Alexander Koch (publisher)

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Alexander Koch
Photo: Hugo Erfurth , 1930.

Alexander Koch (born November 9, 1860 in Cologne , † January 5, 1939 in Darmstadt ) was a German publisher and publicist. With the publication of magazines and art picture books on interior design , he promoted the arts and crafts and "living culture" in Germany.

Life

Koch was the son of the Stuttgart singing teacher Ernst Koch (1819–1894) and his wife Mathilde, born. Haberland (1828-1912). His father was appointed professor for singing at the Royal Conservatory for Music in Stuttgart in 1874 . Alexander Koch attended high school and business school in Stuttgart . He then worked at the Otto Weisert type foundry and as a volunteer at the Stuttgart printing company. This was followed by a job for a paper wholesaler in Offenbach. He met his first wife through business contacts. In 1886 he married Anna-Maria Hochstätter (1864–1911), the daughter of the Darmstadt wallpaper manufacturer Carl Hochstätter, and joined the company of his father-in-law. At the end of 1887 he founded the Alexander Koch publishing house, which started publishing the wallpaper newspaper at the beginning of 1888 . In 1890 the magazine Innen-Decoration followed , on which Henry van de Velde also worked, and in 1896 the magazine Deutsche Kunst und Decoration , which became “probably the most important art magazine in German-speaking countries”. From 1899 Koch also published the magazine Stickerei- und Spitzenzeitung , later renamed to handicrafts of all kinds . In addition, Kochs Verlag published numerous monographs and art books.

Koch initiated the artist colony on Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt with a memorandum to Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig von Hessen and continued to support it. In addition, he sponsored the technical sample collection of the state trade association, which ultimately led to the establishment of the state trade museum in Darmstadt in 1898. In the same year, Koch designed the first Darmstadt art exhibition, the “First Darmstadt Art and Applied Arts Exhibition” by the “Free Association of Darmstadt Artists” in the Darmstadt art gallery . In 1925 he had his friend, the Werkbund architect Fritz August Breuhaus, build a house in Darmstadt, the Alexander Koch house . The villa also served him for his collection of art objects. In the 1920s, Koch's villa was a “popular meeting place for Darmstadt artists”.

Because of the global economic crisis from October 1929, the publishing house got into economic difficulties, so that in 1932 he sold his publishing house to the German publishing house DVA in Stuttgart. Through his second mother-in-law, Juliane Freiin von Reitzenstein, he was related to the DVA owners, the Reitzenstein family . Alexander Koch's only son Alexander Koch junior took over the management of the publishing house in Stuttgart, while Koch senior stayed in Darmstadt and continued to oversee the publication of his magazines. Eventually, Koch was forced to auction a large part of his extensive art collection in 1935. Five years after Koch's death, the Stuttgart publishing house was destroyed in 1944. Koch's children Milly and Alexander and his son-in-law Max Fengler rebuilt the publishing house after the war as a specialist publishing house for architecture. In 1971 the publishing house was taken over by DRW-Verlag Weinbrenner .

Koch had six children from his first marriage, including the publisher Alexander (1895–1960). After the death of his first wife in 1911, Koch married Elisabeth, geb. Sichart von Sichartshoff (1886–1961). His daughter Herta Michel-Koch was married to the writer and cultural scientist Wilhelm Michel and his daughter Irma to the sculptor Well Habicht . Koch was buried in the old cemetery in Darmstadt, the family grave has been an honorary grave of the city of Darmstadt since 1992 .

Awards (selection)

Fonts (selection)

Alexander Koch
Photo: Rudolf Dührkoop , 1910.
  • Autobiography . In: Gerhard Menz (Hrsg.): The German book trade in self-portrayals . Vol. 1. Meiner, Leipzig 1925, pp. 33-70.
  • Alexander Koch's handbook of modern home decor .
    • Volume 1: bedroom . Koch, Darmstadt 1912, ( digitized from Heidelberg University Library ).
    • Volume 2: Herrenzimmer . Koch, Darmstadt 1912, ( digitized from Heidelberg University Library).
    • Volume 3: Reception and living rooms . Koch, Darmstadt 1914, ( digitized from Heidelberg University Library).
  • The noble bourgeois home . (= Alexander Koch's Handbook of Modern Housing Culture , Vol. 4.) Koch, Darmstadt 1917.
  • The new handicrafts in Germany and Austria: taking into account the German Trade Show Munich 1922 . Koch, Darmstadt 1923.

