Balthasar Kircher

Gable of the Braunschweig Gewandhaus with the five sculptures

Balthasar Kircher (* in Baden-Baden ; † after 1601 in Braunschweig ) was a stonemason and stone sculptor of the Renaissance in Braunschweig, who came from the margraviate of Baden and worked in Braunschweig at the Gewandhaus and at the Martinsschule. His most important sculptural works were the five free sculptures on the Gewandhaus.

Life

Kircher lived in the Braunschweiger Weichbild Altewiek , where he donated money for the pastors of the Magnikirche and for the poor of the church district. For his services as a stone sculptor on the east gable of the Gewandhaus he was granted honorary and free citizenship of the old town in 1591 . This is particularly noteworthy because otherwise the acquisition of urban citizenship was only possible on application and was associated with costs.

In 1597, the year of the plague , he made his will on October 30th, but survived it, as there is evidence that he was still alive in 1601. He had an illegitimate son Otto, whose maintenance was to be covered by the interest of 100 gold thalers until he came of age. In addition to his son, he considered other stone masons and bricklayers when he deposited his legacy with his siblings in Strasbourg.

plant

Gewandhaus

East facade of the Gewandhaus (rebuilt 1948 to 1950)

Soldier with halberd on the east facade of the Gewandhaus

The Gewandhaus is considered one of the most important Renaissance buildings in Northern Germany . After being badly damaged by the numerous bombing attacks of World War II , it was rebuilt from 1948 to 1950.

Balthasar Kircher was regarded as the architect of the Gewandhaus for a long time, until it could be proven that this was Hans Lampe, a councilor of Altewiek and general builder of Braunschweig from 1589 to 1593. This irritation probably arose because both of them had a monogram carved into stone on the building. The planning and the basic geometric construction can be attributed to the lamp. As far as we know today, Kircher was commissioned with the production of the east facade of the Gewandhaus, later - at the end of August 1590 - another stone sculptor, Jürgen Röttger , was added to accelerate the construction progress, who was commissioned with partially sculptural relief work on the facade. The five fully sculptural works (warrior with halberd, above the virtues of hope and strength, at the top Justitia with sword and scales) were made by Kircher's workshop on the basis of the available invoices.

Construction process

The stonemasonry and stone carving work in the Kircher workshop was carried out in the so-called Bickhaus (workshop) at the Brothers Cemetery. Payment was made after completion of the work; the stonemasons, for example , received their wages on January 18 for the arches and cornices of the first floor completed on January 10, 1590 .

The work progressed quickly. On April 4th, the bricklayers began demolishing the old gable and on April 18th with the foundations. Moving the gable began on May 2nd. To accelerate the construction progress, the sculptor Röttger was commissioned at the end of August 1590 to make eight columns and 15 heads (probably 14 of them lion heads on the architrave stones of the lower arcade that had already been moved ). For this he was paid 6 marks 3 shillings on October 17th. On July 18, additional arches and cornices were paid for (probably in the middle of the first floor).

In the first quarter of 1591 another order was placed for specially designed work pieces (of which on January 23rd, presumably lion heads and volutes ) and on March 27th and April 3rd work on the pictures (presumably the free sculptures) was placed. On May 10th, the bill for the five free sculptures after the relocation was paid. Paul Jonas Meier assumes that the five free sculptures, including the associated obelisks and volutes, were made by the last remaining journeymen, Hans Holsten, Heinrich von Gilhausen, Hans von Ettlingen and Hans von Eisleben under the leadership of the master Balthasar Kircher.

Involved in construction

In Kircher's accounts there are twenty-seven different stonemasons who were employed in his workshop. However, there were not twenty-seven artisans and sculptors employed at the same time, because the number of employees fluctuated and reached a maximum of fourteen: in the first two months of 1590 there were seven to eight, from February 28th ten to twelve, from April 25th up to thirteen, on August 15th even up to the maximum number of fourteen, from September 5th the number begins to decrease again to six to seven, until only one remains on December 12th, only to increase again from January 16, 1591 to three or four respectively to complete the construction project on April 10, 1591 with two.

