Franz Wilhelm Driesler

Franz Wilhelm Driesler with his second wife Elisabeth

Franz Wilhelm Driesler (born February 2, 1854 in Lohr am Main , † June 16, 1910 in Würzburg ) was a gilder , sculptor and painter of historicism . Driesler worked mainly in the Spessart and the Maindreieck .

Life

Beginnings in Lohr (until 1897)

Franz Wilhelm Driesler was born on February 2, 1854 in Lohr am Main, Bavaria, which was part of the Lower Main District . The Driesler family had been in artistic professions for generations. The boy's grandfather, Adam Josef Driesler (1784–1823), founded a craft drawing school in Lohr, the forerunner of today's vocational school . The father Johann Jakob Driesler (1815-1892) worked as a gilder, barrel painter and varnisher and owned a business in Lohr. This meant that the family was already closely tied to the ecclesiastical area, as most of the orders came from there.

Driesler had two older sisters, the mother's name was Anna Cölestine, née Niedermaier (1816–1867). At first he probably attended the Latin school in Lohr before continuing his training in the drawing school founded by his grandfather . Driesler probably initially wanted to become an architect , but his father forbade him to do this job. He was trained as a gilder in his father's workshop. An academic education for the artist is unlikely, although contemporary descriptions attest such an education.

Franz Wilhelm Driesler around 1877

At the age of 23, Franz Wilhelm Driesler then opened a “ photography shop” in Lohrer Ludwigstrasse in 1877 . This made him the second photographer in the small town. It was housed in the back building of the father's workshop. At the same time Driesler was probably already working as a gilder for his father. The first draft was made in 1879 for a side altar in the parish church in Urspringen . The young Driesler was quickly established and renovated many churches in the eastern Mainviereck . Franz Wilhelm Driesler made a name for himself primarily by working in Marktheidenfeld .

In 1880 the young artist married Maria Louisa Schoenmann, who was a year younger than him. Three years later, Driesler received his first major commission: he made the high and two side altars for the parish church in Wiesenfeld . By the end of the 1880s, there were more and more orders that went beyond the mere renovation of the church furnishings . From 1892 the work of the craftsman consisted of more new constructions than repairs.

The fame of Franz Wilhelm Driesler was so great that he ousted the local craftsmen. The Aschaffenburg Agriculture Department recommended Driesler to work in the Georgskirche in Neubrunn. The local craftsmen then took action against the foreign Driesler. Even the police had to intervene. Driesler then decided not to paint the walls and the ceiling.

The 1200th anniversary of Kilians in the diocese of Würzburg , to which Lohr belonged, had a great influence on Driesler . The chronicle, published for the feast of the Franconian Saint, contained several illustrations by the Schiestl brothers , which the artist later translated into his work. The murder of Kilian appeared in the altarpieces that Driesler created for the pilgrimage church Maria im Grünen Tal in Retzbach in 1891.

In 1892 Driesler took over his father's workshop . In the same year, Driesler's wife died on February 14th. In order to ensure the care of the children, Franz Wilhelm Driesler married Elisabeth Keßler from Lohr, who was three years younger than him, in the following year. At this point in time, the artist was probably planning to move away from Lohr to open a workshop in the more central part of Würzburg. However, he did not apply for a job at the Burkardus Church in Würzburg until 1895 .

Atelier in Würzburg (until 1910)

The right side altar in St. Michael in Lohr

The left side altar in St. Johannes in Hüttenheim

First Driesler exhibited his work in the Würzburg Rothplattengasse with his friend, sculptor Max Schmitt. In March 1896 he bought a house at Heidingsfelder Strasse 45 (today Friedrich-Spee-Strasse 41) for 54,000 marks . Franz Wilhelm Driesler had the building expanded and added a hall for his studio. On May 1, 1897, Driesler was granted the right to live in the city. With the move he received orders from his hometown Lohr, at the same time Driesler exhibited for the first time at a fair in Nuremberg .

With the move to Würzburg, Driesler's sphere of activity expanded significantly. For the first time he received orders from the dioceses of Fulda , Bamberg and Regensburg, which were further away . In 1905 the artist was granted citizenship of the city of Würzburg. Prior to that, Driesler had made an outstanding contribution to furnishing the monastery church in Oberzell, which can be considered one of his main works, since 1901 . Here Driesler worked once in neo-baroque style and was paid 22,000 marks.

