Eleonore Schmidt-Herrling

Eleonore Schmidt-Herrling (born December 15, 1877 in Weimar ; died 1960 in Erlangen ) was a German librarian , local researcher and painter .

Life

Her father, Christian August Schmidt-Herrling (1844–1907) was an initially unsuccessful chemist, writer, music critic and newspaper editor. Eleonore started school in Erlangen and spent her school days there until 1889; due to the subsequent change of location u. a. after Karlsruhe and Coburg , however, she ultimately did not have a valid school leaving certificate. In Coburg, her father had even taught her himself. From 1893 her father was employed by the Erlanger Tagblatt ; she was also active as a journalist as a theater critic and reporter on lectures and art exhibitions. She also wrote local history essays and became one of the leading Erlangen local historians, who also co-founded the Erlangen Heimatverein in 1919 and became its secretary for many years.

Despite not having finished school, she was able to learn to paint in Coburg, Nuremberg and Erlangen, especially from Christian Landenberger . She drew and painted landscape watercolors, flower arrangements, portraits, city views of Erlangen and also made sketches for larger works as well as ornament drawings as commissioned work. Accordingly, along with Adolf Schinnerer and Hans Barthelmess, she was one of the first artist group of the Erlanger Kunstverein, in which she received honorary membership in 1957 for 50 years of activity.

In 1907 her father died and she took on various jobs to keep herself and her mother afloat. She gave painting lessons, worked as a proofreader and translator for scientific papers, and worked part-time as a draftsman in a fine bag maker. She was also given the management of the public library. Unsatisfied as a result, she applied to the University Library in Erlangen , where she was accepted because of her language skills on the condition that she continued her education in Latin. Employed unpaid from the spring of 1909, she received a part-time job and salary in 1910. In 1929 she was finally employed on a permanent basis, because of her age, civil service was no longer possible.

Schmidt-Herrling was initially used for cataloging, but stood out for her expertise in the graphic collection. Since 1913 she has been in charge of the graphic arts, the art and coin collection as well as the photo area and the art history exercises. While Eugen Stollreither was in charge of the Erlangen University Library , she wrote the 776-page catalog for the 19,000-letter collection of Christoph Jacob Trew , which had been in Erlangen since 1809 after the takeover from the University of Altdorf . In 1940 this catalog went to print after ten years of work. At the same time, Schmidt-Herrling published together with Gunda Werner on the history of the Altdorf University Library and its special libraries.

During the relocation of library holdings and works of art in World War II , Schmidt-Herrling played a key role in the organization. She retired in 1944, but after the end of the war she again took part in the work of the University Library in Erlangen on the occasion of the repatriation and reorganization of the library holdings. Otherwise she devoted herself to painting in retirement.

Fonts (selection)

• From Erlanger book printers and booksellers (In: Erlanger Heimatblätter , 1923–1925)
• Erlanger memories (In: Erlanger Heimatblätter , 1952–1953)
• History of the University Library Altdorf from 1586–1750 (dissertation)
• The collection of letters from Nuremberg doctor Christoph Jacob Trew (1695–1769) in the University Library of Erlangen (1940)

literature

• Agnes Stählin: Eleonore Schmidt-Herrling . In: Inge Meidinger-Geise (Hrsg.): Frauengestalten in Franken . Weidlich Verlag, Würzburg 1985. ISBN 3-8035-1242-5 . Pp. 196-201.