Carl von Brühl

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carl Graf von Brühl; Painting by Anton Graff , 1796.

Carl Friedrich Moritz Paul Graf von Brühl , also Karl von Brühl (born May 18, 1772 in Pförten ; † August 9, 1837 in Berlin ), was the Royal Prussian Real Privy Councilor , general manager of the theater and museums in Berlin. From 1809 until his death he was a member of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin .

Life

Carl von Brühl came from the Thuringian noble family Brühl . He was born in 1772 as the son of the General Highway Construction Inspector of Brandenburg and Pomerania, Hanns Moritz Graf von Brühl (1746-1811) and his wife Christina (also Johanna Margarethe Christine), born von Schleyerweber and Friedenau (1756-1816).

Brühl as artistic director on the Kunzschen Riss by ETA Hoffmann

His uncle was the writer Alois Friedrich Graf von Brühl ; the Brühl Terrace in Dresden is reminiscent of his grandfather Heinrich Graf von Brühl , the electoral Saxon and royal Polish prime minister. After the death of his mother Christina "Tina" von Brühl in 1816 he took over the Seifersdorfer property . Carl von Brühl was interested in the arts and natural sciences from an early age. His parents recognized the boy's intelligence and tried to bring up a good upbringing at an early age. He spoke French very early and painted a lot. So also sketches of palaces, castles and churches on his travels. Through his parents, he got to know Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at an early age . This later taught him mineralogy . Even Johann Gottfried Herder and Christoph Martin Wieland were among Carl von Brühl's teachers, the great inter alia, in music and painting skills showed. Nevertheless, Carl von Brühl decided to study forest sciences . In 1796 he entered the Prussian civil service as a forest trainee . From autumn 1798 he was in Weimar for a whole year , during which he also appeared as an actor. There he maintained a very cordial relationship with Duchess Anna Amalia von Weimar and her son, but also with Goethe. In 1800 he began his service as chamberlain at the Prussian court. He took part in the Wars of Liberation in 1813 as a volunteer. In 1814 he was in command of Neuchâtel , where he met his future wife, Jenny von Pourtalès.

Moritz and the joys of the countryside - dedicated by Tina

After his time in the military, Carl von Brühl succeeded August Wilhelm Iffland as General Manager of the Royal Drama in Berlin in 1815 . He engaged the actors Amalie Wolff-Malcolmi , Pius Alexander Wolff and Ludwig Devrient, among others . A fire destroyed the theater on Gendarmenmarkt. This was rebuilt by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and reopened in May 1821 with Iphigenie by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Brühl and Goethe were in close contact. So he pleaded with Goethe to write the prologue for the opening of the theater on May 26, 1821. Goethe was very happy to comply with this request. During the Brühl directorship, sets by Karl Friedrich Schinkel were also performed. Karl Friedrich Schinkel visited the count at his home castle and estate in Seifersdorf near Dresden and drafted plans for a renovation, which took place in the following years. In 1822, at the behest of Carl Graf von Brühl, the plaque “ A fortress is our God. MDCCCXXIII "attached. "This is how the house seemed best to him."

Carl Maria von Weber was in lively correspondence with Carl von Brühl and in a letter dated August 12, 1819 asked for a visit to Seifersdorf and for permission to send him his opera (at that time still called "Die Jägersbraut"). Carl von Brühl gave the opera the title " Freischütz ", which had its world premiere on June 18, 1821 under his directorship. Der Freischütz was the first German opera to be performed in Berlin. The performance was very successful among the common people, but was rejected by the “court”. However, differences with the Italian composer and conductor Gaspare Spontini and the court soon emerged, which soon affected Carl von Brühl's health. He fell into a "fatal illness", so that his request for release in 1828 was granted. Numerous trips through southern and western Germany, France and Switzerland led to a recovery of Carl von Brühl, who was finally appointed general manager of the museums in Berlin in 1829.

As general manager of the museums, Carl Graf von Brühl lived with his family in the immediate vicinity of Berlin's Museum Island in today's Magnus House on Kupfergraben .

Crypt slab by Carl Graf von Brühl in the Seiferdorfer church

Brühl and his family called Seifersdorf their "Eldorado" and mostly traveled to Seifersdorf during their theater holidays. While they mostly lived in Berlin in winter. 1828 was a difficult year for him. His eldest son Moritz died of scarlet fever in Seifersdorf. As a result, he fell ill and resigned that year as director of the royal theaters.

"The hardest loss that the Berlin stage could hit was Count Brühl's resignation. When Count Brühl lost his eldest son *, a child full of hope, his parents' happiness and joy in 1828, he fell into an illness, which He recovered only with great difficulty, and the feeling that he could no longer devote his usual work to his office determined him to ask the King to be released from this sphere of activity, which he also received with the recognition of the monarch and all who knew his tireless endeavors; also the undisputed love and admiration of all the members of the royal spectacles, who had honored their boss in him for so many years, made itself known in the warmest way Seifersdorf, like a later trip to southern Germany and Switzerland, gradually restored the lost calm and serenity of the soul . In 1830 the king appointed him general manager of the museums. "

After her death, Brühl continued the work that his mother, Christina von Brühl had started in 1781 to design the Seifersdorfer Valley near Dresden. Carl had the monument "Moritz and the rural joys - dedicated by Tina" erected in 1833 on the dance meadow in the valley.

A cousin who was close to him like a sister was Marie von Clausewitz , née Countess von Brühl, wife of the Prussian general and military theorist Carl von Clausewitz . Marie von Clausewitz died in Dresden in 1836 and was temporarily buried in Seifersdorf. She was later buried next to her husband in Breslau . Brühl himself died in Berlin in 1837 and was buried in the family crypt in the church of Seifersdorf near Radeberg next to his parents Hans Moritz and Christina von Brühl.

family

As a commandant he stayed in Neuchâtel in 1814 , where he married Countess Jenny von Pourtalès (* November 23, 1795; † March 12, 1884), daughter of Paul Gabriel de Pourtalès (1766-1856) and Joséphine Guibert, in October . Several children emerged from this marriage, including:

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Kleist's Käthchen in Berlin: A New Epoch of Theater ( Memento from April 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Karl Graf von Brühl and his parents, Hans von Krosigk, ES Mittler & Sohn, royal bookstore Berlin 1910, page 356
  3. August Förster:  Brühl, Karl Graf von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, pp. 417-419.
  4. Johann Valentin Teichmanns, at one time royal. Prussian Councilor, literary estate published by Franz Dingelstedt, Stuttgart, Verlag der JG Cottaschen Buchhandlung, 1863, page 163
  5. (compare Karl Graf von Brühl and his parents, Hans von Krosigk, ES Mittler & Sohn, royal bookstore Berlin 1910, page 375)