In the last years of his life, Driesler also increasingly worked with other artists' studios. This resulted in joint works with the Schiestl brothers, Eulogius Böhler , Augustin Kolb , Caspar Lessig and Georg Bausewein. In 1905 the artist's sons also appeared for the first time as assistants in the workshop. The Driesler studio had temporarily grown to over 15 employees. Driesler had even bought a " moving van " that could be loaded onto railway wagons like a container.

Around 1909, Franz Wilhelm Driesler fell ill with gastric cancer and began to hand over his studio. Although the sons had become painters, they preferred to remain independent. Finally, the two Driesler students Adam and Anton Weber received the premises and continued to run the studio until it was destroyed in 1945. Franz Wilhelm Driesler died on June 16, 1910 in his home in Würzburg. The body was transferred to Lohr and buried there on June 19 in the city cemetery. The tombstone has been preserved.

Marriages and offspring

Franz Wilhelm Driesler married the teacher's daughter Maria Louisa Schoenmann on June 21, 1880. She was born on August 23, 1855 in Kleinrinderfeld . The wedding took place in the Neumünster Church in Würzburg. The marriage had three children. Maria Louisa died of pulmonary tuberculosis on February 14, 1892 . The two sons studied at the Munich Art Academy and became painters themselves.

• Franz Jakob (born April 15, 1881)
• Anna Katharina (born June 15, 1883)
• Ludwig Sebastian (born September 19, 1885)

After the death of his first wife, Driesler married again. His second wife was Elisabeth Keßler from Lohr am Main. This time the wedding took place on June 19, 1893. The couple got married in the pilgrimage church Maria im Grünen Tal in Retzbach, which had been redesigned by Driesler a few years earlier. The relationship resulted in two children.

• Katharina Maria (born May 14, 1894)
• Veronika Margarethe (born February 4, 1898)

Catalog raisonné

The list is based on the biographical work Historicism in the Church by Gertrud P. Fels from 1996 and is structured according to the places of activity. Driesler preferred to create carved altars and pulpits . Most often he worked with wood. Franz Wilhelm Driesler's works are mostly from the Neo-Gothic . But there are also works of the Neo-Renaissance and New Baroque styles. Due to the size of the workshop, it is difficult to identify work by Driesler himself.

