Justus Brinckmann

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Justus Brinckmann, photograph by Rudolf Dührkoop around 1903

Justus Brinckmann (born May 23, 1843 in Hamburg ; † February 8, 1915 in Hamburg-Bergedorf ) was Spiritus rector of the Museum of Art and Crafts in Hamburg and in 1874 the main personality when it was founded.

life and work

Brinckmann was the son of the Heidelberg private lecturer Karl Heinrich Ludwig Brinckmann and Mary Brinckmann, geb. Justus (1814-1865). He was a great-grandson of Johann Ludewig Engelhard Brinckmann . He initially traveled extensively and then studied natural sciences, constitutional law and economics in Leipzig and Vienna. His increased interest in art history during this time was shaped by the approach of Rudolf Eitelberger , the first director of the Austrian Museum for Art and Industry . After completing his law degree in Leipzig in 1867, he was enrolled as a lawyer in Hamburg on January 10, 1868 and remained enrolled as such until 1873. He was also an employee of the Hamburg Correspondents , from 1868 as an art consultant, from 1871 as a reporter in France and then as a political editor.

In 1872 Brinckmann compiled a catalog of the Minutoli collection , which appeared in the third increased edition in 1873. As an expert for the trade, he was commissioner for the world exhibition in Vienna in 1873 and juror for the world exhibitions (Exposition Universelle d'Anvers) in Antwerp in 1885 and in Paris in 1900 . In 1876 Brinkmann acquired 32 objects from the Minutoli collections for the Association for Art and Science in Hamburg and thus for the Hamburg Museum of Art and Industry .

Brinckmann's connection to the handicraft is evident in the fact that from November 1st, 1873 to April 1st, 1877 he was the "secretair" of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce . He saw himself as the “first servant” of the Chamber of Commerce. During this time, the master locksmith Eduard Schmidt and the book printer Gustav Isidor Herbst were the chairmen of the Chamber of Commerce.

Justus Brinckmann - drawing by Leopold von Kalckreuth
Leopold von Kalckreuth : Portrait of Justus Brinckmann, 1901, Hamburger Kunsthalle
Justus Brinckmann - plaster model by Aloys Denoth for the Hamburg City Hall
Justus Brinckmann - on the town hall facade Alter Wall (the cup has broken out of the facade)

Brinckmann had been a passionate collector since his youth; a collection of hymenoptera and two collections of ornamental engravings that he had set up had already become museum property. Now he aimed to build a museum for arts and crafts . From 1874 onwards, a basic collection set up with the help of the Patriotic Society could be exhibited in rented rooms. The museum building was built from 1873 to 1875 according to plans by Carl Johann Christian Zimmermann . He was director of the museum, which opened on Steintorplatz in 1877 as the state technical center and museum for art and trade , until his death in 1915. Brinckmann wanted to "develop taste" and increase the artistic level of the craft. After Brinckmann's death in 1919, Max Sauerlandt became the new director.

The pillow stone for Justus Brinckmann on the grave of the Brinckmann family, Ohlsdorf cemetery, Hamburg

In 1899 he was the judge of a competition by the Cologne chocolate producer Ludwig Stollwerck for the design of a Stollwerck scrapbook for Stollwerck collector's pictures together with the bookbinder Georg Hulbe , the architect Wilhelm Emil Meerwein and the painter Julius Christian Rehder (1861–1955) from Hamburg and the architect Bruno Schmitz from Berlin.

In 1898, together with Heinrich Angst , then director of the Swiss National Museum in Zurich, he founded the International Association of Museum Officials for the Defense against Counterfeiting and Unfair Business Conduct ( Museum Association for short ), which at times included over 150 museum scholars (including Theodor Demmler , Max Sauerlandt , Wilhelm von Bode ) to inform each other about counterfeiting and to combat dubious practices in the art trade.

Private

Justus Brinckmann was married to Ida Laura Anna Marie von Froschauer (1841–1872) since March 17, 1868, with whom he had three children. One of them was the later lawyer and MP Wolfgang Brinckmann (1871–1930). After her death he married her sister Maria Pia Adele von Froschauer (1848–1899) in 1874. There were five children from this marriage, including Albert Gideon Brinckmann (1877–1924), director of the Kestner Museum in Hanover from 1912 to 1920 . From 1887 the Danish artist Henriette Hahn was a drawing teacher at the vocational school for girls run by Brinckmann. In 1893 she gave birth to a daughter by Brinckmann in Paris. After the death of his second wife, Brinckmann married Henriette Hahn in 1901, with whom he had four more children, including the painter and restorer Gertrud (Trulle) Brinckmann (1902–1993), who married the painter and sculptor Martin Irwahn in 1926 . He forbade his wife to work as an artist; she was only able to continue her work after Brinckmann's death.

