Bernhard Witte (goldsmith)

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Bernhard Witte (born August 7, 1868 in Aachen , † December 11, 1947 in Schwarzrheindorf near Bonn ) was a German collegiate goldsmith in Aachen and "goldsmith of the Holy See and the Papal Palaces".

Live and act

The eldest son of the Aachen collegiate goldsmith August Witte and Margarethe Pohl (1838–1912), a sister of the sculptor Wilhelm Pohl , took over his father's workshop for sacred art “August Witte GmbH” on Klosterplatz after completing his training as a goldsmith at the age of 19 right next to the Aachen Cathedral . After the early death of the father, this had been temporarily led by a brother of his mother and a journeyman. Witte later relocated the workshop to larger premises at Karlsgraben 29 in Aachen, so that he could take on large-scale orders. Like his father, he was appointed a goldsmith's monastery and has now worked for numerous clerical clients, including those from the Benelux countries, Italy, Hungary and Russia, and for example for Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk , the Emperor of Brazil Peter II . , the Archbishop of Chicago and the Patriarch of Jerusalem . 1895 took place by Pope Leo XIII. the appointment as "Goldsmith of the Holy See and the Papal Palaces". From 1926 to 1928, the later church goldsmith Fritz Schwerdt worked as an enameller and draftsman in Bernhard Witte's workshop.

After the Aachen workshop was initially closed from 1942 during the Second World War and then fell victim to the bombs, Bernhard Witte ended the 80-year history of the company "August Witte GmbH" and moved his family to the parsonage of his brother Karl Witte (1877 –1950) to Schwarzrheindorf near Bonn. He worked there as pastor at St. Maria and Clemens and the local "Wittestrasse" was named after him.

Bernhard Witte was married to Franziska Wenders (1877–1959), with whom he had two sons:

  • August Witte (3) (* 1909 in Aachen; † 1945/46 probably in Tbilisi ), who had decided to follow in his father's footsteps and take over the company in the third generation. He completed his training in his father's company and worked there with independent creations until he was deployed in the war. During the Second World War he was taken prisoner by the Soviets and has been missing in the Tbilisi area since 1945/46. The following works are ascribed to him, among others, but they could also have been created in collaboration with his father:
  • Bernhard Witte (born April 30, 1922 in Aachen, † December 4, 1989 in Uedelhoven ) later became a pastor like his uncle and was most recently pastor in the parish of Uedelhoven / Ahrdorf

Bernhard Witte died in Schwarzrheindorf and, like his wife later, found his final resting place in the family crypt in the Aachen East Cemetery .

Works (selection)

Qurinius shrine in the Quirinus Minster Neuss
Saardom , sacrament chapel, neo-Romanesque high altar by Witte

Bernhard Witte created numerous important works in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque forms. In addition, he opened up to Art Nouveau and thus expanded his field of activity. His works include:

Literature and Sources

  • Ingeborg Schild , Elisabeth Janssen: The Aachen East Cemetery. Verlag Mayersche Buchhandlung, Aachen 1991, ISBN 3-87519-116-1 , pp. 551-553.
  • Witte, Bernhard . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 36 : Wilhelmy-Zyzywi . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1947, p. 120-121 .
  • Witte, Bernhard . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. tape 5 : V-Z. Supplements: A-G . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1961, p. 153-154 .
  • Wolfgang Cortjaens: The evangelist reliefs from the ambo of Heinrich II. - A model case of the 19th century? In: Aachener Kunstblätter . Volume 61, 1995-1997 (1998), pp. 429-447.
  • Wolfgang Cortjaens: Rhenish altar buildings of historicism. Sacred goldsmithing 1870–1918. CMZ-Verlag, Rheinbach 2002, also. Dissertation RWTH Aachen 1999, esp. Pp. 132–151.
  • Gertrud Grysar: Noble art in honor of the Almighty / goldsmith work of the August Witte workshop in the treasure of St. Jakob Aachen. Publishing house Kathol. Parish of St. Jakob, Aachen 1995.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wittestraße in Bonner Straße cadastral
  2. ↑ Golden Madonna of Hildesheim Cathedral
  3. ↑ Hindenburg Cup
  4. ↑ Pastor Bernhard Witte in Ahrdorf ( Memento of the original from May 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ahrdorf.de
  5. ↑ Eckhard Hoog: Exciting book about the riddle of the Marienschreins. In Aachen newspaper . June 11, 2014 ( aachener-zeitung.de ).
  6. ↑ Petrus Reliquary, Ostensorium and Arnoldus Shrine see p. 100 in: Miriam Krautwurst: Reinhold Vasters - a 19th century Lower Rhine goldsmith in the tradition of old masters. His collection of drawings in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Dissertation University Library Trier, 2003: ( hbz-nrw.de PDF).
  7. ↑ St. Quirinus Shrine Neuss
  8. ↑ Measuring chalice for the Vatican by Bernhard Witte, Aachen
  9. ^ Founding chalice for the New Benedictine Abbey Kornelimünster
  10. ^ O. Doering: A masterpiece of ecclesiastical goldsmithing . In: The Christian Art; Monthly for all areas of Christian art and art history . 10th year 1913/1914. Society for Christian Art, Munich, p. 9–14 , images on pp. 10–11, 13–14 - Corona-Leopardus-Schrein by Bernhard Witte ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  11. ^ Buckfast Abbey - The Corona Lucis (English).
personal data
SURNAME Witte, Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German collegiate goldsmith
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Aachen
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1947
Place of death Schwarzrheindorf near Bonn