Cuno from Uechtritz-Steinkirch

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Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch (born July 3, 1856 in Breslau , † July 29, 1908 in Berlin ) was a German sculptor .

The artist came from the Dresden sculpture school and made a name for himself with a group of monuments for Berlin's Siegesallee and decorative fountains. Von Uechtritz-Steinkirch, whom Kaiser Wilhelm II appointed royal professor, was also involved in association politics.

Portrait, around 1901

Life

He was the son of the public prosecutor and later judge Oswald von Uechtritz.

Dresden Sculpture School and Vienna

Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch only finally decided to become an artist at the age of 21. The reason was a recommendation from Wilhelm I , whom a statuette made by Uechtritz of the Silesian writer Karl von Holtei had so impressed that he acquired it. In the years 1878 and 1879 von Uechtritz toured Italy. Then he began a sculptural training in the Dresden studio of Carl Friedrich Echtermeier , who had previously been a master student of Ernst Hähnel .

Hähnel became aware of the young artist in Echtermeier's studio and took him as a student. Hähnel was a professor at the Dresden Art Academy and was one of the founders of the Dresden School of Sculpture. Hähnel tried to shape his figures, reminiscent of antiquity, into ideal plastic with a noble, sober development . The idealistic, against realistic tendencies directed Dresden School had a lasting influence on the works of Uechtritz-Steinkirchs.

He rounded off his studies at the Vienna Academy with Victor Tilgner, in particular with the polychrome (multicolored) treatment of plastic. One of his first polychrome works, the statue of an Italian boy ( Pifferaro with monkey ), was a success and was bought by the National Gallery in Berlin in 1889 .

Before that, von Uechtritz had made further study trips to Italy and Paris and then stayed for some time as an employee at Tilgner in Vienna before setting up his own business in Berlin in the spring of 1887.

From 1887 to Berlin

Uechtritz achieved his financial breakthrough in 1897 with the allegorical group Die Krone als Hort des Friedens , the embodiment of Wilhelm II's political program. The emperor had the group executed in marble. This work opened the door for the sculptor to one of the coveted, lucrative commissions for Berlin's Siegesallee. His monument group with the statue of Elector Georg Wilhelm in the center was also applauded by the emperor, as demonstrated by the award of the royal professor title on the occasion of the unveiling on December 23, 1899 and subsequent orders.

The Siegesallee group was von Uechtritz's first monumental work. Despite the institutional applause for this work and despite a few later monumental statues, the artist's actual profession remained the “ light, poetic, imaginative composition ” in plastic, painterly form, as expressed above all in his fountains. In addition to the Siegesalle work, his main works include the Berlin Gänselieselbrunnen and the bronze sculpture The Awakening Day in the Hamburg Puvogelbrunnen. The painter Adolph Menzel , who also came from Breslau, became aware of von Uechtritz through the work of the fountain .

Association work

Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch was politically involved in various artists' associations, trying to improve the financial situation of his colleagues. From 1891 he belonged to the Association of Berlin Architects and was a member of the jury of the International Art Exhibition of the Association of Berlin Artists (VBK).

Siegesallee , Elector Georg Wilhelm in decorative furnishings

In 1907 the sculptor was one of the signatories of a letter that the Committee for American Affairs of the Artists' Association of German Sculptors had addressed to Reich Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow . With a nationalistic undertone, the letter advertised for fear of the “impending overproduction of art” for “powerful support from the Reich government” in the “life task of German artists to conquer new sales areas. [...] We are thinking primarily of the United States of North America, "continues the association, and sees the cause in the fact that" the works of German art have not yet been conveyed to the Americans to a sufficient degree. " “To counteract the one-sided tendency of the Americans for Romanesque, especially French art, and thus to give German art the consideration and recognition it rightly desires.” The background of the letter was, in addition to competition from sculptors from other nations, the high import duties of the USA Works of art that were 30 percent in the 1880s and increased to 45 percent in 1901.

He had the American sculptor Harriet Whitney Frishmuth as a student.

Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch was buried in the Wilmersdorf cemetery.

Selected Works

Monument group Siegesallee

Decorative painterly costume figure

For the contemporary Illustrirte Zeitung Leipzig (LIZ), Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch was exactly the right man for monument group 24 with the statue of Elector Georg Wilhelm . Because the hesitant, indecisive Elector, who had withdrawn to Königsberg during the Thirty Years' War and continued to run an elaborate court there, offered “no possibility of portraying [...] sublime greatness”, so that the artist “essentially only provides a decorative image of the Time and its external manifestations ”. According to LIZ, von Uechtritz created a "carefully executed costume figure in the character of the 17th century" with a "rich painterly charm that captivates us with the costume of the Wallenstein Age".

The sculptor symbolically placed the only war attributes - a drum and a rotten entrenchment from which cannonballs roll - in the back of the figure. The sullen, thoughtful expression and the slightly graceful demeanor express the regent's indecision. In his hand he holds the certificate of accession to the Peace of Prague .

