Karl Foerster

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Karl Foerster (born March 9, 1874 in Berlin , † November 27, 1970 in Potsdam ) was a German gardener , perennial grower, garden writer and garden philosopher.

Karl Foerster with his wife Eva (née Hildebrandt), 1967
Bust in Tierpark Berlin
Bust in the Britzer Garten, in Berlin-Britz
Metal sculpture by the sculptor and blacksmith Christian Roehl, erected by the city of Potsdam on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Karl Foerster in the middle of the Friendship Island. It bears the Foerster quote: "If you want to realize dreams, you have to be more alert and dream more deeply than others".

Life

Foerster was one of the sons of the astronomer Wilhelm Julius Foerster , the director of the Royal Berlin Observatory . His siblings included the philosopher and pacifist Friedrich Wilhelm Foerster (1869–1966) and the ship designer and head of the shipbuilding department of the Hamburg-America Line Ernst Foerster (1876–1955). Foerster completed an apprenticeship as a gardener in the Schwerin Palace Gardening Department and was trained at the Royal Gardening School at the Wildlife Park near Potsdam . After a few years of "apprenticeship and traveling" he founded his own gardening business.

In 1927 Karl Foerster married the singer and pianist Eva Hildebrandt , daughter of the Szczecin church musician Ulrich Hildebrandt . In 1931 their daughter Marianne was born. In 1940 Karl Foerster became a member of the NSDAP .

Karl Foerster is buried in the old cemetery in Bornim.

Gardening

In 1903 Karl Foerster founded a perennial nursery on his parents' property in Berlin-Westend , Ahornallee 32. 1910–11 he relocated it to Bornim near Potsdam . There Foerster transformed an approximately 5,000 m² arable land into a "garden realm" with the now famous sunken garden , rock garden , autumn bed and spring path. This garden was stylistically influenced by Willy Lange . It was redesigned in the 1930s by Hermann Mattern and restored or reconstructed several times in the second half of the 20th century by Hermann Göritz and again before 2001 by Martin Heisig . In 1928 Foerster founded a garden design department with the garden architect Hermann Mattern, and in 1934, together with Hermann Mattern and Herta Hammerbacher, the working group “Garden Design in Bornim”.

Bornim became a “ Worpswede of garden designers”. The “Foersterians” - gardeners and garden architects who emerged from this circle around Karl Foerster - include the Potsdam garden architect Walter Funcke and Gottfried Kühn . The Munich garden architect Alfred Reich was Foerster's pupil and employee . The pianist Wilhelm Kempff , the architect Otto Bartning and the Apetito founder Karl Düsterberg also belonged to the “Bornimer Kreis”. During this time Foester made a lifelong friendship with the painter Siegward Sprotte from Potsdam-Bornstedt (1913–2004).

During the GDR era, Foerster's business was one of the few perennial nurseries in the country. In 1972 the company was expropriated, but continued to exist as the “ People's Own Gut Bornimer Staudenkulturen”.

Breeds

In 1932 the first Foerster Phlox paniculata varieties came on the market. As a result, he brought out new varieties of delphinium , asters and grasses in particular . In total he bred about 370 varieties. In 1941, at his suggestion, the public show garden was opened on Potsdam's Friendship Island (today also restored).

Awards

In 1950 Foerster received an honorary doctorate from Berlin's Humboldt University , in 1955 the National Prize of the GDR , in 1959 he was made an honorary citizen of the city of Potsdam and was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver. In 1964 he was appointed professor. In 1966 he became an honorary member of the International Perennial Union . In 1967 he was accepted as an extraordinary member of the West Berlin Academy of the Arts .

Afterlife

In 1965 Hermann Mattern founded the “Karl Foerster Foundation for Applied Vegetation Science” in Berlin in his honor.

Karl Foerster's daughter Marianne Foerster worked for a garden architecture firm in Brussels for 30 years. From 1990 until her death in March 2010 she took care of her father's garden and contributed to the development of this horticultural gem in Bornim with her extensive expertise. The public experimental, teaching and show garden ( Karl Foerster Garden ) and his house in Bornim have been listed as the “Karl Foerster Memorial” since 1981. In order to ensure the permanent preservation of this cultural monument, Marianne Foerster bequeathed the house and the garden in Potsdam-Bornim, named after her father, to the German Foundation for Monument Protection in Bonn .

