Gottfried August Gründler

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Gottfried August Gründler (born January 3, 1710 in Altenburg , † January 17, 1775 in Halle (Saale) ) was a German painter, draftsman and engraver (especially for book illustrations) as well as artisan and naturalist.

life and work

Gründler initially trained as a painter in Altenburg. In 1733 he became court painter to Duke Christian Ernst . In 1736 he was commissioned to redesign the art and natural history chamber of the Francke Foundations in Halle an der Saale. From 1698 onwards , August Hermann Francke laid it out in his orphanage for teaching purposes, but in the first few years it was spread out over the whole house in a disorderly manner. After moving to the former dormitory of the boys in the roof vault in 1734, it could be combined into one unit.

In five years, Gründler systematized and cataloged the collection, which consisted of over 4600 objects, and turned it into a permanent collection that is now considered the oldest civic museum space in Germany. He divided the objects into those of natural origin and those that were created by human hands. He presented them in the renovated and remodeled hall in 16 new cabinets, which were individually tailored to the respective content in the furnishings he had created and the colorful and humorous painting of the cabinet top units. In 1741, Gründler's contract was terminated for unknown reasons, although he had not yet completed his work. Possibly the costs for the design of the cupboards were too high for the pietistic client.

For several years Gründler was mechanic and mathematicus at the University of Halle . In 1773 he was appointed master drawing at the university. Among other things, he created the copper plates for Jacob Theodor Klein's basic zoological work Historia piscium naturalis .

Gründler was accepted as a member of the Association of Natural Scientists in Berlin (today Society of Natural Scientists in Berlin ).

literature

  • The creator of the art and natural history chamber in the orphanage Gottfried August Gründler . In: The Chamber of Wonder . Halle / Saale: Verlag der Francke Foundations, 1998, pp. 29–31, ISBN 3-930195-39-9
  • Anja Spalholz: The painter and engraver Gottfried August Gründler (1710–1775) . Dissertation currently in progress at the Historical Institute of the University of Paderborn , Supervision: Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Seng. Anja Spalholz already completed her master's thesis on Gründler.
  • Thomas Müller-Bahlke : The Chamber of Wonder of the Francke Foundations. Publishing house of the Francke Foundations in Halle 2012. Second, revised and expanded edition, esp. Pp. 36–43.

Web links

Commons : Gottfried August Gründler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Brief life story of the famous Herzogl. Saxon. Painter and university engraver Mr. Gottfried August Gründler zu Halle. ( Memento of the original from January 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Activities of the Berlin Society of Friends of Nature Research. Volume 1 (1775), pp. 454-467  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ub.uni-bielefeld.de
personal data
SURNAME Gründler, Gottfried August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter, draftsman, engraver, artisan and naturalist
DATE OF BIRTH January 3, 1710
PLACE OF BIRTH Altenburg
DATE OF DEATH January 17, 1775
Place of death Halle (Saale)