Berndt Bunekemann

Berndt Bunekemann , also Berndt Bunickmann and Berndt Bunickman (* around 1470 ; † 1524 in Münster ) was a German stonemason and stone sculptor.

There is very limited factual knowledge about the stonemason Bernd Bunickman (on the many spellings of the name later), but a lot of rumors. Ludwig Klockenbusch's dissertation on the Westphalian tabernacle of the late Gothic period , presented in 1941, made use of the knowledge of the name Bunickman (and its variants). There were hardly any known names of Munster stonemasons in the late Middle Ages . And so Klockenbusch invented a flourishing large-scale company from the late Gothic era, which mainly produced sacraments from Baumberger sand-lime bricks and delivered them over long distances.

The stonemasonry in the Middle Ages

Bernd Bunickman lived at a time when the stonemason trade in Westphalia was undergoing a major change, namely from a traveling trade to an urban craft. In the 15th century none of the stonemasons can be found among Münster's guilds , this guild is only documented in 1531. Up until the 15th century, stonemasons north of the Main line were a traveling trade, the cities' need for these services was low; the stonemasons had to wander where work was due and that was the case with the large church buildings. The urban needs were also taken care of from there. The church workshops were then also the training companies. However, as early as the 15th century there were a few resident masters in Münster with whom one could learn. The wandering of at least two years was essential for the young stonemason. "... like the stonemasons of all time, he will have visited those huts that had the greatest reputation and on which the" most modern "masters worked, that is, those from whom one could learn the most", the former Cologne cathedral builder described the practice of a young stonemason in the 15th century. For a young stonemason from Münster the path was then clear: it could only lead to Cologne.

The Cologne Cathedral Workshop will have had a great attraction for ambitious young stonemasons. Working on a cathedral was an honor for a Christian and a great opportunity for the next generation to be shown and to learn the latest trends in the craft. Not only in sculpture , but also in the stonemasonry, a change in the forms of jewelry was permanent, due to the often very long and long journeys of the craftsmen and the commitment of nationally famous masters, "new design" was quickly transported on a European level.

Medieval craft history is difficult because written records are rare here. In any case, this applies to the stonemasonry. One often has to work with theories, make comparisons and work in the subjunctive. But let's first clarify the facts about the workshop of the Bunickman stonemasons. That includes the name alone. How exactly one took the spelling of the names, for example, shows the accounts for the sacrament house of the St. Bartholomew Church in Ahlen , where the stonemason writes once "Mester Bernde" and once "Mester Bernt" on the first page. No surname is used here, he is only identified as a stonemason from Münster. The late Gothic practice in Westphalia was that names ending in -mann or -man are also used without this ending: Monnichmann and Münning, Gerdemann and Gerding and Bunickman and Buning / Boeninck. In 1520, "Bernd Bunekeman de steynbicker and Else syn real husfrowe" appear in a document. You can find the spellings Buneken, Bunekeman (four times) and Bunickman.

The first mention as "Mester Bernd Bunyker" in 1500

Bernd's son Johann can be found in sources as "Johanni Boenynck", "Johanni Buneken", "Johanni Bunekes" and "Johanni Bünekemann". Diderich Bunekeman - probably Johann's son - appeared in 1588 as guild master of the stonemasonry office (to which the sculptors also belonged) and it is mentioned that he learned from Johann Brabender - Münster's leading sculptor of the 16th century. The only surviving signature from a family member - namely from Johann himself - uses the spelling "Bunickman" and it is obvious that this spelling should be followed. The geographical origin of the family can be assumed to be in Westmünsterland, as the name "Buninck" (also in similar spellings) was recorded very often in the Ahaus , Stadtlohn , Borken area in 1498.

The course of Bernd Bunickman's journey after his apprenticeship can only be guessed, it did not have to be limited to two years and could take a lot longer, but two years were an obligation. A stay at the Cologne cathedral construction site is one possibility that could explain a lot. After the wandering in which he learned new forms of jewelry and new techniques, the stonemason returned to Münster. He marries Else, whose origins are unknown. The son Johann was born around 1495, and a house was bought or built in Münster's Neubückenstrasse.

