other things, by the fact that he largely dispensed with a signature . So far, however, it has hardly been possible to clarify his motives. However, 30 percent of his medal works, and thus almost every third coinage, have small five-leaf rosettes . The artist may have used this as a signet . It is not known why he did not always use these symbols.

In addition to the important medalist Heinrich Paul Großkurt , who mainly worked in Dresden , and Christian Wermuth , who worked in Gotha and whose work is characterized by extraordinary productivity, Krieger can be considered one of the most important representatives of baroque medal art in Central Germany in the first quarter of the 18th century.

literature

  • Paul Arnold: The medals of the Leipzig medalist and die cutter Albrecht Krieger on the allies in the Northern War and the recovery of the Polish crown by August the Strong. In: Numismatic Society of Berlin (ed.): Instruction and entertainment in the field of coinage [...], Berlin 1993, pp. 159–170.
  • Theodor Distel: Albrecht Krieger's Reformation medals from 1717. In: Erbstein, Julius / Erbstein, Albert (Ed.): Blätter für Münzfreunde, No. 152, 24th year, Leipzig 1888, pp. 1430–1432.
  • Hermann Maué: Medal plans by Cardinal Damian Hugo von Schönborn from 1716. Designs by Albrecht Krieger, Johann Friedrich Roth and Christian Wermuth. In: Germanisches Nationalmuseum (Ed.): Anzeiger des Germanisches Nationalmuseums, Berlin / Nürnberg 1989, pp. 243–258.
  • Mirko Schöder: The baroque medalist Albrecht Krieger - approach to a remarkable artist who is active in Leipzig. In: Numismatischer Verein zu Dresden e. V. and Münzkabinett Dresden (ed.): Dresden Numismatic Booklet, No. 9, Festschrift 80th birthday of Prof. Dr. Paul Arnold, Dresden 2016, pp. 93-103.
  • Mirko Schöder: The medalist and die cutter Albrecht Krieger. Baroque medal art in Leipzig. ed. from the Society for Thuringian Coin and Medal Studies e. V., Neustadt an der Orla 2019, ISBN 978-3-9809196-0-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Mirko Schöder: The medalist and die cutter Albrecht Krieger. Medal art of the baroque in Leipzig , ed. from the Society for Thuringian Coin and Medal Studies e. V., Neustadt an der Orla 2019, p. 27.
  2. ↑ See ibid., P. 32f.
  3. ↑ See Hermann Maué: Medal plans of Cardinal Damian Hugo von Schönborn from 1716. Designs by Albrecht Krieger, Johann Friedrich Roth and Christian Wermuth , In: Germanisches Nationalmuseum (ed.): Anzeiger des Germanisches Nationalmuseums, Berlin / Nürnberg 1989, p 244.
  4. ↑ See note 1, p. 35ff.
  5. ↑ See ibid., P. 41.
  6. ↑ Cf. Theodor Distel: Albrecht Kriegers Reformationsmedaille von 1717 , In: Erbstein, Julius / Erbstein, Albert (Ed.): Blätter für Münzfreunde. No. 152, Volume 24, Leipzig 1888, Col. 1430.
  7. ↑ See note 1, p. 537.
  8. ↑ See ibid., P. 535.
  9. ↑ See ibid., P. 535.
  10. ↑ See ibid., P. 536.
  11. ↑ See ibid., P. 193 and p. 196.
  12. ↑ See ibid., P. 538.
personal data
SURNAME Warrior, Albrecht
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German medalist and die cutter
DATE OF BIRTH March 30, 1663
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1726
Place of death Leipzig