David Roentgen

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David Roentgen
Roentgen at the Tsar's court in St. Petersburg, silhouette by Johann Friedrich Anthing , 1784
Writing cabinet by David Roentgen, around 1780/90
Dresser ( Chinoiserie ) by David Roentgen

David Roentgen (* 11. August 1743 in Mr Hague ; † 12. February 1807 in Wiesbaden ) was a German Ebenist (Art carpenter ) and cabinet makers.

Live and act

David Roentgen, the eldest son of Abraham Roentgen , completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter with his father in Neuwied am Rhein after completing his school education in the Niesky / Oberlausitz college from 1757 - like his younger brothers later on - and then returned as a journeyman after his years of traveling father's carpentry.

He became one of the best cabinetmakers of his time, who set new standards in this craft in Europe and also clearly surpassed his father in artistic terms, but developed his real genius in organization and marketing, which was first shown in 1769, when it was back then comparatively small companies were on the verge of bankruptcy.

The recession of the 1760s did not stop at the nobility either. Production in stock, long-term storage of the expensive, exotic precious woods to dry as well as storage of expensive materials such as ivory , mother-of-pearl or fire-gilded bronze fittings brought Abraham Roentgen into financial difficulties. The resourceful David Roentgen was able to persuade his skeptical father to empty the furniture store by holding a lottery and thus shake off the worst financial worries. In addition, he had made himself and the name of the local workshop known among the wealthy potentates in Germany, so it was no coincidence that in 1771 he was commissioned to equip the newly built garden palace in Wörlitz-Dessau with some furniture. This building quickly became the Mecca of the fashion-conscious German nobility, as the new classicist style from England had been implemented here for the first time.

In 1772, while his father was still alive, David Roentgen was entrusted with the management of the company, which he expanded into a world-famous company.

In 1774 Roentgen traveled to Paris for the first time : He recognized the style change from Rococo to Classicism and transferred the rich inlaid decorations of the interior furnishings to the new types of furniture seen in Paris. The motifs were also subject to change: from the playful peinture en bois of the Rococo, they developed more and more to the stricter clarity of flat components. His pieces with cleverly laid out secret compartments and ingenious technical gadgets, which at the time were called "mechanical furniture", became particularly famous. Here he worked closely with the watchmaker and inventor Peter Kinzing .

A period of great economic boom followed. Progressive company organization with group work, rationalization, the use of local fruit trees instead of the more expensive exotic ones as well as many other measures to reduce costs improved the economic situation from year to year. Careful observation of the market and active influencing enabled Roentgen to repeatedly receive sensational, lucrative orders. As a member of the Moravian religious community , which was influential in the 18th century , he also benefited from its excellent economic reputation. Since his workshop was exempt from the guild requirement, which stipulated the maximum number of one journeyman and two apprentices, he was able to increase the number of his employees to around 80 by the end of the 1780s. Johann Michael Rummer is one of the well-known employees . The efficiency of the own workshop was supplemented and expanded by a network of specialized supplier companies. a. well-established artists as designers were also included. Such a stately manufactory had emerged, but in which work was still entirely “by hand”. Nevertheless, several hundred pieces of furniture were made for export every year.

Roentgen supplied almost all princes and royal houses in Europe, the nobility and wealthy citizens with his artistically designed furniture. The Prussian king appointed him a "secret councilor of commerce ". After he had bought the master craftsman's rights in Paris in 1780 and was thus also allowed to supply the French court, he received from Louis XVI. the title “ Ebeniste Mecanicien du Roi et de la Reine ” (Royal cabinet maker for mechanical furniture). In the 1780s, however, he sold most of his X-ray furniture to the court of Tsarina Catherine the Great of Russia.

Shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolution, it became clear that the Roentgen workshop had passed its zenith: the French king had an expensive desk dismantled because he now disliked it aesthetically, the Russian tsarina even refused to accept an entire consignment for the same reason . The political disaster came on top of the financial disaster: In 1794, Roentgen was classified as a counterrevolutionary ( émigré ) by the revolutionary new rulers in France in a revolutionary decree and he had to flee from the French troops, which were the areas on the left bank of the Rhine and also the city of Neuwied, Headquarters of the Roentgen workshop. The impending renewed change in taste and the political collapse of the previous market (high nobility) caused by the French Revolution forced Roentgen into permanent bankruptcy until his death. In a long, arduous process, he reduced the size of his business until he finally had to close it completely. He then tried to sell the products that had already been made for a few years. He died in 1807 on a diplomatic trip in the service of the Moravian Brethren .

Others

The furniture from the Röntgen workshop was so well known and valued in its time that even Goethe mentions it in a story:

"Anyone who has seen an artificial desk of X, where with a get moving train many springs and resorts, desk and writing materials, bid and ask subjects to develop at a time or in rapid succession, which will be able to get an idea of how those palace unfolded, in which my sweet companion now drew me. "

- Goethe : Wilhelm Meister's Wanderjahre: The New Melusine

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christian Zander: David Roentgen - famous, bankruptcy ... forgotten! In: Ders .: The carpentry trade in Germany (1350-1870). Hamburg 2013, pp. 239–270.

literature

  • Manuel Mayer: The realization of a piece of furniture. Abraham Roentgen's writing secretary in the Würzburg residence. In: Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Kunst und Geschichte. Volume 70 (= Archive of the Historical Association for Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg. Volume 141). Würzburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-88778-555-0 , pp. 239-259.
  • Melanie Doderer-Winkler: Abraham and David Roentgen (1711–1793; 1743–1807) . In: Rheinische Lebensbilder. Vol. 17, ed. by Franz-Josef Heyen, Cologne 1997, pp. 57-78.
  • Dietrich Fabian and others: Roentgen furniture from Neuwied. Life u. Work by Abraham a. David Roentgen. Bad Neustadt 1986.
  • Peter Prange:  David Roentgen. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11202-4 , p. 731 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • WF Schmidt et al: Kinzing u. Roentgen. Watches from Neuwied. Life u. Factory of the watchmaking families Kinzing u. the cabinet maker Abraham u. David Roentgen. Bad Neustadt 1984.
  • Andreas Büttner, Ursula Weber-Woelk, Bernd Willscheid (ed.): Noble furniture for the highest circles - Roentgen's masterpieces for Europe's courts. Catalog Roentgen-Museum Neuwied 2007.
  • Wolfgang Thillmann, Bernd Willscheid (ed.): Furniture design - Roentgen, Thonet and the modern. Roentgen Museum Neuwied 2011.
  • Detlev Richter, Bernd Willscheid: Purity, Fire & Shine - Stobwasser and Roentgen. World-class handicrafts. Roentgen-Museum Neuwied 2013, ISBN 978-3-9814662-5-6 .
  • Huth, Hans: Abraham and David Roentgen and their new furniture workshop . Berlin 1928.
  • Josef Greber: David Roentgen, the royal cabinet maker from Neuwied . Neuwied 1948.
  • Achim Stiegel: Precision and dedication. Furniture art by Abraham and David Roentgen , exhibition catalog, Berlin 2007.
  • Michael Stürmer : Handicraft and court culture . Munich 1982, ISBN 3-406-08284-X .
  • Christian Zander: David Roentgen - famous, bankrupt ... forgotten. In: Ders .: Das Tischlerhandwerk in Deutschland (1350–1870), Hamburg 2013, pp. 239–270.
  • Petra Krutisch: World famous and in great demand: Furniture from the Roentgen Manufactory in the collection of the Germanic National Museum . Nuremberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-936688-25-2 .

Web links

Commons : David Roentgen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Roentgen, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German artisan
DATE OF BIRTH August 11, 1743
PLACE OF BIRTH Herrnhaag
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1807
Place of death Wiesbaden