Anna Stainer-Knittel

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Self-portrait, 1857

Anna Stainer-Knittel (born July 28, 1841 in Elbigenalp im Lechtal ( Tyrol ), † February 28, 1915 in Wattens , Tyrol) was a portrait and flower painter. Her life served as the basis for the local novel Die Geier-Wally by Wilhelmine von Hillern and can be seen as an early example of female emancipation .

biography

Self-portrait in traditional Lechtal costume, 1869
Advertisement for Anna Stainer-Knittel's “Drawing and Painting School for Women” in the Innsbrucker Tagblatt dated September 29, 1874

Anna Knittel was the daughter of the gunsmith Joseph Anton Knittel. Her uncle Josef Alois Knittel (1814–1875) was a sculptor , her great-uncle Joseph Anton Koch a painter . Her great-great-nephew Toni Knittel (* 1963) is the founder of the band Bluatschink .

In 1859 she began her studies at the Art Academy in Munich ; In 1864 she had to cancel it due to lack of funds and returned to the Lech Valley. During this time, the portraits of her parents, numerous landscape views and the "Self-portrait in Lechtal costume", which was purchased by the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum , were created. During a stay in Innsbruck, the 23-year-old Anna Knittel received further orders for portraits and was thus able to finance her living. In 1867 she got to know the Innsbruck plaster sculptor Engelbert Stainer; the two married on September 29, 1867 against the will of Knittel's parents and lived, both working, in Innsbruck. The first son Karl was born in 1868 (later active as a community doctor in Wattens and an active farmer's association ; † June 1949), the second son Leo in 1870 and daughter Rosa in 1871. There are numerous portraits of the painter of her children. In 1873 Anna Stainer-Knittel opened a “drawing and painting school for women” in Innsbruck, which she directed into old age. Some of the works created there were also exhibited in the Ferdinandeum . Her students included Maria Tilipaul-Kistler, Adelheid Paukert and Wilhelmine Redlich.

Fame as "Geierwally"

At the age of 17, Knittel agreed to hang an eagle's nest in a rock face near the Zammer hamlet of Madau, a practice that was common in the 19th century to prevent eagles from attacking the village's sheep. After a just barely prevented accident the year before, there was no more volunteer, and so Anna Knittel let herself abseil into the eagle's nest. The scene, dramatically processed in Heimatfilms, shows how she can only defend herself against the attacking full-grown eagle with hardship, which in this form probably does not correspond to the truth. According to his own records, Knittel packed the eagle cub in her rucksack, wrote the year on a slab of rock and with the help of those waiting above climbed the rock face again.

Cover picture for Das Annele im Adlerhorst in Wolf's Illustrirter Rundschau
The family's death notice in the Innsbrucker Tagblatt dated March 2, 1915

This event was processed by Ludwig Steub in 1863 into the story Das Annele im Adlerhorst , which was later published in Wolf's Illustrirter Rundschau . However, the novel "Die Geyer-Wally" by Wilhelmine von Hillern, published in 1875, became much better known . The author got to know Anna and her husband Engelbert Stainer in Innsbruck, had the anecdote described to her and created a dramatic homeland novel from it, which, in accordance with the conventions of the time, tells the story in the style of “ taming the stubborn ”. This is how the term “Geierwally” came about, because in order to emphasize the hero role, von Hillern quickly renamed the protagonist “Walburga”. The novels and films published focus primarily on the stubborn nature of Anna Knittel, who was considered very emancipated, and deal with her ambivalent relationship with her father, Joseph Knittel. What is less well known, however, is that Anna Knittel's artistic talent, which was recognized at an early age, was encouraged by her parents through private lessons with the Elbigenalp-based artist Johann Anton Falger .

reception

“Behind one of the shop windows of Karl Czichna'schen Kunsthandlung, two portraits, painted by Anna Stainer-Knittel, are on display, which are constantly attracting new viewers. The unanimous verdict on these two - the Landesforstdirektor i. PA Sauter and his oil paintings depicting paintings are: that they are among the best that can be seen in this field. "

- Article in the Innsbrucker Tagblatt from November 15, 1870

“In the shop window of the art dealer of KA Czichna at Burgraben there is from today on for a few days the well-taken portrait of Professor Dr. Tobias R. v. Wildauer , member of the Reichsrath and Landtag, issued. The picture is painted by the well-known Mrs. Anna Stainer-Knittel in the happy conception inherent in this capable portrait painter with great care and accuracy. "

- Article in the Innsbrucker Tagblatt dated February 7, 1879

“Yesterday, after a short sick bed in Wattens, the alpine flower painter Mrs. Anna widow Stainer-Knittel succumbed to an old heart condition with her son in Wattens. With her death we lose a down-to-earth artist who worked hard until her last days; Her numerous works, scattered all over the world, glorify the most beautiful charms of our native mountains. With unmatched mastery, she conjured up her lovely alpine flowers on the canvas. Just a few years ago, the countless admirers of their art enjoyed a small exhibition of their works that were still here in the Ferdinandeum's round hall. - The mortal shell is transferred to Wilten by the 'piety', laid out there in the morgue and on Wednesday [3. March 1915] buried in the family grave. "

- Obituary in the Allgemeine Tiroler Anzeiger from March 1, 1915

literature

Web links

Commons : Anna Stainer-Knittel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Announcements in Innsbruck. In:  Innsbrucker Nachrichten , October 1, 1867, p. 6 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / ibn
  2. ↑ Memories of a progressive farmer bundler. In:  Tiroler Bauern-Zeitung / Tiroler Bauern-Zeitung. Official organ of the Tyrolean farmers' association and the regional chamber of farmers for Tyrol / Tiroler Bauern-Zeitung. Federal organ of the Tiroler Bauernbund / Tiroler Bauern-Zeitung, which has over 20,000 / 30,000 / 35,000 members. Official organ of the Landesbauernkammer Tirol / Tiroler Bauern-Zeitung. Official organ of the Tyrolean Chamber of Agriculture , June 30, 1949, p. 8 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / tbz
  3. ↑ Stainer-Knittels drawing school. In:  Innsbrucker Nachrichten , October 4, 1873, p. 4 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / ibn
  4. ↑ Ludwig Steub : Das Annele im Adlerhorst in: Kleinere Schriften , Volume 3, Cotta, Stuttgart 1874, p. 116 f. ( Digitized version )
  5. ↑ Portraits. In:  Innsbrucker Tagblatt , November 15, 1870, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / ibt
  6. ↑ In the shop window. In:  Innsbrucker Nachrichten , February 7, 1879, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / ibn
  7. ↑ Painter Anna Stainer-Knittel †. In:  Allgemeine Tiroler Anzeiger , March 1, 1915, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / maintenance / tan
personal data
SURNAME Stainer-Knittel, Anna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Geierwally
SHORT DESCRIPTION Tyrolean portrait and flower painter
BIRTH DATE July 28, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Elbigenalp , Tyrol
DATE OF DEATH February 28, 1915
PLACE OF DEATH Wattens , Tyrol