Daniel Dumreicher

Daniel Dumreicher , from 1824 from Dumreicher (* 1791 in Kempten ; † October 20, 1848 in Alexandria ) was a German wholesale merchant in Egypt . He was best known for his support for explorers and for mediating Egyptian antiquities for European art collections.

Origin, early years and family

Daniel Dumreicher came from a family of craftsmen in the Protestant imperial city of Kempten . His father Balthasar Dumreicher was a wig maker and hairdresser. Distant relationships existed with a branch of the family that had come to prominence and prosperity in Denmark and with the owners of the renowned Austrian trading company in Trieste . When he was 14 years old, he was sent to this Adriatic city for training. Daniel Dumreicher got to know important ports of the eastern Mediterranean and finally founded his own shop in Alexandria in 1814 together with his older brother David (1785-1852) and his younger brother Jakob (1796-1828?) . They benefited from the efforts of the Egyptian viceroy, Muhammad Ali Paschas , to establish closer ties with Europe.

In 1826 Daniel Dumreicher married Sophie Balthalon, the stepdaughter of Bernardino Drovetti , who was an influential figure in Egypt as a French consul, excavator and art dealer. Of the descendants of this connection, the grandson André von Dumreicher (1865–1953) deserves a mention. As the commander of a camel rider division of the Egyptian Coast Guard, he made a significant contribution to the exploration and pacification of the Egyptian desert regions.

Consul and "father of the Germans" in Egypt

An important enhancement of Daniel Dumreichers social position in Egypt meant his appointment in 1816 to the Danish vice-consul, 1823 for consul . He also took on German travelers who needed support and help. Among other things, he promoted the ventures of the architect Franz Christian Gau , the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Schimper , the botanist Theodor Kotschy and the geologist Joseph Russegger . Dumreicher obtained the release of Jakob Noa Epp, the son of emigrants from Württemberg, who had become known as the "Muselmann from Swabia" and had been deported into slavery. Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau emphasizes in his memories of his trip to the Nile that Dumreicher earned the nickname 'father of the Germans' here. Because of these merits, Duke Max in Bavaria, after his trip to the Orient, arranged for Dumreicher to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Michael in 1839 .

Political observer

Over a decade and a half, Daniel Dumreicher wrote around 190 reports and announcements as a correspondent for the Allgemeine Zeitung . He thus had a not insignificant influence on the German image of Egypt. In contrast to other political observers, Dumreicher endeavored to make a balanced assessment of Muhammad Ali's government , although its negative aspects became increasingly apparent.

Mediator of antiquities

The Egyptian expedition of Napoleon had drawn the attention of Europe to the evidence of early civilization on the Nile. Corresponding collections have now been created or expanded as planned. The Dumreicher brothers served this interest. In 1818 David Dumreicher had brought a mummy and a wooden sarcophagus to the Bavarian king (today the State Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich). From 1819 on, Daniel Dumreicher made donations to the King of Denmark and the Danish bishop and orientalist Friedrich Münter . The objects from the Pharaonic era are now in various collections in Copenhagen , mainly in the National Museum ( Nationalmuseet ) and in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek . The David Collection (Davids Samling) in Copenhagen shows a kufic inscription from the Nilometer on the island of Roda, which Dumreicher had broken out of the wall of the early Islamic building for Münter. The appointment of Dumreichers as Knight of the Danebrog Order in 1824 is closely related to these deliveries. Presumably also as a gift from Daniel Dumreichers, Taditjaina's mummy and coffin came to Württemberg . This ensemble is now part of the Egyptian Collection of the University of Tübingen .

literature

• Hans Wolfgang Müller : Contributions to the older acquisition history of the sculptures and antiquities in the State Collection of Egyptian Art in Munich . In: Andreas Kraus (Hrsg.): Land and Reich, Stamm und Nation. Problems and perspectives of Bavarian history (Festschrift Max Spindler ) . Volume 3. CH Beck, Munich 1984, pp. 101-155.
• Wolfgang Petz: Daniel Dumreicher (1791-1848). Merchant, consul, mediator between cultures. In: Günther Grünsteudel, Wilfried Sponsel (Hrsg.): Life pictures from Bavarian Swabia. Volume 19. Steinmeier, Deiningen 2017, ISBN 978-3-943599-60-2 , pp. 267-318.
• Hannibal Peter Selmer (Ed.): Nekrologiske Samlinger 1848–49 . Copenhagen without a year, pp. 386–388.
• Steffen L. Schwarz: Despots - barbarians - economic partners. The Allgemeine Zeitung and the Discourse on the Ottoman Empire 1821–1840. Böhlau, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-412-50347-5 , pp. 172-174, 275.