Johann Isaak von Gerning

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Portrait of Johann Isaak von Gerning, oil painting by Angelica Kauffmann , 1798, Wiesbaden Museum

Johann Isaak von Gerning (born November 14, 1767 in Frankfurt am Main ; † February 21, 1837 there ) was a German writer , collector and diplomat . His and his father's collections formed the basis of the Nassau museums in Wiesbaden.

Life

Gerning's father was Johann Christian Gerning (1745–1802), ducal Gothaischer Hofrat, Frankfurt banker and collector. In addition to objets d'art and antiquities, the father built up an extensive insect collection, which contains items from Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717) and which were scientifically processed by Eugen Johann Christoph Esper (1742–1810). Today it is one of the oldest zoological collections.

Johann Isaak von Gerning attended grammar school in Frankfurt am Main and then became a businessman. He developed a great talent for languages ​​and, in addition to Latin and Greek, mastered numerous European languages. His travels took him to Holland, England, France, Switzerland and Italy. For studies he went regularly to Weimar, Ilmenau and Jena, where from 1794 to 1805 he heard lectures on poetics from Karl Ludwig von Knebel . He stayed in contact with it for a lifetime.

In the summer of 1794 Gerning was guest of Ferdinand IV. In Naples and in 1797/1798 he undertook a second trip to Italy. He invited Goethe to this trip, but he had to cancel shortly before. Gerning published a travel report in 1802 under the title Journey through Austria and Italy .

From 1802 he lived in his Landhaus Tauninum in the old town of Kronberg . From 1803 to 1807 Gerning lived in his "Tauninum No. 2" in Homburg opposite the Sinclair House and the castle on the site of today's Church of the Redeemer .

Gerning is considered one of the fathers of the name "Taunus"; together with Landgrave Friedrich V and his children, he helped to replace the name “Höhe”, which was common in the Middle Ages, with the name “Taunus”.

In 1803 a relationship with Bettina Brentano was suspected, but she clearly denied this and referred to Gerning as a donkey and a tinny, lacquered guy . Mediated by friends, he was supposed to marry Susanna Magdalena Soldan in 1807, but decided against this wedding immediately before the church.

From 1817 to 1818 he was a member of the legislative body of the Free City of Frankfurt.

Relationship with Goethe

An early relationship with the Goethe family existed through his maternal grandfather, the lay judge and mayor Johann Isaac Moors. Moors was the official successor of Goethe's grandfather Johann Wolfgang Textor . Gerning first came into contact with Goethe in Frankfurt am Main in 1793. In the following years he visited Goethe in Weimar and Jena and was in contact by letters throughout his life.

Goethe and Gerning united their origins from Frankfurt am Main, an all-round education, their father's collections, their interest in the South and in humanism. Nevertheless, according to Götting, one cannot speak of a friendship, since Goethe considered him unreliable, often rejected Gerning's offers and expressed himself negatively to Knebel about his literary creations ( ... He will probably never get out of the literary botch. ). However, Gerning regularly appeared as a middleman of items in the collection or special goods and often presented Goethe with Taunus victims . Goethe forgot or occasionally withheld a thank you, whereupon Gerning informed his pen pal Knebel: Basta with egoists, if they are already great men . This letter became known to Goethe and caused the relationship to be interrupted for a long time.

Offices and honors

swell

Work (selection)

Gerning was interested in literature. He wrote poems, travelogues, magazine articles, and treatises on art and antiquity. He also appeared as a book and theater critic. His poetry is based on ancient meter and was considered pleasing at the time. Among his favorite poets were Ovid and Horace , of whose work he made several translations.

His journey through Austria and Italy , published in 1802, is one of his masterpieces. His descriptions of simple life and dialects are still particularly interesting today. Written in meter, he describes his homeland in 1813/14 in Die Heilquellen des Taunus. In 4 chants . This makes him the pioneer of the name Taunus .

His best-known travel book appears in 1819 under the title The Rheingegenden von Mainz bis Cölln . The translation made in 1820: A Picturesque Tour along the Rhine, from Mentz to Cologne promoted the popularization and romanticization of the Middle Rhine Valley , which was particularly pronounced in England .

