Ernst Posselt

Ernst Karl Ludwig Posselt (born January 3, 1838 in Heidelberg , † February 21, 1907 in Berlin ) was a German merchant and art collector.

Life

Ernst Posselt was a son of the university professor of paediatrics Wilhelm Heinrich Posselt (1806–1877). In his youth he attended high school in Trarbach on the Moselle . He became interested in the commercial sector at an early age and trained as a businessman in Brussels . After completing this apprenticeship, he worked in the textile industry in Antwerp for a short period . Shortly thereafter, Posselt moved to Bradford , where he set up an export business in 1858 and took English citizenship in 1870. In 1869 he married Johanna Maria Peters (1847–1902) from Elberfeld , with whom he had five children. From 1883 to 1896 he lived in Warsaw and until his death in Berlin .

On his business trips abroad, he also visited Russia , where he soon saw his future business. So in 1883 he left the English company to his employees and moved to Warsaw, which was part of the tsarist empire . From there he founded several textile companies in the cities of Zgierz and Riga.

The family resting place is on the Heidelberg mountain cemetery in (Section A), the oldest part of the mountain cemetery, at the Steigerweg entrance. His father, Wilhelm Heinrich Posselt, and his mother rest here, the grave inscription in the right tombstone. The middle grave field preserves the memory of his grandfather, the pharmacist and member of the Baden state parliament Karl Ludwig Posselt (1782 Karlsruhe - 1845 Heidelberg) and his wife Karoline, nee. Other.

The art collector

Posselt's interest in art was likely aroused during his years in Belgium. But probably only with the onset of business success, he began to collectively. In his collecting activities he took advice from Wilhelm von Bode , among others . His main interest was the painting of the 17th century and primarily the Flemish and Dutch masters of that time. But he also acquired a few German and Italian paintings. He also collected porcelain, glasses and violins.

After his death, his children donated the 148 paintings collection from his native Heidelberg, where they are now in the Kurpfälzisches Museum .

The donated pictures include works by Jan Asselijn : Italian mountain pass with migrating people. around 1640 (Inv.-No .: G 5) - Ludolf Backhuysen : Seascape with fishermen and warships. around 1670 (Inv.-No .: G 8) - Nicolaes Pietersz. Berchem : Landscape with a waterfall and Arcadian staffage. around 1660–1670 (Inv.-No .: G 18) - Jan van Bijlert : brothel scene. around 1650 (Inv.-No .: G 516) - Giovanni Antonio Canal : View of the Grand Canal in Venice. around 1760 (Inv.-No .: G 53) - Giuseppe Maria Crespi : penitential sermon by a Jesuit priest. around 1730 (Inv.-No .: G 72) - Aelbert Cuyp : Going to church. around 1650 (Inv.-No .: G 74) - Anthonis van Dyck : Jupiter and Antiope. around 1620 (Inv.-No .: G 84) - Gerbrand van den Eeckhout : The Emmaus meal. around 1650 (Inv.-No .: G 1695) - Aert de Gelder : Judah and Joseph with the cup. 1682 (Inv.-No .: G 206) - Jan van Goyen : Village landscape. 1633 (Inv.-No .: G 210) Landscape with a farmhouse. around 1635 (Inv.-No .: G 208) ; Coastal landscape with a moving sea. (Inv.-No .: G 209) - Francesco Guardi : View of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice. around 1760–1770 (Inv.-No .: G 235) - Willem Claesz. Heda : Breakfast still life. around 1640–1650 (Inv.-No .: G 247) - Jan Davidsz. de Heem : Still life with fruit with a wine glass. in front. 1635 (Inv.-No .: G 250) ; Still life with a wine goblet, grape and lobster. around 1635 (Inv.-No .: G 251) - Meindest Hobbema : Canal landscape. around 1665 (Inv.-No .: G 260) - Willem Kalf : Still life with rolls, glasses and two porcelain vessels. around 1655 (Inv.-No .: G 367) - Jan Miense Molenaer : The slipper robbery. around 16750 (Inv.-No .: G 745) - Caspar Netscher : Portrait of a lady in a red satin dress. 1674 (Inv.-No .: G 503) - Alessandro Magnasco : Ancient temple with pelvic singer. around 1700 (Inv.-No .: G 414) ; Antique temple with figural staffage. around 1700 (Inv.-No .: G 415) - Jusepe de Ribera : The Sacrifice of Isaac. around 1640 (Inv.-No .: G 533) - Rachel Ruysch : Blumenstillleben, 1746 (Inv.-No .: G 560) ; Still life with flowers. 1746 (Inv.-No .: G 561) - David Teniers the Elder J .: Fishermen on the beach. around 1640–1650 (Inv.-No .: G 683)

literature

• Annette Frese, The Posselt Collection in the Kurpfälzisches Museum der Stadt Heidelberg , Heidelberg 1995, p. 4 ff.
• Posselt, William: Gottfried Posselt 1693–1768: his life, his ancestors and his descendants / Zsgest. u. ed. by W. Posselt. Munich, 1926