In Potsdam-Bornstedt, the Karl Foerster School, a municipal elementary school, was named after him.

Fonts

In 1911 Foerster's first book "Winter hardy blooms" appeared. In April 1920 the first issue of the magazine " Gartenschönheit " came on the market, which he ran with Camillo Schneider and Karl Wagner and which appeared in the publisher Oskar Kühl's "Verlag der Gartenschönheit" in Berlin-Westend. It was continued from 1941-44 as "Horticulture in the Reich".

bibliography

Karl Foerster's first publications are listed below. Additional editions and revisions after Karl Foerster's death in 1970 are not fully taken into account.

  • Winter hardy flowering perennials and shrubs of modern times. JJ Weber publishing house, Leipzig 1911
  • From the flower garden of the future. Furche Verlag Hamburg 1917, several reprints at the “Verlag der Gartenschönheit” Berlin-Westend
  • Infinite home. Verlag der Gartenschönheit Berlin-Westend 1925
  • The delphinium. Verlag der Gartenschönheit Berlin-Westend 1928
  • Garden as a magic key. Rowohlt, Berlin 1934.
  • Perennial picture book. Verlag der Gartenschönheit Berlin / Bern 1935
  • The rock garden of the seven seasons in sun and shade: work and illustration book for beginners and connoisseurs. Verlag der Gartenschönheit, Berlin / Bern 1936
  • Flowers on Europe's battlements with Albert Steiner, Erlenbach - Zurich a. Lpz., Rotapfel-Verlag Zurich, 1936; several reprints
  • Garden joy like never before. Small garden annoyance dictionary. (= Bornimer Wegweiser - follow-up volume) , Verlag der Gartenschönheit Berlin / Bern 1937
  • Happy broken silence. Veiled and unveiled keywords from the inner book mechanism. Rowohlt, Berlin 1937, reprinted by Reclam, Leipzig 1940
  • Garden perennial picture book. Verlag der Gartenschönheit Berlin / Bern 1938
  • The flower bulb book. Verlag der Gartenschönheit Karl Specht, Berlin 1939
  • Kleinstauden picture book. Verlag der Gartenschönheit Karl Specht, Berlin 1939
  • Living garden tables. Verlag der Gartenschönheit Karl Specht, Berlin 1940, 3rd, updated edition, edited by Klaus Kaiser, at Neumann-Verlag Radebeul 2011, ISBN 978-3740201401 , and Eugen Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3800157846
  • Small picture lexicon of garden plants. Verlag der Gartenschönheit Karl Specht, Berlin 1941
  • Of garden, landscape, people. Verlag der Gartenschönheit Karl Specht, Berlin 1941 (1942?)
  • Blue treasure of the gardens: the coming friendship of gardeners with the new sphere of garden colors, the blue pile of the months from early spring to autumn. Reclam, Leipzig 1940; 5th edition, edited by Norbert Kühn, by Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-8001-3385-7 .
  • From the great world and garden game. Schwinn & Helène KG, Darmstadt 1950
  • New splendor for the garden year. Neumann Verlag Radebeul 1952 (second version 1953). Pictures, reports and experience tables from the life of the hardy perennial plants of the garden. 10th edition, edited by Konrad Näser, at Eugen Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 978-3740200985
  • Travel, stay! Lure of barely trodden paths in life and gardens. Keppler and Scherrer Verlag Frankfurt / Main 1953
  • Comfort me - I am so happy. Words from dealing with people, plants and gardens. Furche Verlag Hamburg 1954, reprints at Verlag Stichnote, Darmstadt
  • The rock garden of the seven seasons. 2nd version, published by Neumann Verlag Radebeul 1954
  • The arrival of the grasses and ferns in the gardens, as well as some important ornamental foliage shrubs. Neumann Verlag, Radebeul 1956; 7th edition, edited by Bernhard Röllich, by Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-6365-9 .
  • Warning and encouragement , Union Verlag, Berlin 1959, 9th edition by Eugen Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8001-5894-2
  • Holidays from oh. Union Verlag, Berlin 1962; 13th edition by Eugen Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-8001-0925-8
  • The rock garden of the seven seasons. 3rd version, published by Neumann Verlag Radebeul 1963, 13th, expanded edition, edited by Bernhard Röllich, published by Eugen Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8001-5615-3
  • It will bloom. Theme with variations. Union Verlag, Berlin 1968; 8th edition by Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-8001-0360-7