Brinckmann lived for a long time in an apartment at Grosse Allee 39 (since 1971 Adenauerallee ) near his museum on Steintorplatz. From 1901 he lived in Bergedorf , first at Brauerstraße 2 (from 1949 Chrysanderstraße ), from 1909 until his death in 1915 at Reinbeker Weg 56.

The funeral service for Justus Brinckmann on February 12, 1915

The funeral service for Justus Brinckmann, who died on February 8, 1915, took place four days later in the Hamburg Museum of Art and Industry.

The Madonna of Andrea della Robbia was above his coffin .

The "speeches at the coffin" spoke

  1. Senior Pastor D. Dr. Hunzinger
  2. Mayor Dr. from Melle
  3. Professor Dr. G. Pauli , director of the Hamburger Kunsthalle
  4. Professor Richard Meyer , director of the Hamburg State School of Applied Arts
  5. Go Government Councilor Dr. Purgold , director of the Ducal Museum Gotha
  6. Professor Dr. Richard Stettiner

The speech by Professor Dr. G. Pauli:

When we greet the Lord and Master of these collections in the midst of his creation for the last time, seriously moved, there are two feelings that fill us. Our mourning for an irreplaceable loss is mixed with a feeling of gratitude for the providence that Brinckmann allowed to work in this place for more than a generation. The beneficial life work of an important man is seldom so visible and tangible as it is here, where every hall bears testimony with silent eloquence of his high qualities, of his energy, of his science, of his sharpness, of his love. So this museum has gradually grown into a reflection of his personality, which has received its character from the accents that, following his conviction, he has distributed in the wide collection areas. Each and every one of us was indebted to Brinckmann, the specialist for wise advice and instruction, the collector for encouragement and, furthermore, each one for the serious reminder of a human role model of the highest fulfillment of duty. Because that is the ethos in Brinckmann's conception of his profession, that he voluntarily, even with passionate love, did - and ten times more than - what his office required of him. So he had only contempt for the lure of comfort and the troubles of his illness as obstacles in his profession; he too could have said of himself: “Am I striving for happiness? - I strive for my work. ”When nature allows a personality like this to develop, it creates a work of art that, isolated and irretrievable, protrudes beyond the multiple repetitions of other individuals. Such a personality encloses its own spiritual world, obeys its own regularity and just as it judges differently, more directly, than the others, it also wants to be judged differently. Not the least of the many blessings of her work is that she attracts other personalities as related values. It was therefore not a game of chance, but a natural occurrence that Brinckmann's advice drew the attention of the authorities to Lichtwark .

Owning these two men, who complemented each other so strangely, side by side for a long time was the greatest happiness for Hamburg. While Lichtwark, anchored in his art gallery, disseminated suggestions in the various areas of modern culture across Germany, Brinckmann had an equally wide-ranging effect of enlightening and awakening life through the intensive, fruitful and critical processing of his collection area. Both were equal in that their life's work culminated in the glorification of their homeland, which they paid back with lots of interest for what they owed her. And like Lichtwark, Brinckmann, as the sum of his life, leaves us men who continue to work the double valid warning at this time: If you want to rule, serve your goal, if you want to win, sacrifice yourself. Only then will you truly live - in your work.

The speech by Professor Dr. Richard Stettiner:

Alfred Lichtwark erected a memorial for Justus Brinckmann . Just as Lichtwark created the figure with strong brushstrokes, it will live on in the history of the intellectual and artistic life of Hamburg, in the history of German culture, with more and more pronounced outlines, the greater the temporal distance, the clearer it becomes Thanks to Brinckmann! That is the Justus Brinckmann of history!

It is still another Brinckmann to whom I now want to say the parting words. A monument to him is still erected in the hearts of many; but from decade to decade their number will decrease, and history will tell little about this Brinckmann! I speak on behalf of the students - I mean the disciples of Brinckmann. From a wealth of knowledge, from an immeasurable experience, he shared with all those around you without sparing, and even for those who were his collaborators for many years, new and undreamed-of sources of knowledge always sprang up in communication with him. - But not what he offered, how he offered it, was the main thing! He demanded the whole soul for the cause, and wherever he found this demand fulfilled, there he gave not only his knowledge but also his soul. A soul of infinite goodness, of childlike purity in its kind. This kindness, this devotion is the basic trait of the Brinckmann that I am talking about now, that we adore, that we love. If this goodness had not been controlled by a superior mind, by an arch-steadfast sense of purpose, it would have exposed it to any abuse without protection! Without reckoning, this goodness was given out to all those whom he mentally counted among his own, and far, far beyond this circle. A stream of enthusiasm emanated from him, an enthusiasm for not big words, for all the deeper being and values. Some quickly and happily bowed to this magic of goodness and enthusiasm, others, of a cooler nature, tried to withdraw from it at first. But in the end it was a church that clung to him with its heart. And so it was that this master had no disciples, that he had disciples! The great thing is that this man of indomitable willpower, which apparently threatened to become dangerous to any independent movement around him, then brought him back to independence. Many have started out here to build up in the new circle. And the increased soul power of everything, and not the acquired knowledge, has enabled them to do this: they have all proven it - and almost everyone in a different form.