Bernd Bunickman is well respected, in 1506 he was Scheffer of the Brotherhood of Our Lady, his son held this office in 1544. This brotherhood was an important social network in Münster. It was actually a religious lay fraternity of merchants, as it included all of Münster's famous artists: the sculptors Heinrich and Johann Brabender , Evert van Roden and the painters Johann Koerbecke , Johann van Soest and Ludger tom Ring . In this select group, the Steinhauer Bunickman took on board duties. The Bunickmans also had direct professional contacts with the sculptors, and there is evidence that Johann Bunickman often worked directly with Münster's leading sculptor, Johann Brabender. Bernd Bunickman is mentioned for the last time in connection with the delivery of the sacrament house for Korbach in 1524, Johann Bunickman died in 1544.

Big Bunickman

The Bunickman workshop could not have made the 40 or so sacraments, baptismal fonts , death lanterns and candlesticks that are ascribed to it. A delivery time of one year was agreed for a sacrament house in 1524. If the number of employees who built the Ahlen sacrament house is taken into account - namely a maximum of three, including the master - this is realistic. Of course, numerous other employees could have done other tasks at the same time - but only in theory. That does not fit into the time of the end of the Middle Ages and does not fit for the next hundred years either. The principle of the guild, which should and had to ensure the livelihood of all the masters organized in it, stands against the assumption of a “large-scale Bunickman company”. On the one hand, this meant resolutely defending against foreign craftsmen who were not allowed to work in Münster. But it also meant that the local businesses were kept small by the guild - apprentice boys were not allowed to choose the masters, but they were assigned by the guild, such as the “order of stone miners or boys” of 1531 and the “role of masters “(After 1583) shows. Even after the apprenticeship, the newly qualified journeyman was assigned. A large operation completely contradicted the principles of the guild.

In fact, the Bunickman workshop as a supplier of sacraments is only documented in two cases: at the sacraments of Fritzlar and Korbach. In the case of the sacrament house of St. Bartholomäus Ahlen, which was erected in 1512, the local researcher Anton Schulte from Beckum caused a lot of confusion around 50 years ago; As a result of his publication, it is often claimed that Bernd Bunickman is named as the supplier of the sacrament house in the Ahlen sources and that he is identical to the master Bernd von Hoetmar, which means that his hometown is also known. However, the sources show otherwise: The master stonemason of the sacrament house is always called “Master Bernd” and is evidently at home with his workshop in Münster. That doesn't mean that he couldn't come from Hoetmar , but between 1507 and 1514 , Master Bernd von Hoetmar did completely different, simpler work, worked on the sacrament window and with his journeymen pushed a new door into a wall. And at one point it is clearly called “mester Bernde van Hoetmar, the muurmester”. The master bricklayer was given the place name in the accounts of the church only to be able to clearly distinguish him from the revered "mester Bernd" from "mynster".

Identifying master Bernd, who works in Ahlen, as Bernd Bunickman is generally considered legitimate. On the one hand, there are hardly any other stonemasons named Bernd in Münster and the similarity with the sacrament house in Korbach (erected 13 years later), which was secured in writing for Bunickman, is convincing. More than two dozen sacraments are so similar to those in Ahlen and Korbach that they have long been assigned to the Bunickman workshop.

