Ferdinand Avenarius

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Ferdinand Avenarius

Ferdinand Ernst Albert Avenarius (born December 20, 1856 in Berlin , † September 22, 1923 in Kampen on Sylt ) was a German poet and founder of the magazine Der Kunstwart .

Life

Ferdinand Avenarius was a son of the bookseller Eduard Avenarius, a brother of the philosopher Richard Avenarius and a step-nephew of Richard Wagner . He attended schools in Berlin and from 1871 in Dresden , studied in Leipzig in 1877 and in Zurich from 1878, among other things, art and literary history and philosophy, and after traveling through Italy and Switzerland settled in Dresden.

In 1887, Avenarius founded the magazine Der Kunstwart , which dealt with current issues in art and cultural policy . This publication had a great influence on the taste formation of the bourgeoisie. Here he opened, among other things, a passionate debate about the literary works of Karl May . Since 1894 Avenarius was married to the daughter of the Dresden writer Rudolf Doehn , Else Avenarius (née Doehn, * 1859 † 1932). They lived in a villa built by Schilling & Graebner in Blasewitz .

Avenarius spent the summers in Kampen on Sylt, where he is considered to be the “discoverer” and popularizer. For example, together with the Klappholttal founder Knud Ahlborn , Avenarius set up an association to preserve the typical island landscape, from which Morsum-Kliff , the first nature reserve in Schleswig-Holstein, developed. Karl Hanusch set up his "Villa Uhlenkamp" in 1903. Avenarius helped young artists to stay longer on the island through grants, including Johann Vincenz Cissarz , Ernst Kreidolf , Wenzel Hablik and Rudolf Otto . Avenarius became the first honorary citizen of the Kampen community.

Grave site in Keitum on Sylt

In 1902 he founded the Dürerbund together with the art historian Paul Schumann . Avenarius was a member of the board of the German Garden City Society and was a member of the German Werkbund . Heinrich Tscharmann built the Dürerbundhaus for him in Blasewitz in 1910, which also housed the Kunstwart's publishing rooms. Avenarius had a strong influence as an art teacher, as early as 1908 he spoke of the development of an art that transmitted spiritual values ​​exclusively with light, color or line without memory of forms of reality. He also gave the concluding speech to the participants at the First Freideutschen Jugendtag on the Hohe Meissner in October 1913. As early as 1914 he turned against the war propaganda on the German side. From 1918 he also accused the propaganda of the Entente by publishing extensive visual material with the subtitle "Writings for real peace"; He hereby denounced the Versailles Peace Treaty , which unilaterally burdened Germany with war guilt and "prevented a just peace".

Ferdinand Avenarius died at the age of 66 and was buried in the cemetery of the island church of St. Severin in Keitum on Sylt. After his death, his stepson, the writer Wolfgang Schumann, took over the management of the Kunstwart and the intellectual leadership of the Dürerbund . His nephew Johannes Maximilian Avenarius , whom he had encouraged a lot, became a well-known graphic artist .

Works (selection)

  • Wander and become. Poems . Diederichs, Florence 1881. ( digitized version )
  • From the land of the sun . 1885.
  • The children of Wohldorf , story. Ehlermann, Dresden 1887. ( digitized version )
  • Live , seal. Reisland, Leipzig 1893. ( digitized version )
  • Max Klinger's pen art. A companion through your fantasy world . Essay. Amsler and Ruthardt, Berlin 1895.
  • Voices and pictures. New poems . Diederichs, Florence and Leipzig 1898. ( digitized version )
  • Voices and pictures. Newer poems. Callwey, Munich 1910. ( digitized version )
  • The happy book. Collected art from German poets and painters. Callwey at Kunstwart-Verlage, Munich 1910.
  • Max Klinger as a poet . Callwey, Munich 1917. ( digitized version )
  • The picture as a fool. The caricature in the sedition, what it says - and what it reveals . Callwey, Munich 1918. ( digitized version )
Book cover The picture as a fool. The caricature in the sedition, what it says - and what it reveals
  • Fist. A game , Callwey, Munich 1919. ( digitized version )
  • Baal. A game , drama. Kunstwartverlag Callwey, Munich 1920.
  • Jesus. A game , drama. Callwey, Munich 1921.

Editorial activity

  • German poetry of the present , 1882.
  • House book of German poetry , 1902.
  • Ballad Book , 1907.
  • The machinations in world madness . Writings for Real Peace, 1921.

literature

Web links

Commons : Ferdinand Avenarius  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Ferdinand Avenarius  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ulrich Schulte-Wülwer, Sylt in der Kunst, Heide 2018.
  2. ^ Under German Destiny - Kunstwart supplement since 1914.
  3. ↑ Open letter to Lord Northcliffe as a foreword to the book Die Mache im Weltwahn .
  4. ↑ No copy can be found
personal data
SURNAME Avenarius, Ferdinand
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Avenarius, Ferdinand Ernst Albert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German poet
DATE OF BIRTH December 20, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH September 22, 1923
Place of death Kampen