Gustav Willgohs

Gustav Adolph Friedrich Willgohs (born December 26, 1819 in Dobbertin , † February 8, 1904 in Berlin-Kreuzberg ) was a German sculptor .

Life

View of the choir with altar in the monastery church in Dobbertin

Gustav Willgohs was the fourth of seven children of the surgeon Johann Friedrich (Christian) Willgohs (born July 10, 1775 Gnoien), who worked as a surgeon in the Dobberin monastery , and his wife Margarete Friederike Hedwig, née. Linge.

Gustav was born on Boxing Day, December 26th, 1819 in Dobbertin, and was baptized by Pastor Friedrich Birckenstädt in the monastery church on December 28th, 1819 . The godfather was the kitchen master Gustav Hartwig Schulze as a tax officer of the monastery office. After his father's early death in 1830, he left his wife with seven minor children. The large family received support from the monastery office in Dobbertin.

After attending school in the Dobbertin village school , the young and talented Gustav Willgohs was initially only able to learn the trade of a carpenter instead of an apprenticeship as a sculptor in Dobbertin until 1840. The subsequent wandering finally took him to Berlin in early 1841. There he worked six days a week as a carpenter and until 1847 attended Sunday classes at the art and trade school of the Academy of Arts . He shone with particularly good achievements, which in encouragement and recognition of hard work earned him the small silver medal in 1845 and the large silver medal of the Academy in 1846. On November 16, 1847, the Dobbertiner monastery captain Carl Peter Johann Baron von le Fort submitted an application to the state parliament in Sternberg to grant the son of Willgoh, who died in Dobbertin, annual support of fifty Reichsthalers for three years. The condition was that p. Willgohs also proves his applecation during the same period. Payment was made through the monastery treasury. In the account books of the Dobbertin monastery office from 1848 to 1850, under expenditure money is noted: Gustav Willgohs to pay 58.16 Courant annually to state support for obtaining sculpture in Berlin… .

In September 1847, he entered a school at the academy with the sculptor Ferdinand August Fischer , who exempted him from the teaching fee out of human kindness . In order to be able to make a living during his apprenticeship, Willgohs asked Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II on October 12, 1847 for a scholarship of 200 thalers a year. On November 11, 1847, Ludwigslust announced that, at Willgohs' request, a scholarship of 50 thalers would be approved by Johannis 1848 for two years from his box. During these years Willgohs lived at the lowest subsistence level, especially since payments from the Dobbertiner monastery coffers ceased from 1850. In a letter from Willgohs, as a student of sculpture, dated July 3, 1850, to the Schwerin Secret Cabinet Councilor Eduard Prosch , he asked for further support in order not to have to interrupt further studies "for my whole beginning happiness without support for my food worries".

With two portrait reliefs of the Grand Duchess's valet, Mr. Böhme, which he sent to Schwerin in August 1849 as proof of his artistry, he gave the Grand Duke and the Ministry of Art the first testimony of his work. Five talers in gold were the wages for this work. After two years of study, Willgohs applied for a one-year extension of the scholarship on July 3, 1850 and asked for 100 thalers a year, of which only 50 thalers were approved. At the request of the Ministry of Education, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II also granted a one-time grant of 30 thalers from his private box. Gustav Willgohs thanked Ferdinand August Fischer, now a professor and full member of the Royal Academy, for handing over his assessment of June 28, 1850, which the Director of the Royal Academy of Arts, Prof. Herbig, approved on July 4, 1850. "Gustav Adolph Willgohs took part diligently as a student in the academy and in the great hall and made good progress, so he would like to confirm what his teacher Prof. Fischer said"

Willgohs was involved in several construction projects in Germany in his modest artistic career. When, in the summer of 1851, the Royal Prussian Geheime Oberbaurat Friedrich August Stüler was looking for a good sculptor for the Schwerin palace , the most famous sculptor of the time, Christian Daniel Rauch , recommended the young sculptor Gustav Willgohs to him. On August 5, 1851, on behalf of the Mecklenburg-Schwerin Castle Construction Commission, August Stüler signed a fixed contract with six paragraphs and a fixed salary of 500 with the sculptor Gustav Adolph Willgohs in Berlin for the period from September 1, 1851 to August 31, 1852 Thalers off. A quarterly payment of 125 thalers was made in Berlin. The Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II approved the proposal of the Palace Construction Commission on August 25, 1851 from Doberan with the condition that the Willgohs were not permanently employed in palace construction. The contract was extended to December 31, 1852 on the same terms. After the submission of an all-submissive Pro Memoria to the cabinet on September 19, 1854, the work was continued with an annual salary of 600 thalers until the completion of the palace in 1857.

