August Strater

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August Sträter (born June 13, 1810 in Rheine , † February 13, 1897 in Aachen ) was a German physician, politician and art collector.

Live and act

The son of a cloth wholesaler studied medicine in Bonn and Heidelberg . In 1832 he received his doctorate in Würzburg . During his studies he became a member of the Germania Bonn fraternity in 1828 and was exposed to political and legal persecution due to his activities for this organization, which had been officially banned by the Karlovy Vary resolutions . He then fled abroad in 1832 and continued his medical studies at clinics in Paris, Vienna, London and Amsterdam. In 1833 he obtained his license to practice medicine in Vienna. After the German judiciary had pardoned him, Sträter settled in Aachen in 1838 as a general practitioner and spa doctor and continued this activity until his death. In addition, he worked for many years as a doctor for the poor in the parish of St. Foillan and in the municipal pension institution, the Josephinisches Institut in Pontstraße .

As early as 1840, Sträter was one of the co-founders of the "Ärztlicher Leseverein" in Aachen, which, as a medical training institution, aimed for a regular exchange of experiences among doctors. At the inaugural meeting, Sträter was elected first secretary and librarian. In addition, Sträter was also involved on a political level and joined the Center Party , for which he sat on the Aachen city council for almost two decades.

Copper engraving collection Sträter

Influenced by his family, who had already acquired a collection of paintings and engravings from the 17th century through an Amsterdam branch, his interest in the visual arts developed during his studies with August Sträter and he went on study trips to important art centers in 1829 and 1831 in Italy. After he settled in Aachen, he began collecting engravings and etchings, initially from Dutch artists of the 17th century, but also from German, Italian and French engravers. From collections and auctions of, for example, Verstolk van Soelen , Jan Six , Firmin Didot , Friedrich Heimsoeth and Francis Seymour Haden , Sträter acquired an important private collection in the following years, including a large part of the works of Rembrandt , Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael , Paulus Potter , Anthonie Waterloo , Lucas van Leyden , Claude Lorrain , Albrecht Dürer and a complete collection of mostly well-preserved early prints by Adriaen van Ostade , Jan Both and Allart van Everdingen, among others .

Sträter did not exhibit his collection in public, but preferred to show it to like-minded art lovers, including in particular Barthold Suermondt and Karl Eduard von Liphart , whom he used to amaze with his profound knowledge. He was considered to be one of the last owners of such a private collection of copper engravings, which was then sold by his heirs in a special auction in 1898.

family

August Sträter was married to Bertha, née Forckenbeck (1827-1891), a sister of the camerawoman and founder of the International Newspaper Museum , Oscar von Forckenbeck and cousin of the Berlin Mayor Max von Forckenbeck . They had six children together, including August Sträter junior (1864–1927), who had trained as a specialist in orthopedics and X-ray diagnostics and from 1903 to 1927 headed the X-ray Institute at the Luisenhospital in Aachen . His daughter Martha (1900–1985) worked as a sculptor and ceramist and later married the sculptor Hein Minkenberg .

August Sträter was also the great-uncle of the Aachen auxiliary bishop Hermann Joseph Sträter , the Düsseldorf administrative lawyer Eduard Sträter and the Aachen district administrator Hermann Sträter . August Sträter found his final resting place in the family crypt in the Aachen East Cemetery .

Works (selection)

  • De quelle manière prenait-on les bains du temps de Charles-Quint à Aix-la-Chapelle. Mémoire pour servir à l`histoire des eaux minérales. With a lithographic board. Benrath & Vogelgesang, Aachen 1858.
  • The healing effects of the sulfur thermal baths in Aachen. A therapeutic sketch. Benrath & Vogelgesang, Aachen 1866

Literature and Sources

personal data
SURNAME Strater, August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physician, politician and art collector
DATE OF BIRTH June 13, 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH Rheine
DATE OF DEATH February 13, 1897
Place of death Aachen