Editorships

Chapter Monograms, from: 600 Monograms and Signets , 1911.
  • Georg Fuchs , Kurt Breysig , Felix Commichau, Benno Rüttenauer : Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig and the exhibition of the artist colony in Darmstadt from May to October 1901. A document of German art - Darmstadt 1901 . Koch, Darmstadt 1901, ( digitized from Heidelberg University Library).
  • Georg Fuchs, Francis Henry Newbery: 1st International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art in Turin 1902 . ( Koch's monographs , 8.) Koch, Darmstadt / Leipzig 1902, ( digitized from Internet Archive ).
  • Hessian State Exhibition Darmstadt 1908: 23 May to the end of October . Koch, Darmstadt 1909, ( digital copy from Heidelberg University Library).
  • 600 monograms and signets. A collection of 600 different, in some cases award-winning, ornamental monograms, initials, and signets on 30 panels based on designs by the first artists . Koch, Darmstadt 1911, ( digitized from the Bauhaus University Weimar ).
  • German Werkkunst: Works by German and Austrian artists at the Werkbund exhibition in Cologne, Germany . Koch, Darmstadt [u. a.] 1916.
  • The beautiful home: guide for the design and furnishing of the apartment . With an introduction by Kuno Graf von Hardenberg . Koch, Darmstadt 1920.
  • 1000 ideas for the artistic design of the apartment . Koch, Darmstadt 1926, ( digitized from Paderborn University Library ).
  • The house of an art lover: House Alexander Koch Darmstadt . Koch Darmstadt 1926, 152 p., 159 ills., ( 2 illustrations ).

literature

  • Wilhelm Michel : Alexander Koch. A commemorative sheet for his 25th anniversary as a professional and publisher on December 27, 1912 . In: German Art and Decoration , Vol. 31, October 1912 - March 1913, p. 284, ( digital copy from Heidelberg University Library).
  • Alexander Koch † . In: Innen-Dekor , Vol. 50, 1939, pp. 37-38, ( digital copy from Heidelberg University Library).
  • Hermann Kleinstück : The Darmstadt Art Association around 1900 pioneered the Mathildenhöhe . In: Bernd Krimmel (Ed.), A Document of German Art 1901–1976 . Vol. 3. Academy, Secession, Avantgarde around 1900. [Exhibition catalog from Mathildenhöhe , Hessisches Landesmuseum , Kunsthalle Darmstadt .] Roether, Darmstadt 1977, ISBN 3-7929-0008-8 , p. 9 ff.
  • Max Fengler:  Koch, Alexander. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-428-00193-1 , p. 256 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Sigrid Randa: Alexander Koch: Publicist and publisher in Darmstadt. Reforms of art and life around 1900. (= manuscripts on art history in the Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft , 28.) Dissertation from the University of Heidelberg , 1987. Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 1990, ISBN 3-88462-927-1 .
  • Christoph Otterbeck: “Gatherer of all decorative values” - the Alexander Koch Collection in Darmstadt . In: Expressionism in the Rhine-Main area . Imhof, Petersberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86568-160-7 , pp. 278-287. (Exhibition catalog, 2011, Museum Giersch ; conference publication.)
  • Alfred Rehm: "An institution of lasting value and great ideal and material usefulness." Artist colony, Art Nouveau and city marketing. About the modernity of the grand ducal economic development in Darmstadt around 1900. In: Archive for Hessian history and antiquity , NF 71, ISSN  0066-636X , 2013, pp. 157-184, evidence.
  • Alexander Koch (1860-1939) . In: Darmstadt Graves of Honor. Biographies and Reviews. (= Darmstädter Schriften , 105.) Justus von Liebig Verlag, Darmstadt 2016, ISBN 978-3-87390-372-2 , pp. 113–115.

Web links

Commons : Alexander Koch (publisher)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tilo Richter: Alexander Koch and his architect Fritz August Breuhaus. In: AIT  / trichter.de , 2010, (PDF; 281 kB).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Kerstin Schumacher: Darmstadt graves of honor: Alexander Koch. In: Darmstädter Echo , March 19, 2019.
  3. ^ Digital font archive: Otto Weisert type foundry. In: Klingspor Museum , November 20, 2019, (PDF; 75 kB), in: Digital Archive of the Type Foundries , accessed on May 17, 2020.
  4. ↑ Maria Effinger: German art and decoration: illustrated monthly books for modern painting, sculpture, architecture, home art and artistic work by women (1897-1932) - digital. In: Heidelberg University Library , February 27, 2019.
  5. ↑ a b c d e Max Fengler:  Koch, Alexander. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-428-00193-1 , p. 256 f. ( Digitized version ).
  6. ^ A b c Eckhart G. Franz : Koch, Alexander. Publisher. In: Stadtlexikon Darmstadt , 2015.
  7. ^ Fritz August Breuhaus : The house of an art lover. In: Innen-Decoration , 1926, vol. 37, pp. 19-25, with many illustrations, (digitized).
  8. ↑ a b Auction of the Alexander Koch Collection, Darmstadt, Annastrasse 25: November 19, 21, 1935 ; Dr. Fritz Nagel , Nagel Auctions , Mannheim, 1935, ( digitized version ).
  9. ↑ Graves of honor: Alexander Koch (1860 - 1939) 4 Mauer 89–90. In: Stadt Darmstadt , accessed on May 17, 2020, with a photo of the family grave and a reclining marble statue.
personal data
SURNAME Koch, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publisher and publicist
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 1939
Place of death Darmstadt