Publications

  • Journey through Austria and Italy. 1st-3rd Part. Friedrich Wilmans, Frankfurt am Mayn 1802.
  • The healing springs of the Taunus. In 4 chants. Amsterdam Art and Industry Comptoir, Leipzig 1813.
  • The Rhine regions from Mainz to Cölln. L. Schellenberg, Wiesbaden 1819.
  • A Picturesque Tour along the Rhine, from Mentz to Cologne. translated from John Black. Ackermann, London 1820.
  • The Lahn and Main areas from Embs to Frankfurt. L. Schellenberg, Wiesbaden 1821.
  • Overview of the strangest objects of antiquity in the Duchy of Nassau. Nassauische Annalen 2nd and 3rd issue, Wiesbaden 1830. online

Collections

Butterfly from the Coll. Gerning, Wiesbaden Museum

The majority of the collections came from his father Johann Christian Gerning. They can be divided into:

  • Books and maps
  • Zoological collection, mainly insects
  • Art collections with drawings, prints and paintings
  • Coin collection
  • Antiquities and folk art

In 1816, in his essay Art and Antiquity on the Rhine and Main , Goethe asked him to hand over the collections to the Duchy of Nassau. Gerning had already prepared the handover of his own antiquity collections in Wiesbaden in 1814 through his participation in the founding of the Association for Nassau Antiquities and Historical Research. After countless negotiations, Nassau took over all of Gerning's collections, except for the zoological ones, in 1825 in return for an annual annuity of 2,000 guilders. The collections were placed under the state library , which moved into the Hereditary Prince's Palace in Wiesbaden as early as 1821 . When the Natural History Association was finally founded in the Duchy of Nassau in 1829 , Gerning's zoological collections followed. Ultimately, these collections formed the basis for the three Nassau museums in the Erbprinzenpalais until 1829. In 1973, the State of Hesse combined the previously separate museums to form the Wiesbaden Museum . In 2009 the state ceded the Nassau antiquities collection to the city of Wiesbaden.

literature

  • H. Bode: Johann Ludwig Christ: pastor, naturalist, economist, beekeeper a. Pomologist; 1739-1813; with chap. about his friends and Critics: August Friedrich Adrian Diel, Christian Freiherr Truchsess von Wetzhausen, Johann Isaak von Gerning / Helmut Bode. Kramer, Frankfurt am Main 1984.
  • G. Bott: The pleasant location of the city of Frankfurt am Main presented in 32 hand drawings - by Joh. Caspar Zehender, collected there by Joh. Christian Gerning in the years 1771–1784. Historical Museum, Frankfurt am Main 1954.
  • S. Etzel: Hiking in the Taunus. Dumont, 2010, ISBN 978-3-7701-8031-8 .
  • F. Götting: Johann Isaac von Gerning 1767-1837. In: K. Wolf (Ed.): Nassauische Lebensbilder. Volume 5, Historical Commission for Nassau, Wiesbaden 1955, pp. 114-131.
  • A. Pagenstecher: The Gerningsche insect collection in the natural history museum in Wiesbaden - A contribution to the history of entomology. In: Yearbooks of the Nassau Association for Natural History. 63, Wiesbaden 1910, pp. 119-130.
  • K. Schwartz: Privy Councilor von Gerning. In: Contributions to the history of the Nassau Altherthumsverein and biographical reports about its founders and sponsors. (= Annals of the association for Nassau antiquity and historical research. 11). Wiesbaden 1871, pp. 109-186.
  • C. Thomä: History of the natural history association in the Duchy of Nassau and the natural history museum in Wiesbaden. Friedrich`sche Buchhandlung, Wiesbaden 1842.
  • Gerhard Kölsch: The memorable Taunus (...) is worth visiting and sung about. To the literary and artistic discovery of the Taunus. In: Anton Radl 1774–1825. Painter and engraver. Catalog of the exhibition Museum Giersch. Frankfurt am Main 2008, pp. 135–157; online version: URL: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/6360/
  • Jochen Lengemann : MdL Hessen. 1808-1996. Biographical index (= political and parliamentary history of the state of Hesse. Vol. 14 = publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse. Vol. 48, 7). Elwert, Marburg 1996, ISBN 3-7708-1071-6 , p. 143.

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ Gerning's Taunium in Kronberg "At the city wall 6"
  2. ↑ F. Götting: Johann Isaac von Gerning 1767-1837. In: K. Wolf (Ed.): Nassauische Lebensbilder. Volume 5, Historical Commission for Nassau, Wiesbaden 1955, pp. 114-131.
  3. ↑ F. Götting: Johann Isaac von Gerning 1767-1837. In: K. Wolf (Ed.): Nassauische Lebensbilder. Volume 5, Historical Commission for Nassau, Wiesbaden 1955, pp. 114-131.
  4. ↑ Johann Isaak von Gerning Foundation ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hochtaunuskreis.de
personal data
SURNAME Gerning, Johann Isaak von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer, collector and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH November 14, 1767
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH February 21, 1837
Place of death Frankfurt am Main