place	church	year	Objects	Status
Alitzheim	St. Martin	probably 1910	Stuccoing and painting of the church	receive
Altbessingen	St. Mary of the Assumption and St. Aegidius	1895-1899	renovation	not clear
Altenbuch	St. Wolfgang	1901	High Altar, Way of the Cross	receive
Altenbuch	Main road	not clear	Wayside chapel	receive
Ansbach	St. Hubertus	1887-1896	Renovation, statue of Hubertus, high altar etc.	receive
Arnstein	St. Nicholas	1906 and 1912	High altar, pulpit, renovation of the side altars	receive
Arnstein	Maria Sondheim	1909-1910	Restoration, alteration of the Vierzehnheiligen altar	receive
Aschfeld	St. Boniface	around 1902	Restoration of the interior of the church	receive
Bergrheinfeld	Mary pain	1891	Restoration of the interior of the church	receive
Bibergau	St. Simon and Jude Thaddaeus	1907-1909	Restoration of the high altar, two new side altars	receive
Binsfeld	St. Nicholas	1897-1901	Restoration of the interior of the church	receive
Bischbrunn	Holy Trinity	1888	High altar, two side altars, pulpit	reconstructed, pulpit removed
Breitenbach	Holy Family	1905-1915	High altar, communion bench, pulpit etc.	receive
Büchold	St. Mary's Visitation and St. Nicholas	1898-1904	Restoration, remodeling, font	receive
Burghausen	Birth of Mary and St. Valentine	1890-1894	High altar, side altars	lost
Burgsinn	St. Michael	1889	High altar tabernacle, altar sheet	Tabernacle lost
Effeldorf	St. James the Elder	1904-1907	Restoration, two individual figures	receive
Eichelsee	St. Laurence	1894-1896	Restoration, painting, tabernacle	Ceiling painting preserved
Eichenbühl	St. Cecilia	1905-1906	High altar, side altars, stations of the cross	receive
Erbendorf	Loreto chapel	1902	Carved altar	receive
Eating life	St. George	1891–1896 and before 1911	High altar, side altars, pulpit, painting, etc.	lost
Your field	St. Michael	1892-1893	High altar, side altars, pulpit, painting, etc.	lost or sold
Eussenhausen	St. Bartholomew	1904-1905	Restoration, side altars	receive
Eussenheim	St. Peter and Marcellinus	1890-1893	High altar, side altars, pulpit, painting	removed, high altar brought back
Frammersbach	St. Bartholomew	1894-1895	High altar, single figure	changed
Gabolshausen	St. Laurence	1910	High altar, side altar, stations of the cross	receive
Garstadt	St. Michael	1893	Restoration of the interior of the church	receive
Geisa	St. James and St. Philip	1901-1906	Side altars, choir stalls, confessional etc.	largely removed
Geldersheim	St. Nicholas	1891-1893	Side altars, pulpit, baptismal font, etc.	largely removed, partly lost
Gemünden am Main	St. Peter and Paul	1887	Painting, ceiling painting, high altar, pulpit etc.	Destroyed in 1945
Gerlachsheim	Holy cross	1903 and 1908	Church stalls, restoration	receive
Mournful treasure	St. Cyriac	1886–1887 and 1908	renovation	not clear
Großlangheim	St. James	1904-1906	Restoration, side altar, Urban figure, etc.	receive
Güntersleben	St. Maternus	1904-1911	High altar, side altars, pulpit, stations of the cross etc.	receive
Halsheim	St. Sebastian	1887-1890	Painting, restoration	received, renewed
Hergolshausen	St. Peter and Paul	1887	Painting, renovation	receive
Hoechberg	Virgin Mary's birth	1906-1909	restoration	received, changed
Hohenfeld	St. Margaret	1904	restoration	not clear
Hünfeld	St. James	1897-1899	Painting, high altar, side altars etc.	receive
Hüttenheim in Bavaria	St. John Baptist	1897-1901	Side altar, pulpit, stations of the cross etc.	receive
Karsbach	St. Gertrude	1882	restoration	not clear
Kirchlauter	Assumption Day	1902	Restoration of the high altar	not clear
Laudenbach	St. Aegidius	1871, 1893 and 1895	Restoration, high altar, painting	largely removed
Lohr am Main	St. Michael	1890, 1897 and 1905	Restoration, high altar, side altars	largely preserved
Lohr am Main	St. Joseph	1888 and 1896-1897	High altar, side altars, painting etc.	largely removed
Lohr am Main	no church	probably 1897	Pietà of the Good Friday procession	receive
Marburg	St. John Evangelist	1906-1907	pulpit	away
Marburg	no church	after 1900	Winged altar	receive
Book of Mary	Book of Mary	1875, 1882-1884	Restoration of the church interior	receive
Marktheidenfeld	St. Laurence	1879–1881, 1894 and 1904	Restoration of the church interior	receive
Marktheidenfeld	Kreuzberg Chapel	1890	High altar	lost
Morlesau	St. Cyriac	1909, 1911 and 1914	restoration	receive
Mühlbach	Fourteen helpers	1888-1892	Restoration, painting, high altar, side altars	largely lost
Neubessingen	St. Michael	not clear	tabernacle	lost
Neubrunn	St. George	1886	Restoration, new altar panel	receive
Neuendorf	St. Sebastian	1892-1893	renovation	receive
Oberelsbach	St. Kilian	1895-1896	restoration	receive
Oberleinach	St. Laurence	before 1896	High altar, side altars	lost
Oberriedenberg	St. Martin	1903	High altar, restoration etc.	receive
Obersfeld	St. Peter and Paul	1898-1900	Side altar, restoration	receive
Obervolkach	St. Nicholas	1890	High altar, side altars, communion bench, etc.	lost
Oberwerrn	St. Bartholomew	1892	High altar, side altars, pulpit, stations of the cross	receive
Oberzell	St. Michael	1902-1906	High altar, side altars, pulpit etc.	receive
Sacrificial tree	St. Lambertus	1889	Painting, high altar, side altars, pulpit	removed or greatly changed
Rengersbrunn	Mariae birth	before 1909	Tabernacle, Antependium	lost
Retzbach	Maria in the Green Valley	1891-1895	High altar, side altars	away
Rittershausen	restoration	1897-1898	restoration	received changed
Clearing	St. Cyriac	1896-1897	Restoration, Pietà	lost
Rodenbach am Main	St. Rochus	1902 and 1904	restoration	receive
Rothenfels	Assumption Day	1882-1905	Restoration, crib etc.	receive
Sachserhof	St. Wendlinus Chapel	1897	Altar, Pietà	receive
Sächsenheim	St. Peter and Paul	1893–1896 and 1902	Painting, high altar, side altars etc.	largely preserved
Schleerieth	Assumption Day	after 1900	restoration	receive
Schönau	Minorite Monastery	1889–1890 and 1899	restoration	receive
Schollbrunn	St. Heinrich and Margaretha	1888-1889	High altar, side altars, pulpit etc.	lost, high altar reconstructed
Swan field	St. Michael	1893 or 1903	tabernacle	receive
Sendelbach	St. Joseph	1907	High altar	away
Steinbach	St. Joseph	1910	Restoration, Way of the Cross	receive
Steinfeld	Assumption of Mary and Bartholomew	1893-1897	Painting, high altar, side altars, pulpit etc.	away
Stetten	St. Albanus	1893-1894	High altar, side altars etc.	brought back to church building
Sulzheim	St. Aegidius	1901-1903	tabernacle	receive
Uengershausen	Protestant church	1902	High altar, pulpit	receive
Urspringen	St. Mary	1879-1880 and 1896-1897	Side altars, renovation	receive
Waigolshausen	St. James	1899-1900	Way of the Cross, relief	largely preserved
Waldbrunn	St. Norbertus	1889-1890	High altar, side altars, pulpit	removed or lost
Waldbüttelbrunn	Old Church of St. Bartholomew	1904	restoration	away
Waldzell	St. Vitus	1891 and 1900	Joseph statue, triumphal cross	Cross preserved, statue lost
Wernfeld	Old Church of the Assumption of Mary	1886	Restoration, painting, high altar, side altars	largely removed
Weyersfeld	St. Albanus	1886	restoration	receive
Meadow field	Mariae Himmelfahrt and Sebastian	1884, 1887 and 1905	High altar, side altars, pulpit	lost
Wiesentheid	St. Mauritius	1901	Way of the Cross	receive
Windheim	St. Aegidius	1909-1912	Restoration, crucifix	receive
Wurzburg	St. Burkard	1895-1897	High altar, side altars, restoration, etc.	High altar preserved, side altars removed
Desert cell	St. John the Baptist	1879	tabernacle	preserved (originally for St. Laurentius, Marktheidenfeld)
Zell am Main	St. Laurence	before 1906	High altar	away
Zellingen	Lady Chapel	1893-1894	pulpit	receive