In the first year of his activity as a castle sculptor in Schwerin, Willgohs modeled the statues of four Mecklenburg princes in addition to some small works. His most important works during these years in Schwerin were the statues of Count Gunzelin and Heinrich above the main portal as part of the regional historical sculpture program and the Dukes Heinrich the Friedfertige , Johann Albrecht I and Adolf Friedrich in the palace courtyard. In the throne room there are eight allegorical statues "Justice", "Wisdom", "Strength", "Grace", "Christian Faith", "Christian Love", "Church Doctrine" and "Church Art". Willgohs also worked on the fountain in the courtyard, on statues and created various putti and angels. The sculptures of the four evangelists "Johannes", "Lukas", "Markus" and "Matthäus", created by him in 1854, are in the castle church .

The 1.19 meters high four evangelists Johannes, Lukas, Markus and Matthäus are also in further impressions in the Dobbertiner monastery church . Gustav Willgohs donated it to the monastery rulers in 1856 out of gratitude for the financial support of his sculpture studies in Berlin. They stand as plaster casts in sandstone imitation colors on four pillars in the choir polygon. Mark and John on the south side and Matthew and Luke on the north side. However, they could only be erected after the consecration of the church in October 1857, as the columns and canopies were delivered too late by the Marchschen pottery factory in Berlin.

Since 1859 there are more casts of the four evangelists in the Wolfshagen church (Uckermark) .

That Willgohs was not only a well-known and accurately working sculptor was especially evident in the oak pulpit. The draft of the pulpit by the Wismar architect Heinrich Thormann, who was commissioned with the restoration of the monastery church, was rejected. The monastery captain Otto Julius Freiherr von Maltzan decided on the design by the Schwerin court building officer Theodor Krüger, who was responsible for church buildings in Mecklenburg . The technical assistance and restoration support was the responsibility of the secret archivist and curator Friedrich Lisch from Schwerin. On September 19, 1855, Willgohs wrote to Lisch about the design of the pulpit: “I couldn't answer your letter earlier. I just got a small attack of cholera which had to stay in bed for 6 days and I lost the desire to write letters. The sketch for Mr. Krüger's pulpit is very nice, although the first general impression on me was almost a little louder ... I would therefore like to ask you to discuss a few small details with Mr. Baumeister again, if you can find it and he Herr Krüger shouldn't take it amiss ... Namely, the tips of the arches of the pulpit fields sting in the eyes, if I may say so. If perhaps the arch were simply and easily decorated, it would probably like to get a better view ... But I do not want to have said any of this, because I am not an architect and only speak as the eye tells me. You, my dear archivist, will excuse me for this. The pulpit is always very beautiful ... "On the same day Willgohs wrote to the monastery head and council of the Dobbertiner Church:" The draft of the pulpit sent to me by the archivist receives my approval and I would prefer them all to the pulpit designs of Mr. Thormann . I would therefore like to combine my wish with the request that the supervisors want to determine that Mr. Krüger's draft be carried out ... As for the figures, since there are now 4, a very good biblical story would come to the pulpit. Moses as the lawgiver and founder of the Holy Scriptures, Isaiah as the greatest prophet, John as the herald of near salvation and Paul the perfecter and closest to us. Or if it didn't matter to want something from different times, I would suggest the 4 evangelists ... “In 1855 Willgohs designed and modeled the four pulpit figures in the arched fields. They were carved in oak by the Berlin sculptor Friedrich Dietrich in 1856. The pulpit figures received great attention and recognition at the Mecklenburg Art Exhibition in 1856.

After the completion of the new Schwerin palace, Willgohs went to Italy in 1858 and allowed himself a study visit to Rome, despite the refusal of the Grand Ducal support.

