Society for goldsmithing

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The Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst eV (GfG) is a German non-profit organization promoting international contemporary design trends in jewelry and equipment. It has been based in the German Goldsmith's House in Hanau since 1985 and has been running a jewelry museum there since 2006.

history

The professional representatives of German jewelers, gold and silversmiths, the Free Association of the Gold and Silversmiths of the City of Berlin and the Association for German Applied Arts were looking for an effective revitalization and for ways to renew the German goldsmithing art at the beginning of the 1920s. An exhibition in the Altes Museum in Berlin on the subject of "jewelry as a work of art" prompted the Berlin jeweler Ferdinand Richard Wilm to found the "German Society for Goldsmithing" on August 3, 1932 in Berlin. Fourteen representatives from business, art and culture came together for the constituent assembly, including the goldsmith Emil Lettré, the jeweler Jaro Reimann and the architect and designer Peter Behrens . The founding board included u. a. the general director of the Staatliche Museen Berlin, Wilhelm Waetzoldt , and Peter Behrens, who was available as a consultant in artistic matters.

From the beginning, one of the primary tasks was to promote gold and silversmithing. Even in the founding year, a competition was started under the motto "The silver cup", which continues to this day on changing topics. In 1933, the company donated the golden ring of honor for goldsmithing and the gold medal for goldsmithing for the first time.

They also wanted to contribute to the documentation and dissemination of precious metal art through journalism. In 1933, “Die Deutsche Goldschmiedekunst”, edited by Wilhelm Lotz , was the company's first annual issue. The journalistic activity continued into the 1950s with the publication series “Kleinodien” and the publication of the magazine “Gold + Silber”. Even today, the Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst publishes catalogs and publications on metal art at irregular intervals.

FR Wilm, appointed court jeweler Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1912, was well networked and used his contacts for the work of society. Practiced in dealing with the highest political circles, shortly after the seizure of power he sought contact with Adolf Hitler and important functionaries of the NSDAP. Financial resources were repeatedly allocated to society, representatives of the management team took part in important events and Presidents Ludwig Roselius and Hermann Esser also used their political influence for society.

On April 7, 1942, at the suggestion of FR Wilm, a branch of the society was founded in Hanau, which on October 18, 1942, set up the German goldsmith's house in the Old Town Hall, which had previously been used as the museum of the Hanau History Association . The conversion of the house into a museum of gold and silversmithing - in the midst of the turmoil of the war - was only possible with the support of important agencies of the NSDAP.

The museum building was destroyed in a bomb attack in March 1945 and was not rebuilt until 1958. After the end of the Second World War, the Society for Goldsmithing moved its headquarters from Berlin to Hamburg and carried out the change from a national to an international organization. In the early 1950s, the "German" was deleted from the company's name. In 1985 she moved to the German goldsmith's house in Hanau. This has been managed by the company since 2006.

activity

The company sees itself as an internationally oriented, cultural institution. It wants to promote contemporary goldsmithing through competitions, prizes, exhibitions and journalistic activities. In addition, an archive on jewelry art and device design of the 20th and 21st centuries is to be built. The society for the preservation of traditional gold and silversmithing techniques using new design content such as granulation, filigree and enamel wants to participate in competitions. Since it was founded, GFG has organized over 150 exhibitions and over 100 competitions.

The society has over 400 members from home and abroad, including mainly gold and silversmiths, designers and artists. Hartwig Rohde is currently the president.

Awards

Golden ring of honor

The Golden Ring of Honor is the highest international award given to a goldsmith or silversmith. It is given as a token of appreciation and thanks for artistic or educational work. At the same time, it should represent a symbolic commitment to goldsmithing and a sign of friendship between the wearers. The winners of this award select a new honorary ring bearer every three years, and the last artist to be awarded creates the honorary ring for his successor.

Gold medal for goldsmithing

The gold medal is awarded to honor members of society who have made great contributions to society. The gold medal was designed in 1932 by metal sculptor Kurt Schumacher from Berlin. The obverse shows the god Apollo.

Competitions

International Silver Triennial

The International Silver Triennial has been organized in cooperation with the German Goldsmith's House in Hanau to promote contemporary silversmithing since 1965. A publication with the works of the participants appears for each silver triennial.

Friedrich Becker Prize Düsseldorf

Friedrich Becker Prize

literature

  • Society for goldsmithing eV (Hrsg.): Jewelry and equipment. An exhibition by the Society for Goldsmithing . Munich 1994.
  • Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst eV (Hrsg.): Wertzeichen. 75 years of the Society for Goldsmithing . Hanau 2007.
  • Detlef Sundermann: Scandal about the Nazi past . In: Frankfurter Rundschau of February 28, 2017, p. F17.
  • Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger, Michael Bermelo: Das Goldene Netzwerk , Societäts-Verlag Frankfurt am Main 2019, ISBN 978-3-95542-361-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stephan Demmrich: HJ Wilm German silver design in the 20th century . In: Inaugural dissertation to obtain a doctorate at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn . Bonn 1997, p. 96 .
  2. ^ Society for goldsmithing eV Hanau (Hrsg.): Jewelry and equipment. An exhibition by the Society for Goldsmithing . Klinkhardt / Biermann, Verlagbuchhandlung GmbH, Munich / Berlin 1994, p. 211-232 .
  3. ↑ Stephan Demmrich: HJ Wilm German silver design in the 20th century . In: Inaugural dissertation to obtain a doctorate at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn . Bonn 1997, p. 75 .
  4. ↑ Michael Bermejo, Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger: The Golden Network. The German Society for Goldsmithing in the Time of National Socialism . Societäts Verlag, Frankfurt 2019, ISBN 978-3-95542-361-2 , pp. 37-52 .
  5. ↑ Michael Bermejo, Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger: The Golden Network. The German Society for Goldsmithing in the Time of National Socialism . Societäts Verlag, Frankfurt 2019, ISBN 978-3-95542-361-2 , pp. 63-104 .
  6. ↑ Michael Bermejo, Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger: The Golden Network. The German Society for Goldsmithing in the Time of National Socialism . Societäts Verlag, Frankfurt 2019, ISBN 978-3-95542-361-2 , pp. 119-134 .
  7. ↑ Dr. Christine Jung: German goldsmith's house. Past, present and future . Ed .: Magistrate of the Brothers Grimm City Hanau. Hanau 2017, ISBN 978-3-926011-55-8 , pp. 32-80 .
  8. ^ Sundermann: Scandal .