Minor characters and overall equipment

The elector's weak governance, which was not very decisive, was underscored by the two minor figures who were the elector's companions and political opponents at the same time. The leadership of the Siegesallee Art Commission under Reinhold Koser opted for busts of Colonel Konrad von Burgsdorff and Chancellor Count Adam von Schwartzenberg , to whom Georg Wilhelm had left the government after his retirement and who had only recently been rehabilitated by historiography of the accusation of treason was.

Entire monument group 24 from 1899

Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch emphasized his painterly view of the group with mythical animals and foliage in the inscription cartouche on the base of the main figure, pilaster-like bench cheeks and two supporting lion figures under the bench, "which should be understood as a symbol of the still dormant strength of Brandenburg."

The ceremonial unveiling of the group took place on December 23, 1899. The main figure (right arm missing, further significant damage) and the bust of Count Adam von Schwartzenberg (without a nose, severe contour damage) are in the Spandau Citadel . The bust of Konrad von Burgsdorff, long believed lost, reappeared in 2011.

Tableaux vivants

On the initiative of the Countess von der Gröben , at the end of March 1898, "aristocratic theater performances for charitable purposes" were held in the Royal Theater , beginning with a tableaux vivants (living picture) in the play Der Ruhmesweg arranged by Walter Schott . The stage showed a fog-shrouded part of the zoo. The heroine Rosa Poppe performed a prologue that glorified the past . The subsequently lit stage presented a vision of the Siegesallee with all the groups and four living pictures on pedestals in the foreground, depicting Albrecht the Bear , his son Otto I , Ludwig II the Roman and Georg Wilhelm. Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch figured his figure himself - and the choice of Ludwig's figure was also due to the fact that it could be embodied by the only other noble sculptor in Siegesallee, the imperial intimate figure Emil Graf Görtz .

Well systems

Although Uechtritz-Steinkirch succeeded in bringing his talent for decorative figurative decoration to the monumental work for Siegesallee due to the special political background of his group, his talent was particularly evident in the design of fountains.

Hubertus Fountain Berlin

Hubertusbrunnen, Berlin, Großer Stern

The Hubertus Fountain from 1904 was almost monumental in character. On the Großer Stern , he designed an idealized, antique layout that was reminiscent of the style of the Dürer period. Four bronze hunting groups surrounded the fountain, designed by Fritz Schaper ( old Germanic buffalo hunt ), Karl Begas ( boar hunt in the Renaissance period ), Max Baumbach ( hare hunt in the Rococo period ) and Wilhelm Haverkamp ( contemporary fox hunt ). Reinhold Felderhoff contributed two large stone benches with hunting motifs. When Berlin was redesigned to become the world capital Germania by the National Socialists , the Victory Column was relocated to the Großer Stern in 1938/1939 and the Hubertus Fountain demolished in 1938. The four hunting groups are now in the zoo near the big star.

The Landsberger Paucksch, Hamburger Puvogel and Berlin Gänselieselbrunnen have been preserved .

Pauckschbrunnen Landsberg

Pauckschbrunnen, Landsberg an der Warthe

In 1896 the Landsberg industrialist Hermann Paucksch (mechanical engineering company and steam boiler factory H. Paucksch AG) donated the Pauckschbrunnen named after him, which was inaugurated in 1897. Von Uechtritz depicted a slender, stepped hill made of boulders and slabs in a basin, on which he placed a strong female figure. The bronze sculpture balances a yoke on the shoulders , at the ends of which two buckets hang on chains (planks). The hands hold the buckets. The figure symbolizes the hard work of the Landsbergers and their lifeline, the Warta . At the woman's feet, three children's figures are set in the rocks, to which the sculptor assigned different objects. The children and their attributes are supposed to symbolize the three economic pillars of the city at that time. The boy with the hammer and cog stands for industry, the girl with a fishing rod and the girl with a net and ship for shipping. The ship swims at the girl's feet in the water basin.

The fountain is located behind St. Mary's Cathedral , a cathedral from the 13th century. The current facility is a faithful reconstruction from 1997, as the old ensemble was destroyed. The reconstruction comes from the Polish sculptor Zofia Bilińska and was a foundation of the former German residents for the 740th anniversary of the city's foundation. Landsberg, the Polish city of Gorzów Wielkopolski in the Lubusz Voivodeship , celebrated its 750th anniversary in July 2007. To mark the occasion, in January 2007 the Polish Post issued a special stamp showing the fountain and the cathedral. According to the post office, the cathedral and the fountain are the two most famous landmarks of Gorzów Wielkopolski.

Puvogelbrunnen Hamburg

Puvogelbrunnen, Hamburg, on the Wandsbeker market square

The Hamburg fountain bears the name of Friedrich Puvogel , a long-time second mayor of Wandsbek . After Puvogel's death in August 1907, the Wandsbeker Beautification Association donated the fountain in his honor, which was set up on what was then the green space of today's Wandsbeker market square . Von Uechtritz himself chose the name of the central bronze sculpture The Awakening Day . A female figure accompanied by a putto stretches her right arm towards the sky and holds a white ball (lamp) in her hand, which could symbolize the rising sun.

