Knütgen (pottery family)

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The Knütgen family (in other spellings also Knuytgin, Knytgen, Cnytgen, Kneutgen etc.) was an influential pottery dynasty in Siegburg's Aulgasse . Between the 15th and 17th centuries, it dominated the Siegburg stoneware production and the Ulner handicrafts in the city. The Knütgens drew their wealth from the artful manufacture of fine stoneware and their long-distance trade. The family experienced their economic peak in Siegburg in the 16th century, before they emigrated to the Kannenbäckerland and the Bergisch region as a result of wars and reprisals .

The family

In addition to the Flach (Vlach) family, the Knütgens were the largest and most important pottery family in Siegburg. In the guild lists, six workshops are recorded for the years 1564 and 1572 alone, which can be assigned to a Knütgen.

Members of the Knütgen family also played a role in Siegburg's politics. 1655 is a Johann Knütgen mayor of Siegburg.

Bödingen Monastery today.

The Knütgen family, originally from Cologne, was first mentioned in 1427 as a donor in the register of memoirs of the Bödingen monastery . The bond between the Knütgen family and the monastery apparently persists throughout the 15th century. In 1494 an Adelheid Knütgen, the widow of the potter Peter Knütgen, donated 40 guilders to the monastery for a perpetual annual office in honor of her deceased husband. A year later, in 1495, a Tillmann Knütgen, probably the son of Peter Knütgen, also donated 40 guilders for the same annual devotion. The same source reports that Tillmann Knütgen's son Johannes was a novice in the monastery at the time. As early as 1488, a city bill for repair work on the city wall with Heyntz Knuytgijns named one of the family's potters for the first time.

The first name Johann in particular was widespread in the branching Knütgen family. It is difficult to distinguish between family relationships here. In a court record from 1637 three different Johann Knütgens appear. As a distinguishing feature, they are given an addition to their name in the documents, usually a field name, such as uff der Bach or under the oak .

Anno Knütgen

Schnell des Franz Trac with biblical scenes (after 1560).

The most important representative of the family was Anno Knütgen († around 1590 in Höhr-Grenzhausen ). He attended a convent school and acquired legal knowledge. From 1568 Anno Knütgen is led as the ducal Bergischer Vogt, who was thus the direct representative of the Duke of Jülich-Kleve-Berg to the city and the abbey of Siegburg. As a master potter he appears on the guild lists from 1564. Even if Anno Knütgen himself cannot be assigned to a well-known vessel, the finest and most artistically high-quality stoneware products of his time come from his workshop. Skilled foremen such as Franz Trac worked for Anno Knütgen . In the 60s of the 16th century, during the employment period of Tracs, the Anno pottery experienced its economic climax. An innovation from Annos was the introduction of a blue salt glaze around 1587 in Siegburg, which Jan Emens Mennicken had already experimented with in Raeren three years earlier . In Siegburg this attempt did not bring the desired success, but it turned out to be groundbreaking for stoneware production in the Westerwald. From 1569 to 1571, Peter Knütgen continued the Annos workshop and took over a number of templates from Franz Trac. After the Truchsessian War he left the badly damaged Aulgasse with his sons Bertram and Rutger and settled in Höhr-Grenzhausen in the Kannenbäckerland ( Westerwald ) around 1590 , where he died shortly afterwards. Another son of Anno, Hermann, followed suit in 1600. The other parts of the Knütgen family, including Christian Knütgen, initially remain in Siegburg and continue to produce.

Hans Hilgers

On the left in the picture a speedy train by Hans Hilgers (1570). V&A , London.

Hans Hilgers, actually with his birth name Johann Knütgen, was the son of Hilger Knütgen, who died in 1564 or 65. After his father's death, he grew up with his uncle Peter Knütgen, where he learned the pottery trade. Hans Hilgers received his first major order in July 1570 when he was supposed to deliver 3,900 bricks for the renovation of the Siegburg town hall. Shortly afterwards he married Apolonia. Hans Hilgers is known in art history primarily for his matrices, which were also used in the Raeren , Langerwehe and Kannenbäckerland pottery centers . Yet he was more of a craftsman than an artist. His period of activity was between 1565 and 1595.

