Conrad Geiss

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Conrad Geiß,
detail of the painting by Nikolaus Lauer

Johann Conrad Geiß (born January 6, 1771 in Offenbach am Main , † November 19, 1846 in Berlin ) was a German iron art caster and iron casting manufacturer.

Life

Two chain links of a necklace from the workshop of Conrad Geiß in iron art casting
Pendant of a necklace from the workshop of Conrad Geiß in iron art casting

Conrad Geiß was born in 1771 as the son of the government pedel of the same name Johann Conrad Geiß (* 1723, † before 1795) and Katharina Schilcher (* 1728). He established himself as a jeweler in Berlin in 1794 . In 1797 he married Wilhelmine Rieck and after her death in 1801 he married Caroline Christiane Vasseur (* 1780, † 1836), who previously worked as a saleswoman in the Geiß'schen jewelry store, in 1803. In 1804 Geiß started with the iron art casting. From 1814 he is the owner of an iron foundry . Before that, he had already dealt significantly and fundamentally with the development of iron art casting. He gave this new technology significant impetus. Conrad Geiß is the first private entrepreneur in this branch. The state-owned Silesian iron foundries in Gleiwitz also deal with this technology. Filigree-like openwork iron jewelry , especially bracelets, necklaces and gems are becoming the new symbol of elegant women's jewelry and largely replace the previous gold jewelry ( I gave gold for iron ). The pieces are often signed with "Geiss à Berlin" and are also known under the name fer de Berlin . Karl Friedrich Schinkel is one of his occasional employees and consultants .

In 1830, he largely withdrew from active business in favor of his son Moritz Geiß (* 1805). He continued the iron foundry and also developed a process to produce fully plastic figures from cast zinc .

Exhibited works

Iron art cast jewelry by Conrad Geiß is exhibited in the Märkisches Museum in Berlin and in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London .

Portraits

The pastel painter Nikolaus Lauer portrayed Conrad Geiß in 1816. His second wife Caroline Geiß born. Vasseur was portrayed in oil on canvas.

Web links

Commons : Conrad Geiß  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

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literature

  • Rudolf Vierhaus: German Biographical Encyclopedia , Volume 3, De Gruyter Sauer, Berlin, Boston, 2010

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Martin Sperlich:  Geiß, Johann Conrad. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , p. 156 ( digitized version ).
  2. ^ A b Elisabeth Bartel and Nele Güntheroth: From Prussian iron art casting to artistic zinc casting - Moritz Geiss' study trip from Berlin to Great Britain in 1828 , Verlag Willmuth Arenhövel Berlin, 2013, ISBN 978-3-922912-73-6
  3. ^ Willmuth Arenhövel: Iron instead of gold . Prussian iron art cast from the Charlottenburg Palace, the Berlin Museum and other collections. 1st edition. Willmuth Arenhövel, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-922912-02-8 , pp. 18th ff .
  4. ↑ Thomas Wiercinski: The pastel painter Nikolaus Lauer 1753-1824, catalog raisonné , Museum St. Wendel / Foundation Dr. Walter Bruch, St. Wendel, 2004, ISBN 9783928810548
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Scheffler: Berlin goldsmiths. Dates, works, characters , Verlag Bruno Hessling, Berlin, 1968
personal data
SURNAME Goat, Conrad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johann Conrad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German iron caster, co-founder of iron art casting
DATE OF BIRTH January 6, 1771
PLACE OF BIRTH Offenbach am Main
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1846
Place of death Berlin