In 1961, the Wandsbeker relocated the fountain to its current location opposite the Christ Church. In 1998 the central figure fell from the base and was badly damaged. Then it was stored in the restoration workshop of the monument protection office. The Monument Preservation Foundation financed the start of the restoration of the historical sculpture in 2005 . The patina was only partially removed because the age of the figure should remain recognizable.

The restoration was carried out in the name of the Puvogel project , which included the renovation of the fountain with its water fountains and the evening lighting as well as the redesign of the surrounding Puvogel garden. For this work, the Hamburg Senate provided funds from the Hamburg 2010 special investment program in 2005 , which were supplemented by donations. After all the work was completed, the garden was officially opened on August 16, 2006 and the fountain and its sculpture (re) opened .

Gänselieselbrunnen Berlin

Gooseies
Gänselieselbrunnen, Berlin, Nikolsburger Platz

The artist modeled a late work with the Gänseliesel and three geese, which were placed two years after his death above the Gänselieselbrunnen on Berlin's Nikolsburger Platz , which was completed in 1910 . Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch also designed the fountain. Above a water basin with a diameter of around six meters, a entwined hill of boulders builds up along the north side, on the plateau of which the bronze goose girl stands. The sculpture is 1.6 meters high. Three 55 centimeter high geese in different positions are arranged around the girl. The child wears pigtails and holds out a stick with his right hand, from which water drips into the basin. Water also falls into the depression from the approximately 1.50 meter high rock face at the child's feet.

During the times of need after the First World War, individual parts disappeared and in the 1940s the figures were completely melted down for armaments production. In 1987, the Berliner Industriebank donated a true-to-original replica to the Wilmersdorf district for the 750th anniversary of Berlin, which was made by the sculptor Harald Haacke . The inauguration took place in 1988. In 1999 the entire green area was redesigned based on the historical model.

The origin of the motif is the fairy tale of the Gänseliesel , which probably goes back to the city of Göttingen - the Gänseliesel is the city's landmark.

Works (selection)

Berlin

Other cities

Place and / or time unclear

  • before 1879: Statuette Karl von Holtei , acquired by Wilhelm I.
  • ?? Large equestrian statue of Frederick the Great , bronze statuette with black patina, 185 cm high, pedestal plinth made of dark-stained oak with four lion pilasters
  • ?? Frederick the Great with hat , 40 cm. info
  • ?? Bust of Bismarck , bronze with bust in an overcoat with the order of Pour le Mérite , height 34 cm. Black, stepped marble base, image

literature

  • Ethos & Pathos - The Berlin School of Sculpture 1786–1914. Catalog and volume accompanying the exhibition. Berlin 1990.
  • Uta Lehnert: The Kaiser and the Siegesallee. Réclame Royale. Reimer, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-496-01189-0 .
  • Peter Paret: The Berlin Secession. Modern art and its enemies in Imperial Germany. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main 1983, ISBN 3-548-36074-2 . (Ullstein book, volume 36074)

Web links

Commons : Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Uta Lehnert: Der Kaiser und die… , S. 388f.
  2. ↑ a b Uta Lehnert: The Kaiser and the ... , p. 389
  3. ↑ Ethos & Pathos ... , p. 115
  4. ↑ Illustrirte Zeitung Leipzig (LIZ), No. 2949/1900, p. 26. Quoted from: Uta Lehnert: Der Kaiser und die… , p. 188
  5. ↑ Uta Lehnert: The Kaiser and the ... , p. 189
  6. ↑ Anna Pataczek: exhibition. Death and burial culture in the Neues Museum . In: Der Tagesspiegel , January 22, 2012.
  7. ^ Death and burial in the Mark Brandenburg. Spectacular finds. ( Memento of April 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 925 kB) Domradio, January 14, 2012.
  8. ↑ Uta Lehnert: The Kaiser and the ... , p. 277
  9. ↑ Polish Post, new editions 2007, catalog no. 4148 (in the lower quarter of the page, issue date January 19, 2007) poczta-polska.pl
  10. ↑ The awakening day . City of Hamburg, press releases.
  11. ↑ Inauguration of the Puvogelbrunnen with pictures . City of Hamburg, press releases.
  12. ↑ Gänselieselbrunnen . In: District lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
  13. ↑ Fairy tales of the gooseies ( Memento from June 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ^ Hans-Werner Klünner: Berlin places. Photographs by Max Missmann . Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1996, ISBN 3-87584-610-9 , p. 17.
  15. ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List , part no. 003
  16. ^ Karl Meinecke: Husaren-Rundschau - The manual for every comrade . Association of former Blücher Hussars from Stettin and the surrounding area (ed.). Belgard a. Pers./ Pom 1929, p. 22
  17. ^ Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great. (No longer available online.) Seidel u. Son, archived from the original on November 15, 2010 ; Retrieved July 29, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Uechtritz-Steinkirch, Cuno from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH July 29, 1908
Place of death Berlin