Goethe-Schiller monument
The Goethe-Schiller Monument is a bronze double statue of the German poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller . The monument, inaugurated in 1857, stands in front of the German National Theater on Theaterplatz in Weimar . It was created by the Dresden sculptor Ernst Rietschel .
freeze frame
The monument depicts the couple of poets standing next to each other: Goethe, the older of the two, of sturdy build and in a court coat , looking calmly in front of him, leaning against an oak stump ; his left hand grasps Schiller's shoulder while he offers him the laurel wreath with his right . Schiller, young, slim and in a long frock coat with the shimmering collar and open waistcoat, holds a scroll in his left hand , while the right, half refusing, reaches for the wreath.
In order to emphasize literary equality, the poets are shown in the same height - although Schiller was about 1.80 m taller than Goethe with only 1.69 m.
The Goethe and Schiller monument on Theaterplatz in Weimar , 2013
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Friedrich Schiller
dito
The Goethe and Schiller Monument around 1900
The dedication on the front of the pedestal of the Goethe-Schiller monument
Cake server with Goethe and Schiller monument, around 1860
Base and dedication
The front of the base made of polished Baden granite donated by Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden bears the dedication inscription
To the poets
Goethe and Schiller
Artist and signature
The sculptor Ernst Rietschel from Dresden created the draft for the statue. He was assisted by his assistant Gustav Kietz in creating the model of the group of figures . In 1857, the foundryman Ferdinand von Miller completed the bronze casting in the royal ore foundry in Munich . Melted Ottoman cannon barrels from the Battle of Navarino , Greece, were used as material.
On the back of the log can be found as a copyright statement , the engraved signature of the artist:
Installation, walling in and renewed unveiling
The memorial was ceremoniously unveiled on September 4, 1857 on the occasion of the celebrations for the 100th birthday of Duke Carl August von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach - together with the monument to Christoph Martin Wieland . On the occasion of this ceremony, Franz Liszt's Faust Symphony was premiered in Weimar the next day, on September 5, 1857 .
From May 1942 to 1945 the monument - the only one in the city - was walled in to protect it from air raids ; in the summer of 1945 it was "unveiled" a second time from this enclosure . There is a well-known propaganda photo, shown by Beyer, on which soldiers of the Red Army are involved.
Meaning and reception
In addition to the Kyffhäuser monument , the Goethe and Schiller monument is the most famous monument in Thuringia ; Among other things, it is used for an advertising campaign for the regional daily newspaper Thüringer Allgemeine .
Copies of the statue are in Anting , San Francisco , Milwaukee , Cleveland , and Syracuse .
literature
- Dirk Appelbaum: The memorial. Goethe and Schiller as a double statue in Weimar . Wasmuth: Edition Haniel, Tübingen 1993, ISBN 978-3-8030-0402-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Herbert Meyer: Schiller's escape. Represented in personal testimonies, contemporary reports and pictures. Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim 1959, p. 58.
- ↑ Rainer Schmitz : Goethe from the crypt . In: Focus . No. 12, March 22, 1999.
- ↑ Pictures of Destruction . Weimar 1945. Photos by Günther Beyer. Catalog for the exhibition in the Stadtmuseum Weimar 2015
- ^ Hans A. Pohlsander: National Monuments and Nationalism in 19th Century Germany . Peter Lang, 2008, ISBN 978-3-03911-352-1 , pp. 119 ( books.google.com ).
Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 47 ″ N , 11 ° 19 ′ 32 ″ E