Friedrich Reusch

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Friedrich Reusch in the studio

Johann Friedrich Reusch (born September 5, 1843 in Siegen , † October 15, 1906 in Girgenti , Sicily) was a German sculptor and university professor .

Life

Reusch was born in the Siegener Poststrasse as the offspring of a long-established family of craftsmen and the son of a master carpenter, which can be traced back to 1658. He first learned the carpentry trade in his father's workshop. After August Kiß became aware of his artistic talent through Reusch's carving and advised him to study, he went to Berlin in 1863. There he was a student at the Berlin Art Academy until 1867 and worked from 1866 to 1872 in Albert Wolff's studio on his monument to Friedrich Wilhelm III. and the relief for the Berlin Victory Column . In 1872 he received a scholarship from the Michael Beer Foundation for a trip to Italy; beyond the time covered by the scholarship, he lived in Rome from 1872 to 1874 .

He then went into business for himself in Berlin. From 1881 he taught as a professor at the Königsberg Art Academy , which he also led as director. The Philosophical Faculty of the Albertus University in Königsberg awarded him an honorary doctorate . In 1904, a heart condition that had occurred in 1900 forced him to give up teaching. In 1906 Friedrich Reusch, who was not married, but whose housekeeper Rosa accompanied him throughout his life, died during a vacation trip to Sicily. He was buried in the Lindenbergfriedhof in his hometown of Siegen.

His success as a sculptor in the German Empire can probably be explained by the fact that he particularly addressed the national feeling of the Germans with numerous works.

plant

After his return from Italy he was best known for the large sculptures he created.

  • War memorial in Bensberg (1881)

  • Portrait medallion on the tombstone of Carl Steffeck (1890)

  • Kaiser Wilhelm Monument in Münster (1897)

  • Kaiser Wilhelm Monument in Duisburg (1898)

  • Bismarck Monument in Duisburg (1905)

His highly regarded genre works include:

  • Psyche, soothing the Cerberus (life-size)
  • Cupid with the helmet of Mars (marble)
  • Triumph of Cupid over Hercules (marble)
  • Triton boy on a dolphin

Koenigsberg

In addition to numerous busts and decorative architectural sculptures for public buildings, he created the monuments to the astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel and the ophthalmologist Julius Jacobson , the Duke Albrecht monument , the larger than life statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I in the coronation robe in front of the palace and the statue of Otto in Königsberg by Bismarcks .

Wins

The war memorial in the Fissmeranlage next to the Nikolaikirche in Siegens Oberstadt, inaugurated on August 6, 1877, goes back to an initiative of Julius Debel in the summer of 1873. The stone Germania with sword, laurel wreath and imperial eagle is around 2.5 meters high without a base and was executed by Fr. Spies according to Reusch's model. In addition to a cost subsidy of 6,000 marks approved  by the magistrate and the city ​​council , the monument was financed by the proceeds from collections, donations, raffles and concerts.

The Diesterweg monument was unveiled on October 29, 1890 on Siegener Poststrasse. It was moved several times, until 2016 it stood near the Martinikirche , since then on the back of the Lower Castle at the entrance of the new university library. Some sources attribute the bust to his brother Eduard Reusch .

The Kaiser Wilhelm Monument in Siegen, inaugurated in 1892, brought Friedrich Reusch a lot of praise and recognition. It stood on the market square until the Second World War , when it was dismantled and the bronze equestrian statue was melted down for armament purposes.

The larger than life bronze statues in Siegen, called Henner and Frieder , depicting a miner and a smelter, are symbols of ore mining and smelting in Siegerland. Reusch created them for the industrial and commercial exhibition in Düsseldorf in 1902 , in Siegen they have had their place on the Oberstadtbrücke since 2015 after several relocations.

In the Siegerland Museum there is also a marble bust portraying himself as well as the busts of his parents.

  • War memorial with Germania

  • Diesterweg memorial

  • "Henner and Frieder" (location 2005)

  • "Henner and Frieder" (location since 2016)

  • Reusch's tomb

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Reusch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Irmgard Wirth: The buildings and art monuments of Berlin, Charlottenburg, part 2, city and district of Charlottenburg. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1961, p. 249.
  2. ↑ mentioned in the Thieme-Becker artist lexicon , see literature
  3. ↑ Figure grave Lehmann with Barbara Leisner, Heiko KL Schulze, Ellen Thormann: The Hamburg main cemetery Ohlsdorf. History and tombs. Verlag Hans Christians, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-7672-1060-6 , p. 85, cat. 518.
  4. ↑ Monuments in Siegen. ( Memento from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 470 kB). In: Perspective. 4/2010, pp. 46-48.
  5. ↑ Siegerland symbolic figures. In: Siegener Zeitung . July 9, 2011, p. 43.
personal data
SURNAME Reusch, Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Reusch, Johann Friedrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH September 5, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Wins
DATE OF DEATH October 15, 1906
Place of death Agrigento