August Fürchtegott Winkler

Memorial plaque for August Fürchtegott and Kurt Alexander Winkler on the tower house of the former blue paint factory in Zschopenthal

August Fürchtegott Winkler (also Winckler) (born December 18, 1770 in Zschopenthal ; † September 9, 1807 ) was a German metallurgist . He was the son of the metallurgist and factor of the Zschopenthal blue paint factory Christian Heinrich Winkler (1734–1793), the father of Kurt Alexander Winkler , father-in-law of August Breithaupt and the grandfather of the chemist Clemens Winkler and the landscape painter Olof Winkler .

Life

Winkler was born in Zschopenthal , the third child and first son of his parents. His father remarried after his mother's death, and this marriage also had three children. After August Fürchtegott Winkler had been taught by private tutors in Zschopenthal, he went to study at the Bergakademie Freiberg in 1787 (matriculation number 293). After completing his studies and a few short trips within Saxony , he returned to Zschopenthal as his father's assistant and, after his death in 1793, took over his position as a factor in the blue color factory in Zschopenthal . He held this position until his death. In 1790 he met the then 16-year-old Rahel Friederike Hoffman, daughter of the Freiberg smelter Hoffmann and sister of the later chief smelter of the Halsbrücker Hütte, Johann Samuel Hofmann , whom he married in 1793.

plant

In addition to his professional activity, Winkler was interested in zoology and botany and was a passionate hunter . He was particularly interested in painting, which he also practiced himself as a horse and battle painter. In addition to a collection of copperplate engravings that was described as very valuable and scattered after his death, he specialized in depictions of battles, uniforms and militaria . His collection included engravings by Albrecht Dürer , Hieronymus Bosch , Anthonis van Dyck , de Hoghe , van der Meulen , Th. Maass , Daniel Chodowiecki , Philips Wouwerman and other important artists.

Winkler worked on a book about "the most famous horse draftsmen and battalion painters", which was not completed due to his untimely death in 1807. Still preserved today and published in 1959 by Akademie-Verlag Berlin (Das Sächsische Blaufarbenwesen around 1790 in pictures) with an introduction by Alfred Lange are his paintings of the works in the blue color factory. ( Freiberger research book series, series D, no.25). The habit of the Heimatverein Waldkirchen / Erzgeb is based on these pictures . organized miners' union of blue paint workers.

After the early death of his father, Winkler's life was overshadowed by family disputes with his step-siblings and his step-mother. He himself also died at the age of 37. His fortune was squandered and the living conditions of his widow and son Kurt Alexander Winkler are described as very limited. Following the spelling of his grandson Clemens Winklers , the spelling of the family name in the cited literature is given as "Winkler", but it is pointed out that August Fürchtegott himself used the spelling "Winckler".

Publications

• The Saxon blue color being around 1790 in pictures . by August Fürchtegott Winkler, with an introduction by Alfred Lange, Akademie-Verlag Berlin, 1959. ( Freiberger Forschungshefte ; D 25)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Winkler, August F. In: Johann Rudolf Füssli , Hans Heinrich Füssli : General Artists Dictionary . Orell, Zurich 1820, part 2, section 1, p. 6014 ( Google Books )