From 1861 to 1865 he worked for August Stüler at Hohenzollern Castle . Among the extensive sculptural jewelry he created there are eight statues of the Hohenzollern emperors modeled from plaster and painted in color in the large decagonal Imperial Hall. The statues include: Heinrich V , Friedrich I. Barbarossa , Friedrich II. , Rudolph I , Ludwig the Bavarian , Carl IV. , Sigismund , Friedrich III. In the Kaisersaal there are also two reliefs of Emperor Maximilian I and Emperor Karl V. The sandstone statue of Count Jobst Nikolaus von Zollern from 1863 is on the outside staircase. At the entrance to the castle complex above the Adlertor there is the equestrian image of the Elector of Brandenburg Friedrich I made of sandstone and at the entrance there are two statues of castle guards. In the bishop's tower there are statues of Friedrich von Zollern as bishop of Regensburg and Albrecht of Brandenburg as archbishop of Mainz from 1862. In addition to nine coats of arms in the margrave's room and a mantelpiece, the battle of the Teutonic Knights against the Lithuanians in 1394 and eight relief figures in the king's room, Willgohs also made Saint Michael in 1862 in the St. Michael's Chapel and the six statuettes made of oak in the Christ Chapel.

From 1865 a "young girl praying her morning prayer in front of a book" is known. This free marble work, two feet seven inches tall, was offered to Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II, but it was never bought.

At the inauguration of the new main building of the University of Rostock , Willgohs was awarded the Cross of Merit of the House Order of the Wendish Crown on January 27, 1870 . Together with Christian Genschow, he had taken over the execution of all sculptural work on the facades and produced this in excellent quality to everyone's full satisfaction. The sculptural decoration includes Duke Johann II. , Duke Albrecht IV. , Duke Johann Albrecht I , Duke Ulrich , allegorical figures, relief portraits and heraldic reliefs.

His last major known work was the figure of the megalopolis, cast in bronze in the Lauchhammer art foundry in 1874 on the twelve-meter-high Victory Column designed by Hermann Willebrand made of red Swedish granite in the Old Garden in Schwerin . On the upper end of the column with the Corinthian capital stands the 2.60 m high allegorical female figure of the megalopolis . His daughter Anna is said to have acted as a model for him and for a long time one should have heard the saying from the mouths of the inaugurated Schwerin: Dor is Anna Willgohs. The Grand Duke paid Willgohs only 1,500 marks for the plaster model, but the total cost of the victory column was almost 115,000 marks.

After the bronze relief of the founding director and doctor of the sanatorium and nursing home Carl Friedrich Flemming in Schwerin on the Sachsenberg in 1882, his traces as an active sculptor are lost.

In 1903 Gustav Willgohs was last mentioned in the Berlin address book, where he died in 1904 in Gertraudenhospital . Willgoh's ancestors from Neukalen and Gnoien emigrated to Watertown , Wisconsin in the USA in 1853 .

Works

1849	Relief of the valet Böhme
1851/57	extensive sculptural decoration for the Schwerin Castle : 1852/53 on the facade of the main portal made of sandstone the statues Count Gunzelin I, Count Heinrich I, Duke Heinrich V , Johann Albrecht I, Duke Adolf Friedrich , 1853/57 eight allegorical figures in the Throne room (“Justice”, “Wisdom”, “Strength”, “Grace”, “Christian Faith”, “Christian Love”, “Church Teaching”, “Church Art”), putti. On the tambour of the magnificent dome eight life-size boys' figures, including three farmers, three shepherds and two fishermen 1854 made of cast zinc (restored in 2002), caryatids "bacchants", "pomons". Castle fountain.
1854	Draft monument by Christian Peter Wilhelm Beuth in Berlin
1854	four evangelists Johannes, Lukas, Markus, Matthäus for the castle church Schwerin . (Restored in 2013), 1854/55 two angels making music (putti) made of plaster.
1855	Organ prospectus (since 1913 in the village church Groß Trebbow )
1856	four evangelists Johannes, Lukas, Markus, Matthäus for the monastery Klosterkirche Dobbertin. (Restored in 2007) four pulpit figures Moses, Isaiah, Paul, John.
1857	Marble busts of Crown Princess Victoria and Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm on the occasion of their upcoming wedding
1857	Statuette "The Violin Player" (lost)
1857	Statuette "The Flute Blower" (lost)
1857	Statuette " Pauline Lucca as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro" (lost)
1859	four evangelists Johannes, Lukas, Markus, Matthäus in the church Wolfshagen (Uckermark) . (Restored in 2001)
1859	Terracotta grave relief for the Lücke family in Berlin (preserved)
1859	Statuette "Il moccolo", figure in Roman costume (lost)
1859	Statuette "Il carnevale", figure in Sabine costume (lost)
1860	Draft for an equestrian monument to Friedrich Wilhelm III. in Berlin
1861/65	Extensive sculptural decoration for Hohenzollern Castle near Hechingen : statue of Count Jos Niklas von Zollern , in the imperial hall around 1861 eight emperor statues of Heinrich V, Friedrich I, Barbarossa, Friedrich II, Rudolph I, Ludwig the Bavarian, Carl IV, Sigmund , Friedrich III., Two bishop statues of Count Friedrich von Zollern and Albrecht von Brandenburg, relief busts of Emperor Maximilian I and Emperor Karl V, two battlements guardians, coats of arms, mantelpiece etc. (mostly preserved) - a copy of the Jos-Niklas statue came in the collection of the "Hohenzollern Museum" Berlin (lost)
1863	Grave relief for the builder friend Max August Nohl in Iserlohn (original preserved in the museum; a copy on the grave)
1863	Draft for an equestrian monument to Friedrich Wilhelm III. in Cologne
1865	Marble figure "praying girl" (lost)
1866	two groups of “weapon trophies” as part of the festive decorations for the victory celebration 20./21. September 1866 in Berlin (destroyed)
1866	Marble bust of Pauline Lucca (lost)
1868	Bust of an Italian (lost)
1868/69	Sculpture decorations for the new Rostock university building: four sandstone statues, Duke Johann IV. , Duke Albrecht V , Duke Johann Albrecht I , Duke Ulrich , six allegorical figures from the faculties ("Medicine", "Theology", "Jurisprudence", " Philosophy "," Botany "," Astronomy "), numerous relief portraits, coat of arms reliefs (together with Christian Genschow , preserved)
1874	Figure of the megalopolis on the Victory Column in Schwerin (preserved)
1881	Statue "Hero" (lost)
1882	Bronze relief on the monument of the doctor Dr. Carl Friedrich Flemming in Schwerin on the Sachsenberg (unveiled June 10, 1882; preserved)

