August Friedrich Moser

August Friedrich Moser (baptized October 19, 1746 in Eutin ; † March 14, 1810 there ) was a German sculptor and plasterer .

Live and act

August Friedrich Moser was a son of the sculptor Johann Georg Moser (* 1713/14) and his first wife Catharina Maria Schlichting. His mother died two years after he was born. The father's second marriage had four sisters and four brothers with whom he grew up. His brothers included the sculptors Jacob Friedrich (baptized on April 22, 1752 in Eutin), the architect Johann Georg and Peter Rudolph (baptized on November 19, 1763 in Eutin). The fourth brother also learned, like himself, the carving trade in his father's workshop, which was in his home.

In September 1773, Moser's father applied for a passport to be issued to his son so that he could train as a sculptor in Berlin. In 1779 August Friedrich Moser received civil rights as a colonist under the name "Johann Friedrich Moser". The wrong name was probably already listed in error in the passport. When his father died in 1780, he was unable to continue his Eutin sculpting post immediately. Instead, one of the brothers took over temporarily. As the main heir, together with his stepmother, he stopped working in Berlin and returned to Eutin in 1780. His brother Johann Georg probably took over his position in Berlin.

As a successor to his father, Moser received regular payments as a court sculptor from the Eutin court from 1781 to maintain the existing sculptures in the Eutin Palace and its garden. In doing so, the court reduced the pay compared to the amounts they had paid his father. Since the father's salary was missing, the court sculptors had financial problems. Moser designed several vases, capitals made of sandstone in the French garden of the castle and in 1784 a large staircase in the area of ​​water art that led to a lining wall grotto. He also took on repair work. When the French Garden was closed in 1787, the court sculptors lacked any financial basis. In the following year, Moser submitted an unsuccessful application for an annual salary.

In the Eutin Castle, Moser took on some minor stucco work and created several carved mirror frames including a trumeau and other furniture. In 1781, together with the court architect Peter Richter , he took on stucco work in the meeting rooms of the new college building. For the facade he created the fronton stone , which bore the coat of arms of the prince-bishop. In 1784 he replaced the fronton stone of the cavalier house. Both buildings were destroyed when the palace forecourt was redesigned in the 19th century.

What has been preserved, however, is his work on the Witwenpalais , for which he created all the sculptural elements. Today the fronton stone still exists with the prince-bishop's coat of arms and several ceiling stucco.

After the death of the Dowager Duchess Ulrike Friederike Wilhelmine in 1787, she and her husband Friedrich August were to be buried in the new prince-bishop's grave chapel in Lübeck Cathedral. Peter Friedrich Ludwig ordered two marble coffins for this. The first coffin was made according to plans by Peter Richter in a workshop in Blankenburg . Since the work didn't appeal, Moser reworked it and chiseled the inscription into it. In 1792 he made the entire second sarcophagus. When the marble was delivered, he unexpectedly had to pay customs duties and argued about it with Peter Friedrich Ludwig. This could have been the reason why he fell out with him later.

In 1791 Moser worked as a stonemason at Eutin's new town hall. In 1791/92 he designed the waterfalls of the new English garden of the residence from tuff stone. 1793/94 several decorations of the local "weaver temple" according to plans by Christian Frederik Hansen . In 1795 he received stones from the Eutin court, from which he should make columns for the Monopteros (temple of the sun). He was also commissioned to design models of bull skulls and sacrificial bowls for the metope frieze. After completing five pillars, Peter Friedrich Ludwig doubted that the contract, which had not been agreed in writing, was legal. Peter Richter judged as an expert that the costs were reasonable, which the Duke saw differently. He therefore released Moser from all further work and gave instructions that he should not receive any further orders from the court.

Moser now had to find a new business model. He took over the commission of the city of Eutin to divide up the common pastures ( coupling ). The measurements, drainage, construction of paths and bridges and fences lasted from 1796 to 1808. Since he had to transport a lot, Moser bought his own vehicle. This resulted in the Moser trucking businesses that still exist today.

Art historians often ascribed Moser's works to his son. It is clear that it was not his son, but Moser himself who created the sculptures for the Peter and Paul Church in Hohenwestedt , the pulpit in Grömitz and on the sarcophagus of Friedrich Gabriel Muhlius in the Bordesholmer collegiate church . However, neither father nor son Moser designed the pulpit and altar in Oldenburg . Due to the time it was built, it could have created the portal of the Rundhof manor house in fishing around 1790 .

There is evidence that Moser created the Ionic capitals of the pilasters made of resalite as well as four Corinthian columns for the large dining room on the upper floor of Gut Emkendorf in 1795 . Works on the Schierensee manor for Caspar von Saldern are considered significant works outside of Eutin . For this, he carved from 1780 to 1782, for example, mirror frames, Trumeaux and Supraporte , created for the stucco Katharinensaal, several cabinets and salons.

Moser always worked in the Louis-seize style .

family

On May 12, 1787 Moser married Anna Catharina Margaretha Sohtmann in Neukirchen (baptized on October 12, 1764 in Eutin; † April 6, 1793 ibid). She was a daughter of the Eutin prince-bishop's lackey Reimer Sohtmann and his first wife Anna Elisabeth Stahl, who died in 1773.

On November 12, 1793 Moser married Maria Margaretha Schröder (baptized on August 5, 1772 in Eutin; † February 14, 1848 ibid). She was a daughter of the master baker and councilor in Eutin Hans Hinrich Schröder († 1814) and his first wife Christina Elisabeth Orth (1740-1780) from Malente .

There were two sons from Moser's first marriage, and three more from his second marriage.

literature

• Gisela Thietje: Moser, August Friedrich . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , pages 233-236.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thietje 1991, pp. 233-234.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Thietje 1991, p. 234.
3. ↑ Thietje 1991, pp. 234-235.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Thietje 1991, p. 235.
5. ↑ Thietje 1991, p. 233.