And I continue to speak on behalf of the employees, everyone who has drawn Justus Brinckmann here as a helper for his life's work, everyone according to their talent and strength. Some of them have been helping for more than an age. And here again no one, from whom Justus Brinckmann did not know how to bring out the best, by not awakening the feeling of the value of his cooperation, that he did not know how to increase the feeling of life and creativity. And if Brinckmann is to leave the house for the last time, which is home to a proud life's work, we know that he will stay with us. A part of his soul has passed on to each of us. And not only in the plant itself, but also in the custodians of the plant it must live on - from generation to generation!

Honors

The Friends of the Museum of Arts and Crafts bears his name: Justus Brinckmann Society. In Bergedorf, where Brinckmann spent the last years of his life, Justus-Brinckmann-Strasse bears his name.

Fonts (selection)

  • Treatises on goldsmithing and sculpture. Leipzig, Seemann, 1867 mdz-nbn-resolving.de
  • Catalog of the collections of sample works of industry and art of the Minutoli Institute in Liegnitz. I., II., III. Theil, 1872, 1873.
  • Arts and Crafts in Japan. 1883 (lecture on November 18, 1882 at the “Association for Art and Science in Hamburg”), Boysen, Hamburg 1883
  • Arts and Crafts in Japan. Wagner, Berlin 1889 ( archive.org ).
  • Guide through the Hamburg Museum of Art and Crafts. 2 volumes. Publishing house of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe 1894.
    • Volume I: Hamburg ovens, basket weaving, fabrics, embroidery, lace, leatherwork, architectural ornaments, East Asian metalwork, European fine forging, enamel, ancient ceramics, German stoneware, faience.
    • Volume II: European porcelain a. Earthenware, West Asian faiences, Chinese porcelain, Japanese pottery, glass, furniture, carpentry, wood carvings, clocks, ivory work, pewter work, scientific instruments and the like. a. ( archive.org ).
  • Kenzan. Contributions to the history of Japanese pottery. In: Yearbook of the Hamburg Scientific Institutions. 14. 1896, pp. 23-83.
  • The purchases at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900. Published by the Hamburg Museum for Art and Industry. Lütcke & Wulff, Hamburg 1901
  • Ed .: Reports of the Museum of Art and Industry, 1883–1910. In: Yearbook of the Hamburg Scientific Institutions

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerrit Schmidt: The history of the Hamburg legal profession from 1815 to 1879. Hamburg 1989, ISBN 3-923725-17-5 , p. 365.
  2. ^ Justus Brinkmann: Explanations on the Minutoli Collection . Wroclaw 1872.
  3. ^ Margret Dorothea Minkels : Alexander von Minutoli, the founder of the 1st arts and crafts museum in the world (1844) . Norderstedt 2018, ISBN 978-3-7460-6982-1 , p. 549-553 .
  4. ↑ Hamburg Chamber of Crafts (ed.): Hamburg and his craft. 1873-1973. With a contribution by Erich Lüth. Christians, Hamburg 1973, ISBN 3-7672-0226-3 .
  5. ^ Karl Hofacker: Kunstgewerbeblatt. 10th year, Leipzig, 1899.
  6. ^ Directory of the members of the International Association of Museum Officials. Berlin 1936, p. 3 ( digitized version ).
  7. ↑ Andreas Røder : Hahn-Brinckmann, Henriette . In: Ulrich Thieme , Fred. C. Willis (Ed.): General lexicon of visual artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 15 : Gresse – Hanselmann . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1922, p. 480 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  8. ↑ Ingrid screw: Between salon and girls' room. Biedermeier to imperial times. Kabel, Hamburg 1992, ISBN 3-8225-0209-X , p. 82.
  9. ^ "Funeral service for Justus Brinckmann in the Hamburg Museum of Art and Industry on February 12, 1915". Hamburg 1915 ( digitized version ).
  10. ^ Wilhelm Kreyenberg: In memory of Justus Brinckmann. In: Lichtwark . Volume 1, 1948/49, No. 5, pp. 5-6.
  11. ↑ Brinckmann gave a total of 12 lectures on arts and crafts in Japan in the winter of 1883–84 (Literature: Report on the Hamburg Museum for Arts and Crafts ... in the yearbook of the Hamburg Scientific Institutions. 1st year, 1884, p. XXXI ).
personal data
SURNAME Brinckmann, Justus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Art historian and founder of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH February 8, 1915
Place of death Hamburg-Bergedorf