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  Statue Gunzelin I. Schwerin Castle

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  Statue of Heinrich I. Schwerin Castle

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  Evangelists Castle Church Schwerin

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  (2)

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  Angels making music at Schwerin Castle Church

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  (2)

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  Schwerin victory column with megalopolis

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  (2)

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  Grave relief of the Lücke family in Berlin (1859)

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  Jos Niklas Hohenzollern Castle

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  Johann III., University of Rostock

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  Albrecht V., University of Rostock

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  Ulrich III., University of Rostock

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  Johann Albrecht I, University of Rostock

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  Flemming Memorial Schwerin

Awards

• 1845 small medal from the Berlin Academy of the Arts
• 1846 large silver medal from the Berlin Academy of the Arts
• 1870 Gold Cross of Merit of the House Order of the Wendish Crown in Rostock

literature

• Festschrift: The castle church and its inauguration on October 14, 1855. Schwerin 1855.
• Catalog academy exhibition Berlin: 1852 No. 819, 820. 1858 No. 1038-1041. 1860 no. 1268-1271. 1866 No. 871. 1870 No. 1011. 1872 No. 1117. 1881 No. 1087.
• The discourses. Magazine for the arts, art industry, and artistic life. Berlin 1856, p. 177, Berlin 1861, p. 269, Berlin 1867, p. 13, Berlin 1870, p. 62.
• August Stüler : Hohenzollern Castle. Berlin 1865.
• August Stüler, Ernst Prosch: The castle in Schwerin. Festschrift. Berlin 1866/69.
• Rudolf Count Stillfried: Hohenzollern Castle. Berlin 1870.
• Wilhelm Raabe, Gustav Quade: Mecklenburg Fatherland Studies. Volume 1, Wismar 1894, pp. 33-35, 40, 65.
• Willgoß, Gustav . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 36 : Wilhelmy-Zyzywi . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1947, p. 20 (here the incorrect spelling Willgoß ).
• Rolf Seifert: Dor succeeds Anna Willgohs. In: SVZ Schwerin. Mecklenburg magazine. April 14, 1990, No. 3, p. 6.
• Horst Alsleben : Evangelists as a token of thanks, the sculptor Gustav Adolf Friedrich Willgohs comes from Dobbertin. In: Norddeutsche Zeitung. Appendix Leuchtturm, July 12, 1991.
• Horst Alsleben: A Dobbertiner created the four apostles. In: Mecklenburg. Volume 33, 1991, p. 22.
• Horst Alsleben: A Dobbertiner created the four apostles in the monastery church. In: SVZ Lübz - Goldberg - Plau. October 18, 1994.
• Bernd Ruchhöft: Castle sculptor Gustav Willgohs ... made private monuments and the Hohenzollern. In: SVZ Schwerin. Mecklenburg magazine. 1995 No. 12, p. 10.
• Horst Alsleben: Flemming monument on the Sachsenberg. In: SVZ Schwerin. Mecklenburg magazine. August 2, 1996, No. 19, p. 16.
• Bert Schüttpelz: sculptures on the castle tower back. Historical cast zinc figures restored. In: SVZ Schwerin. 7/8. September 2002.
• Helge bei der Wieden: The megalopolis and the war memorial at the old garden in Schwerin. In: Bull and Griffin. Volume 17, Schwerin 2007, pp. 139-145.