It is noted in the documents that the “master” initially received 6 schillings and 9 pfennigs daily and from March 14, 1590 7 schillings and 6 to 9 pfennigs. It is noteworthy that a distinction was made between “local” and “foreign” “ journeymen ” in terms of payment . The local journeymen received 2 shillings and 6 pfennigs, later 3 shillings. The wandering journeymen received 3 shillings and 9 pfennigs and from April 25, 1590 4 shillings and 9 pfennigs. In addition, the latter received 1 schilling per week for sharpening and forging their tools, including a room allowance (accommodation allowance). Of the 27 journeymen, only 5 were local journeymen who are listed in the accounts under the stone cutters and masons and not among the stone masons. The foreign journeymen came from Überlingen, Zurich, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Munich, Würzburg, Königssee, Ettlingen, Saalfeld, Jena, Weimar, Trier, Brussels, Aschersleben and Eisleben. It was no coincidence that Kircher employed stonemasons and stone sculptors from the south, west and central Germany, as he himself came from the south and since high-quality stone construction work was seldom to be carried out in Braunschweig at the time, Kircher could not rely on local skilled workers, because they had the required training and did not have experience.

Martin School

Entrance portal of the Martinsschule, today the entrance to the assembly hall of the Martino-Katharineum

Martinsschule was destroyed during the Second World War on the night of bombing on October 15, 1944 . Today there is only one portal of the Martinsschule at the entrance to the assembly hall of the Martino-Katharineum grammar school.

In 1592, when the work began on March 3, Kircher received the entitlement to 400 thalers for the production of the portal figures and jewelry. Paul Jonas Meier confirms this view: “The decisive factor for Kirchner's work on the sculpture of the Martinsschule is the east side of the Gewandhaus. the heads and masks that extend over the whole building have the greatest resemblance to the heads of the caryatids on the school portal, especially in their unusually sharp, even angular formation. "

To further support his thesis, the works of Portalen Kirchers are used in a style comparison (see below: Other works).

In April 1592 the construction work began with the demolition of the old half-timbered buildings by carpenters , the land was bought by the city for 25 marks, 1 shilling and 2 pfennigs, and then the muddy subsoil near the Oker was prepared with piles and loops. Braunschweig roe stones from Braunschweig Nussberg formed the basis of the foundations. The foundation stone was laid on June 14th .

Hans Meier was commissioned with the carpentry work. On August 31st, Jürgen Röttger received 18 shillings for a corbel and for carvings and several head images (masks) on September 18, 6 marks as well as 9 shillings as a tip for his journeymen. Balthasar Kircher delivered eight corbels. The topping-out ceremony took place on November 11th .

After a winter break, work on the building continued in April 1593 and the three oriels of the vestibule were built on in May and June . The sculptor Jürgen Röttger cut the heads of the Redeemer and two angel heads in stone, for which he received 1 thaler each. Kircher supplied the stones for this.

Brüdernkirche portal made of Elm limestone

Further works in Braunschweig

• Portal on the north side of the Brothers Church
• Portal at Reichsstrasse 32 (1592)
• Entrance to the anteroom of the Brothers Church
• Door in the house at Aegidienmarkt 13
• Attica in the house Gördelingerstraße 43 (1584)
• Fountain at the Marstall (September 11, 1592)

literature

• Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 395-396 .
• Paul Jonas Meier : The sculptor's handicrafts in the city of Braunschweig since the Reformation. In: Work pieces from the museum, archive and library of the city of Braunschweig VIII. Appelhans Verlag , Braunschweig 1936.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 395-396 .
2. ↑ J. P. Meier: The handicrafts of the sculptor in the city of Braunschweig since the Reformation. P. 29.
3. ↑ J. P. Meier: The handicrafts of the sculptor in the city of Braunschweig since the Reformation. P. 28.
4. ↑ P. J. Meier. The sculptor's handicrafts in the city of Braunschweig since the Reformation. P. 33.
5. ↑ JP Maier: The sculptor's handicrafts in the city of Braunschweig since the Reformation. P. 31.