Ludwig Klockenbusch was very generous in the attribution to the Bunickman workshop in 1941, Achim Timmermann took a much closer look in 2009. Nevertheless, in his listing in three groups, 31 sacraments remain as works of the "Bunickman School". The process of placing the order for the Korbach factory suggests that Bernd Bunickman was already seriously ill in 1524, because preliminary discussions had taken place with him and his son then took over the order. Both were called "masters". So it is conceivable that Johann Bunickman was already active as an independent master with his own workshop at that time. It is very likely that he did the original training with his father. And so two Munster Bunickman workshops with almost the same knowledge and ability could have been active at the same time. But the 31 listed works are only the “rest” after around 500 years. Much has been destroyed during this time. Master Bernd's journeyman Klaus ("Klauwes"), mentioned in Ahlen, can, however, apply the knowledge he has learned as an independent master and have passed on Bernd Bunickman's formal language. And many an apprentice in the Bunickman workshop will have made it to a master craftsman.

Bernd Bunickman, that seems to have been a unique selling point in Münster at the beginning of the 16th century, was able to work both as a stonemason and as a sculptor. His son Johann delivered twenty figures of saints in Korbach in 1525, so he had learned this. Judging the sculptural work that has been preserved seems to be the only way to identify the Bunickman workshop. The unusual practice of carving out figures of saints as reliefs from the architecture of the sacrament house points to this workshop. These reliefs on the towers in St. Amandus in Datteln and St. Pankratius in Störmede are very similar anyway ; both sacraments also have identical grotesques in the same places on the substructure. These grotesques in the same place can also be found on the houses in St. Peter in Recklinghausen and St. Laurentius in Senden , which could be an indication of the same authorship.

The reliefs on the sacrament house in St. Marien in Lippstadt are also carved from the stone of the house itself and thus point to the same workshop. Ultimately, the so far mostly overlooked sacrament house in St. Sebastian in Münster-Nienberge should be mentioned, in which the sculptures in the canopy are clearly by a different hand than the angel figures at the level of the tabernacle . These latter are also worked out as a relief.

Dissertation by Klockenbusch

Klockenbusch's dissertation is responsible for the fact that in a large area between Marburg and the North Sea coast, between Aachen and the Hanoverian region, many church leaders read the phrase “attributed to the Bunickman workshop”. Klockenbusch started from the documented examples in Korbach , Fritzlar and Ahlen and compared their style with other sacraments, baptismal fonts and candlesticks. And so, according to Klockenbusch, the work of the Bunickman workshop in the churches in Korbach, Fritzlar, Ahlen, Lippstadt, Oelde , Bielefeld-Schildesche , Marienfeld Monastery , Benninghausen , Everswinkel , Lüdinghausen , Wiedenbrück , Dortmund (Propsteikirche and Reinoldikirche ), Recklinghausen, Datteln, Griethausen , Störmede, Castrop , Horstmar , Senden, Herford , Paderborn , Soest , Wunstorf , Bücken , Heek , Sünninghausen , Nieheim , Marl , Dorsten . This is about sacraments and reliquary tabernacles, work that - as we know from sources - easily meant a year of work.

Klockenbusch also attributed the two sacraments in the Münster Cathedral to the same workshop as well as various baptismal fonts and stone candlesticks. A workshop with about thirty people could have mastered this large number of products, and Klockenbusch must have assumed such a company.

In 1997, Géza Jászai made a distinction in the general artist lexicon with the entry “Bunickman” between the works of father Bernd and son Johann, but based clearly on Klockenbusch's ascriptions. Reinhard Karrenbrock dealt with the sculptural production of the Bunickman workshop as early as his dissertation and since then again and again.

It is indeed unusual that a Westphalian stonemasonry from the late Middle Ages was also able to take on sculptural assignments. It is not generally known, so it will be explained again here: The stonemasonry dealt with building, architecture and ornamentation ; the sculptor was concerned with figurative representation. This simultaneity of the two stone crafts in a company in southern Germany may not have been rare - see Adam Kraft - this seems to be a unique selling point for the Bunickman workshop in Münster, which can be helpful in attributing the works.

literature

• Joachim Eichler: Sacrament houses from Westphalia and the "Bunickman School". For production in the Bunickman stonemasonry workshop in Münster (around 1490 to 1544). In: Westphalia. History, art and folklore books. Volume 89, Münster 2011, pp. 33-53.