Ernst Caspar Dürr

Ernst Caspar Dürr: Inauguration of the chapel by Elector Johann Georg II of Saxony

Ernst Caspar Dürr (* around 1645 , † around 1700 ) was a German medalist , copperplate engraver and from 1671 to 1681 coin engraver for the Dresden Mint .

Life

Little is known about Ernst Caspar Dürr's life. It is certain that he was born around 1645 as the son of the Weimar copper engraver Johann Dürr (* Augsburg around 1600, † Weimar 1663) in Thuringia (outside Weimar) and brother of the Weimar mint master Johann Christoph Dürr (* Weimar 1648; † Weimar 1684 ) was. After attending school in Weimar, he was first trained by his father. He later learned the trade of medalist. From 1670 onwards he was appointed Princely-Saxon-Gotha Court Medalist in Dresden and was considered a master of his subject at the time. He usually signed his medals with his initials E.CD. He also appeared as a copperplate engraver, primarily doing portraits.

Elector Johann Georg II. Of Saxony built a new chapel on his Moritzburg hunting lodge near Dresden, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1661. On the occasion of the inauguration of this chapel on June 24, 1672, the St. John's Festival, he commissioned his medalist Ernst Caspar Dürr to design a commemorative coin that Wilhelm Ernst Tentzel had reproduced in his work Sächsische Münzkunde 1705. He fulfilled the commission to the satisfaction of his elector. On the front he depicted the interior of the palace chapel, in which the elector kneeled in front of the altar and the elector's sword and electoral hat lay on a cushion next to him.

Ernst Caspar Dürr: Illustration in Sächsische Münzkunde 1705 by Wilhelm Ernst Tentzel

Christian Wermuth was still working with him as a journeyman during his time in Dresden, where he perfected his knowledge. When another succeeded the throne after the death of his elector, Ernst Caspar Dürr lost his office as court medalist, but stayed in Dresden for another three years. In 1683 Ernst Caspar Dürr accepted a call to Zerbst and worked there at the court of the Duke of Anhalt-Zerbst until 1692 , after which Ernst Caspar Dürr moved to Stettin and later even to Riga .

See also : Wechseltaler - Dürr, as the successor to Johann Caspar Höckner in Dresden, apparently cut part of these mint dies.

literature

• Julius Erbstein , Albert Erbstein : Discussions in the field of the Saxon coin and medal history with the listing of Hofrath Engelhardt's collection , Dresden 1888
• Ernst Caspar Dürr: Saxonia numismatica lineae Ernestinae et Albertinae . Gotha 1705-1714
• Christian E. Dekesel: European numismatic literature in the 17th century . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005
• Tyll Kroha: Large encyclopedia of numismatics . Bertelsmann-Lexikon-Verl., Gütersloh 1997

Web links and sources

Commons : Ernst Caspar Dürr  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Ernst Caspar Dürr in the directory of prints of the 17th century published in German-speaking countries
• An article and another article on Ernst Caspar Dürr in Numispedia
• Christian Wermuth's training with him
• Order of a commemorative coin by the Elector of Saxony (English) (PDF file; 494 kB)