Unprinted sources

• State Main Archive Schwerin (LHAS)
  • LHAS 2.26-2 Hofmarschallamt Schwerin, register of persons. No. 1385. Acte Willgoh's employment for palace construction 1851–1855.
  • LHAS 3.2-3 / 1 Provincial Monastery / Monastery Office Dobbertin. No. 1279, 1280. Main accounts income and expenditure money. No. 312 Chirugus Willgohs. No. 3235 Negotiations and expert opinions on the redesign of the church in Dobbertin 1854–1857.
  • LHAS 5.2-1 Grand Ducal Cabinet III / Grand Ducal Secretariat. Register of persons no.5168, Willgohs, Gustav Sculptor.
  • LHAS 5.11-2 Landtag negotiations , Landtag assemblies , Landtag minutes and Landtag committee.

Web links

Commons : Gustav Willgohs  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature about Gustav Willgohs in the state bibliography MV

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The hospitalist died on February 8, 1904 in the Gertraudenhospital in Berlin-Kreuzberg, registry office Berlin IV a, death register 1904, second register, entry no. 95 from February 9, 1904.
2. ↑ Horst Alsleben : List of the personalities of the Dobbertin monastery. 2010-2013.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Bernd Ruchhöft: Sculptor Gustav Willgohs from Dobbertin in memory. (unpublished).
4. ↑ LHAS 5.11-2 Protocols of the State Parliament, Sternberg November 16, 1847, No. 21.
5. ↑ LHAS 3.2-3 / 1 Landeskloster / Klosteramt Dobbertin. Main register of issue money nos. 1279, 1280.
6. ↑ ^{a b c} LHAS 5.2-1 Grand Ducal Cabinet III No. 5168.
7. ↑ LHAS 2.26-2 Hofmarschallamt Schwerin, register of persons. No. 1385 Acte Wllgohs Employment for Castle Construction 1851–1855.
8. ↑ LHAS 5.2-1 Grand Ducal Cabinet III No. 5168 Information from Stüler dated December 5, 1852 to the Castle Construction Commission .
9. ^ Georg Dehio : Schwerin, former residential palace. In: Handbook of German Art Monuments, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. 2000, p. 539.
10. ↑ Horst Alsleben: At the original place. Gustav Willgohs and Dobbertin SVZ; Mecklenburg-Magazin February 29, 2008.
11. ↑ ^{a b} LHAS 3.1-3 / 1 Provincial Monastery / Monastery Office Dobbertin. No. 3235 Negotiations and expert opinions on the redesign of the church in Dobbertin 1854–1857.
12. ↑ LHAS 5.2-1 Grand Ducal Cabinet III No. 51698.
13. ↑ ^{a b} Bernd Ruchhöft: Compilation of Gustav Willgoh's works for Hohenzollern Castle. (unpublished)
14. ^ Rolf Seifert: Dor stands up to Anna Willgohs. 1990 MM, No. 3, p. 6.
15. ^ Horst Alsleben: Flemming monument on the Sachsenberg. 1996, MM No. 19, p. 16.
16. ^ Georg Dehio: Schwerin, former residential palace. In: Handbook of German Art Monuments. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. 2000, p. 542.
17. ^ Dieter Schmeckel: Anniversary cuts for evangelists. Konditorei Kentzler combined its 20th anniversary with a typical Dobbertint fundraising campaign. SVZ Lübz - Goldberg - Plau, April 25, 2007.
18. ^ Andreas Baumgart: Work report on the restoration of the evangelist figures in the Dobbertin monastery church. Rethwisch, 2007.