Joseph Gregor Lang
Joseph Gregor Lang (born October 18, 1755 in Koblenz ; † June 30, 1834 in Neuendorf, today in Koblenz) was a German pastor , educator , patron of the arts and co-founder of the Koblenz city library. He bequeathed his painting collection to the city of Koblenz and formed the basis for today's Middle Rhine Museum .
Life and work
Joseph Gregor Lang was ordained a Catholic priest in Cologne on August 8, 1779 . Then he became pastor of the electoral military church in Koblenz and taught at the garrison school. His sponsor was the last Elector of Trier, Clemens Wenzeslaus of Saxony , who recognized his talent and sent him to teacher's seminars in Fulda , Würzburg and Mainz . With the knowledge gained there, Lang set up a teachers' seminar in Koblenz in 1784, where he taught himself. In the years 1789/1790 Lang wrote the famous work “Journey on the Rhine” in two volumes. This travel guide for Rhine tourists is also known as the first “ Baedeker ”.
When the French revolutionary army marched into Koblenz in 1794, he had to stop working. For the next nine years, Lang was without a permanent job and earned his living as a tutor. When the parish Neuendorf was founded in 1804, Lang was appointed pastor by the French. He held this position until his death in 1834. After Koblenz became Prussian , the new rulers appointed him in 1818 as a school inspector. He was largely responsible for improving the school system in the left bank of the Rhine in the Koblenz district . The school in Neuendorf was considered a model school.
Collectors and art patrons
On June 15, 1833 Joseph Gregor Lang bequeathed an extensive library , a collection of 197 paintings and 3,000 guilders to the city of Koblenz . Lang was able to acquire some of the books and paintings from monasteries and monasteries that had been secularized by the French . He got ahead of the French commission, which was looking for old manuscripts, paintings and other art treasures in the occupied areas on the left bank of the Rhine . The now municipal collection changed its location nine times. Another change of location took place in 2013 with the move of the Middle Rhine Museum from the old department store to the Forum Confluentes on the new central square . A large part of the paintings by Lang is still there today (after losses in the Second World War) and is partly shown in the museum's permanent exhibition. Lang's book collection forms the largest part of the old stock in the Koblenz city library.
Publications
- Journey on the Rhine
- Volume 1: From Mainz to Andernach , 1789 ( online version )
- Volume 2: From Andernach to Düsseldorf , 1790.
Honors
In Koblenz-Neuendorf , Pastor-Lang-Strasse has been named after him since June 20, 1900.
literature
- Theophil Gassen: Catalog of the Städttisch-Lang'schen painting collection in Coblenz, Koblenz 1874 digitized
- Mario Kramp (ed.): A picture gallery for Koblenz - 170 years of the Middle Rhine Museum, 250th birthday of the founder Joseph Gregor Lang. Catalog for the exhibition in the Middle Rhine Museum Koblenz and in the Cologne City Museum. Görres Verlag, Koblenz 2005, ISBN 3-928377-29-9 .
- Wolfgang Schütz: Koblenz heads. People from the city's history - namesake for streets and squares. 2. revised u. exp. Edition. Publishing house for advertising papers , Mülheim-Kärlich 2005, OCLC 712343799 , p. 315f.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lang, Joseph Gregor |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German pastor, educator, patron of the arts and co-founder of the Koblenz City Library |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 18, 1755 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Koblenz |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 30, 1834 |
| Place of death | Neuendorf today to Koblenz |