Foerster's estate has been kept in the Berlin State Library since 1985 .

literature

  • Sonja Dümpelmann / Berlin State Library - Prussian Cultural Heritage (Hrsg.): Karl Foerster: From the great world and garden game . Accompanying publication to the exhibition from August 17 to September 22, 2001 in the SBPK and from September 8 to October 7, 2001 in the exhibition pavilion on the Friendship Island in Potsdam. Berlin State Library - Prussian Cultural Heritage, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-88053-085-8 .
  • Eva Foerster, Gerhard Rostin (ed.): A garden of memory. Life and work of Karl Foerster, the great garden poet and perennial grower. 4th revised edition. L & H-Verlag, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 978-3928119658 .
  • Marianne Foerster, Ulrich Timm (ed.): The garden of my father Karl Foerster. DVA, Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3421035035 .
  • Mathias Iven (Ed.): 3x Foerster. Contributions to the life and work of Wilhelm Foerster, Friedrich Wilhelm Foerster and Karl Foerster. Schibri-Verlag Milow 1995, ISBN 3-928878-29-8
  • Carsten Mehliß: Karl Foerster - His flowers, his gardens Ulmer, Stuttgart 2012 ISBN 978-3-8001-7632-8
  • Angelika Mieth: Dialogue with old letters. Radio feature. Director: Hannelore Solter. Production: Rundfunk der DDR, 1987 (contains original recordings with Eva Foerster.)
  • Konrad Näser: Karl Foerster - a tribute to the 30th anniversary of his death. In: Zandera. 15 (2000), pp. 41-54. (with a chronological list of his perennial varieties).
  • Gunnar Porikys: "Magical World View " - The Goetheanist Karl Foerster. In: Sleipnir. Journal for Culture, History and Politics, Issue 34, [Oct.] 2001, pp. 38–54
  • Frank Singhof: Karl Foerster's book publications: annotated bibliography. In: Zandera. 21 (2006), pp. 58-80.
  • Clemens Alexander Wimmer : Karl Foerster's catalogs. In: Zandera 21 (2006), pp. 16-29.
  • Short biography for:  Foerster, Karl . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

Commons : Karl Foerster  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Directory of traders and traders in Charlottenburg with Westend . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1908, V., p. 141. "Karl Förster, Ahornallee 40" (1908/4888: Ahornallee 40: owner Henselsche Erben; tenant gardening owner Karl Förster, Geh. Reg.Rat and ord. Prof W. Förster // 1900/3183: Ahornallee 40 is inhabited by the reindeer Julie Hensel, née von Adelson, who also owns house 42, where patent attorney A. Du Bois-Reymond lives.).
  2. ↑ Sigrid Tinz, Agricultural Weekly Journal Westphalia-Lippe 10/2014, Der Naturgartenerfinder , page 94
  3. ↑ Peter Walther : Muses and Graces in the Mark: A historical writer lexicon . Lukas Verlag, Berlin, 2002, ISBN 3-931836-69-X
  4. ↑ Harry Waibel : Servants of many masters. Former Nazi functionaries in the Soviet Zone / GDR. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al. 2011, ISBN 978-3-631-63542-1 , p. 90.
  5. ↑ Alfred Reich   in the German Digital Library
  6. ↑ Elisabeth Zaby: ... put the infinitely delicate next to the hardness of the strong lines: the Munich house gardens of the garden architect Alfred Reich from 1950–1970 in the field of tension between classic, modern and fashion against the background of the zeitgeist of the young FRG . Publishing house Dr. Hut, Munich 2007 ISBN 978-3-89963-655-0 .
  7. ^ New Germany , March 10, 1959, p. 2
  8. ↑ Märkische Allgemeine: On the death of Marianne Foerster, who preserved the inheritance of her father Karl . March 31, 2010.
  9. ↑ https://www.denkmalschutz.de/denkmale-erhalten/stiftungseigene-denkmale/wohnhaus-und-garten-karl-foerster/marianne-foerster-1931-2010.html
  10. ↑ Marianne Foerster's legacy is certain. Press release of the German Foundation for Monument Protection from January 31, 2011.
personal data
SURNAME Foerster, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German gardener, perennial grower and writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1970
Place of death Bornim