Hans Frei (medalist)

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Hans Frei (* the 30th April 1868 in Basel , † 14. March 1947 in Riehen ; heimatberechtigt in Basel and Zuzgen ) was a Swiss medal , engraver , Zisileur , jewelry modeller and sculptor .

life and work

Commemorative medal (1898) for the National Museum Zurich by Hans Frei (1868–1949)
Commemorative medal for the National Museum Zurich

The son of a craftsman who immigrated from Aargau was free . At the age of six, Frei developed an otitis media that was treated incorrectly, resulting in permanent hearing loss.

As a 14-year-old Frei completed an apprenticeship as an engraver in Basel. After completing his apprenticeship, he continued to work in the apprenticeship company and attended evening courses at the “Drawing and Modeling School of the Society for the Good and the Charitable”, the predecessor of today's general trade school .

From 1889 Frei went on a hike and stayed in Konstanz and Munich . Frei earned his living by engraving the innkeeper's cutlery and decorating the beer mug lids of the regular guests in Bavarian inns with names and monograms. When he arrived in Vienna , Frei attended Stefan Schwartz's school of goldsmiths and chasers . Further stations were Bohemia , Dresden , Berlin , Hamburg and Cologne .

Plaque for Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897) art historian by Hans Frei
Plaque for Jacob Burckhardt

Back in Basel he worked with his former teacher and attended the general trade school. With the help of a scholarship, Frei was able to study chiselling and modeling with Jean-Joseph Jerdellet and sculpture with Jean-Jules Bernhard Salmson for a year at the Ecole des Arts Industriels in Geneva .

In 1894 Frei attended the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs and became a student of Hector Lemaire . He studied with Félix Charpentier and Denys Puech in the sculptor's studio of the Acadéemie Julien . During this time Frei made friends with Burkard Mangold , Max Leu , Rodo von Niederhäusern and was promoted by the respected sculptor and medalist Oscar Roty . He earned his living by making models for jewelry and gold goods factories as well as medals that would establish his later reputation. Frei created medals with portraits of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi , Adrian von Bubenberg and Erasmus von Rotterdam as well as a number of portraits, a. a. by Jacob Burckhardt and other members of old Basel families.

Fountain sculpture (1925) by Hans Frei (1868–1947). For the four hundredth anniversary of the union of Riehens with Basel. At the Burgstrassee tram stop in Riehen, Basel, Switzerland
Fountain sculpture from 1925 for the four hundredth anniversary of the union of Riehens with Basel.

In 1898 Frei returned to Basel and became an internationally sought-after medalist. As a result, he created numerous plaques for the Basel and Vaud national celebrations, the medal for the foundation ceremony of the University of Zurich , in 1903 the celebratory medal for the National Museum Zurich and the commemorative coin for the Simplon tunnel breakthrough from 1905.

Frei received numerous awards for his work, for example at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 and at the World Exhibition in Brussels in 1910 , and at the international art exhibition in the Glaspalast in Munich in 1911 and 1913 . Freely designed metal reliefs for stone graves and monuments, the best known for Albert Anker in Ins and for the Conrad Ferdinand Meyer fountain in Engelberg .

Frei's oeuvre includes over 450 medals and plaques for anniversaries and other occasions, especially for shooting festivals. His work can be found in museums and public collections at home and abroad.

Frei was married to Emma, ​​nee Wenk. She was the youngest daughter of the Riehen municipal council. In 1925, Frey created the fountain sculpture for the anniversary fountain to mark the four hundredth anniversary of the unification of Riehens and Basel.

Frei suffered a stroke in 1941 and had to give up his activities because he was paralyzed on one side ever since.

literature

  • Ernest Lugrin: Hans Frei et son Œuvre comme Médailleur. In: Revue suisse de numismatique = Swiss Numismatic Review , Vol. 15, 1909, pp. 180–211. ( Digitized version )

Web links

Commons : Hans Frei  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Plaque for the Vaud centenary. In: Switzerland: Swiss illustrated magazine , Vol. 7, 1903, p. 232.
  2. ↑ Taufmünze of Hans Frei. In: Heimatschutz = Patrimoine , Vol. 12, 1917, p. 153
personal data
SURNAME Free, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss medalist, engraver, cisileur, jewelry modeller and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH April 30, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 1947
Place of death Riehen