literature

• Gertrud Fels: Franz Wilhelm Driesler. The influence of the 1200th anniversary of Kilian on his artistic work in the diocese of Würzburg . In: Würzburger Diözesangeschichtsblätter Vol. 52 . Würzburg 1990. pp. 389-404.
• Gertrud P. Fels: Franz Wilhelm Driesler - An artist from Lohr is looking for his way . In: Spessart. Monthly magazine for the Spessart cultural landscape . 106 Jhg./April 2012. Lohr am Main 2012. pp. 3–9.
• Gertrud P. Fels: Franz Wilhelm Driesler. His work for the Church of St. Burkard in the years 1895–1898 . In: Würzburger Diözesangeschichtsblätter Vol. 48 . Würzburg 1986. pp. 219-230.
• Gertrud P. Fels: Historicism in the church. The studio of Franz Wilhelm Driesler (= Church, Art and Culture in Franconia, Vol. 6) . Wuerzburg 1996.

Web links

Commons : Franz Wilhelm Driesler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• German biography: Franz Wilhelm Driesler
• WürzburgWiki: Franz Wilhelm Driesler

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fels, Gertrud P .: Franz Wilhelm Driesler - An artist from Lohr is looking for his way . P. 3.
2. ^ Fels, Gertrud P .: Historicism in the church . P. 28.
3. ^ Fels, Gertrud P .: Historicism in the church . P. 31.
4. ^ Fels, Gertrud P .: Franz Wilhelm Driesler - An artist from Lohr is looking for his way . P. 7.
5. ^ Fels, Gertrud: Franz Wilhelm Driesler. The influence of the 1200th anniversary of Kilian on his artistic work. P. 389 and 392.
6. ^ Fels, Gertrud P .: Franz Wilhelm Driesler. His work for the Church of St. Burkard in the years 1895–1898 . P. 219.
7. ^ Fels, Gertrud P .: Historicism in the church . P. 42 f.
8. ^ Fels, Gertrud P .: Franz Wilhelm Driesler - An artist from Lohr is looking for his way . P. 8.
9. ^ Fels, Gertrud P .: Historicism in the church . P. 48.
10. ^ Fels, Gertrud P .: Historicism in the church . Pp. 123-153.