Christian Knütgen

The exact relationship to Anno Knütgen is not clear for Christian Knütgen. He worked as a master potter from 1568 to 1605 and introduced innovative techniques such as notching . He is the dominant Siegburg master potter of the late Renaissance and, along with Franz Trac, is one of the most important personalities in art history in the manufacture of fine stoneware.

Relocation to Troisdorf-Altenrath

When, after the Thirty Years' War, Swedish troops under General Baudissin devastated Siegburg and the Aulgasse in 1632, the Siegburg pottery industry also suffered a massive collapse. As a result, the abbot and the guilds tried to strengthen the craft by setting stricter conditions. However, this had the opposite effect on pottery production. In addition, the family suffered from legal reprisals as well as increasing debt. For the years 1636 and 1638 witch trials against family members have been handed down. In 1638 the master potter Dietrich Kneutgen was arrested on the Linden and accused of witchcraft by the fraudulent witch hunter Franz Buirmann and publicly burned at the stake. Dietrich's widow had to pay for the legal costs of 86 Reichstalers. The witch hunter received two thirds of the sum. In 1647 a violent argument between a Johann Knütgen and Franz Buirmann was put on record. So other parts of the Knütgen family, who had persevered during the Swedish occupation, left Aulgasse and settled in Troisdorf-Altenrath on the edge of the Bergisches Land, where they started again with stoneware production. After the Swedes had withdrawn, the Siegburg abbot Bertram von Bellinghausen attempted to persuade the Knütgen family to return to Aulgasse. When these refused, the abbot had all the Knütgen family's possessions in Siegburg confiscated on May 12, 1636. The Knütgens asked their new sovereign, Count Palatine Wolfgang Wilhelm , for help. Wolfgang Wilhelm put the abbot under pressure with a harsh letter dated April 6, 1637. It is not known whether this intervention was successful. In spring 1637 a Johann Knütgen had moved to Altenrath. In 1651 Heinrich Knütgen followed with his wife Maria. In any case, the Knütgen family stayed in Altenrath, where they made pottery until the end of the 17th century.

Remain in Siegburg

Aulgasse on the Tranchot map around 1810

Despite the adverse conditions under which the Knütgen family lived in Siegburg in the first half of the 17th century, some family members stayed as master potters in Aulgasse. A municipal lease register from 1646 lists seven Siegburg pottery workshops, five of which belonged to members of the Knütgen family. These are in particular: Dietrich Knuetgen the Younger, Johannes Knuetgen, Heinrich Knuetgen, Wilhelm Knuetgen and Johannes uff der Bach. A decade later, of these seven workshops, only three remain. How many of these last Siegburg master potters were still part of the Knütgen family is unknown. Abbot Johann von Bock zu Pattern was forced to accept a non-local potter master into the Siegburg Ulner guild, which had been closed until then, as it was in danger of extinction. However, the Siegburg stoneware production never regained the importance and artistic height that it had in the second half of the 16th century.

Family grave in St. Servatius

The St. Servatius Church below the abbey.

Before his death in 1548, Johann Knütgen the Younger, known as the Rich Jan , bought a burial place for himself and his descendants in the Church of St. Servatius . Buried here are the rich Jan, Peter Knütgen († 1571) and Johann (Hans) Hilgers († 1610).

Art historical importance

Pottery products from the Knütgen family's workshops can be found in art museums all over the world. The German Ceramics Museum is showing a richly decorated gurde by Anno Knütgen around 1570 as the main work of Rhenish pottery art. A collection of important pieces are also exhibited in the Museum of Applied Art in Cologne . Artistically high-quality vessels come from the workshop of Anno Knütgen, which had its economic peak between 1560 and 1570.

Varia

In Siegburg the Knütgenstrasse still reminds of the pottery dynasty. The Franz-Trac-Weg branches off to the north. The house and a workshop of the Anno Knütgen stood in the Aulgasse at the level of today's property number 8 within the pottery district "Untere Aulgasse".

Remarks

  1. The expression Ulner (= potter) is derived from the Old High German "aul" or from the Latin "olla" = pot.
  2. ^ Hähnel 1987, p. 86f.
  3. Dornbusch 1873, p. 38.
  4. Hahnel 1987, pp. 75-76.
  5. ^ Hähnel 1987, p. 76.
  6. ^ Hähnel 1987, p. 75.
  7. Francke 1999, p. 49.
  8. Koetschau 1924, p. 33.
  9. Treptow 1991, p. 106.
  10. Koetschau 1924, p. 35f.
  11. ^ Peter Gansen: The witch trials of the 17th century in Siegburg. In: Heimatblätter of the Siegkreis. 27 (1959), No. 77, pp. 59ff.
  12. Dornbusch 1873, p. 38 note 3.
  13. Francke 1999, p. 35.
  14. Dornbusch 1873, pp. 47–48.
  15. Francke 1999, p. 49.
  16. ^ Hähnel 1987, p. 79.
  17. Dornbusch 1873, pp. 48–49.
  18. Treptow 1991, p. 111.
  19. ^ Joachim Naumann: Hetjens Museum Düsseldorf - German Ceramic Museum. Ceramic from 8000 years. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1994, pp. 54–55.
  20. Bock 1986, p. 175ff.
  21. Otto Treptow: The topography of the lower Aulgasse. In: Andrea Korte-Böger, Gisela Hellenkemper Salies: A Siegburg pottery workshop of the Knütgen family. New archaeological and historical research on the Lower Aulgasse. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1991, pp. 29-58.

literature

  • Johann Baptist Dornbusch: The art guild of potters in the abteilichen city of Siegburg and their products. With consideration of other important Rhenish pottery branches, especially Raeren, Titfeld, Nendorf, Merols, Frechen, Höhr and Grenzhausen. A contribution to the history of handicrafts on the Lower Rhine. Heberle, Cologne 1873, pp. 1–130. (Reprint: Rheinlandia, Siegburg 1986, ISBN 3-925551-00-X )
  • Elsa Hähnel: Siegburg stoneware. Inventory catalog, Volume 1, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-7927-0894-9 , p. 69ff. ( Guide and publications of the Rhenish Open Air Museum and State Museum for Folklore in Kommern. No. 31)
  • Wolfgang Herborn: The economic and social importance and the political position of the Siegburger potters. In: Rheinisches Jahrbuch für Volkskunde. Volume 24, 1982.
  • Otto von Falke : The Rhenish stoneware. 2 volumes. Berlin 1908. (Reprint: Zeller, Osnabrück 1977, ISBN 3-535-02416-1 )
  • Wilhelm Felten: The Siegburg pottery family Knütgen. In: Heimatblätter of the Siegkreis. 2 (1926), No. 7, pp. 56-60.
  • Ursula Francke : Kannenbaker in Altenrath. Early modern stoneware production in Troisdorf-Altenrath. Rheinlandia, Siegburg 1999, ISBN 3-931509-82-6 .
  • Karl Koetschau : Rhenish stoneware. Munich 1924, DNB 361082975 , pp. 25-37.
  • Manfred Rech: As an introduction - the pottery trade in Siegburger Aulgasse. In: Andrea Korte-Böger, Gisela Hellenkemper Salies: A Siegburg pottery workshop of the Knütgen family. New archaeological and historical research on the Lower Aulgasse. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-7927-1223-7 , pp. 1-13.
  • Gisela Reineking von Bock: stoneware. Decorative Arts Museum of the City of Cologne. Cologne 1986, DNB 870235346 , p. 53ff.
  • Johann Schmitz: The end of the Siegburg pottery guild in Altenrath. In: Heimatblätter of the Siegkreis. 1 (1925), No. 1, pp. 14-16.
  • Otto Treptow: Miscellen to various personalities of the Siegburg Ulner guild in the late 16th and beginning of the 17th century. In: Andrea Korte-Böger, Gisela Hellenkemper Salies: A Siegburg pottery workshop of the Knütgen family. New archaeological and historical research on the Lower Aulgasse. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-7927-1223-7 , p. 103ff.