Knoll (sculptor family)
The Knoll family of sculptors created numerous works of art in the churches in the surrounding area of Hof , mainly through Johann Nikolaus Knoll and Wolfgang Adam Knoll, and contributed primarily to the development of the margrave style with the creation of the first pulpit altars . A series of baptismal angels form a regional specialty.
Importance and distribution
Hof already had a tradition of artistic creation in the Middle Ages. Interrupted by the Thirty Years' War and the threat of the Turks and after previous works have been awarded to foreign artists, it was Johann Nikolaus Knoll , resulting from a long-established Hofer family in generations guild of butchers craft work, artistic creation of Turned to sculpture . Interior fittings for churches in the area were produced, including in particular altars , pulpits , baptismal angels and organ cases . While the Knoll family took over the carving, the Lohe family, including the two church painters Heinrich Andreas Lohe and Heinrich Matthäus Lohe , continued to paint the works on several occasions . Johann Nikolaus created the region's first pulpit altar and thus contributed to the development of the margrave style . As a later family business, not all works can be assigned to just one artist and follow-up orders, such as the production of a second baptismal angel for Köditz, ensure further connections. A 100-year family tradition ended with the son of Wolfgang Adam, Johann Christian Knoll. He was also trained in handicrafts and included in production, but then switched to municipal services. Nevertheless, at a ripe old age, in 1793 he still made a single baptismal angel for Leupoldsgrün.
Works of art were delivered to the Saxon, Bohemian and, above all, the Franconian area , today mainly in the district of Hof and the neighboring districts of Bayreuth and Wunsiedel . In the Saxon area it concerns the places Misslareuth , Kürbitz , Plauen , Bobenneukirchen , Untertriebel , Wiedersberg and Ölschnitz . In the Bohemian region it is the place Rossbach, today Hranice u Aše . In the Franconian area, works of art were made for Gattendorf , Regnitzlosau , Arzberg , Konradsreuth , Wirsberg , Oberröslau , Kirchenlamitz , Leupoldsgrün , Schauenstein , Marlesreuth , Selbitz , Geroldsgrün , Köditz , Berg , Joditz and Trogen .
Family relationships
Johann Nikolaus Knoll emerged from the marriage between the butcher Erhard Knoll and Anna Katharina, nee Wolf in 1666. He chose the arts and crafts. In 1697 he married Magdalena Kunigunde Erb, the daughter of a high school teacher. The eldest son Johann Christoph Knoll was born in 1698 and must have left Hof. Wolfgang Adam Knoll was born in 1709. In 1735 he married Barbara Hass, daughter of the mayor and tax collector. From this marriage in 1738 Johann Christian Knoll emerged, who learned the craft of sculpting, but transferred to municipal services and rose to the position of police inspector. In 1776 he married Anna Margarete Kern from Hof. Descendants are not known. Leonhard Gottlieb Knoll was born in 1741 as another son of Wolfgang Adam and Barbara, but he died after a few weeks.
Catalog of works
Hans Hofner put together a list of works, which is clearly documented by church accounts.
| year | Works | place | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1692 | pulpit | Konradsreuth | |
| 1693 | Pulpit cover | Courtyard, hospital church | |
| 1693/1694 | Organ cases, carvings | mountain | |
| 1694 | Lecture cross | mountain | |
| 1695 | pulpit | Arzberg | |
| 1696 | Pulpit, sound cover | Geroldsgrün | |
| 1698 | crucifix | Köditz | possibly also in Leupoldsgrün |
| 1699 | Pulpit altar | Oberröslau | first pulpit altar of the margravate |
| 1700 | Lecture cross | Marlesreuth | |
| 1704 | altar | Joditz | |
| 1704 | pulpit | Joditz | |
| 1704 | Baptism angel | Joditz | |
| 1704 | Pulpit altar | Bobenneukirchen | |
| 1704 | Pulpit altar | Misslareuth | |
| 1705 | Organ cases, carvings | Joditz | |
| 1707 | Organ cases, carvings | Leupoldsgrün | |
| 1710 | Pulpit altar | Rossbach | |
| 1714 | Baptism angel | mountain | |
| 1716 | Pulpit altar | Schauenstein | |
| 1719 | Organ case | Schauenstein | |
| 1719 | Organ case | Marlesreuth | |
| 1720 | Organ case | Pumpkin | |
| 1720 | pulpit | Ölsnitz | |
| 1722 | Baptism angel | Selbitz | |
| 1722 | various jobs | Hof, St. Michaelis | |
| 1723 | Hourglass angel | Konradsreuth | |
| 1725 | Pulpit altar | Selbitz | |
| 1730 | Baptism angel | Wiedersberg | |
| 1730 | Pulpit altar | Wiedersberg | |
| 1732 | Organ case | Ölsnitz | |
| 1742 | Pulpit altar | Marlesreuth | |
| 1743 | Pulpit altar | Regnitzlosau | |
| 1744 | Pulpit altar | Wirsberg | |
| 1745 | Baptism angel | Regnitzlosau | |
| 1745 | various jobs | Kirchenlamitz | |
| 1746 | Baptism angel | Köditz | small version |
| 1748 | Pulpit altar | Trogen | |
| 1748 | Organ case | Trogen | |
| 1750 | Resurrection figure | Münchberg , cemetery church | Figure for the altar of Johann Daniel Thalbitzer |
| 1751 | Baptism angel | Däuma | |
| 1754 | Pulpit altar | Gattendorf | |
| 1754 | Organ case | Gattendorf | |
| 1754 | Baptism angel | Gattendorf | |
| 1768 | Pulpit altar | Geroldsgrün | |
| 1769 | Baptism angel | Köditz | great execution |
| 1770 | Baptismal angel or epistle angel | Geroldsgrün | |
| 1771 | Organ case | Geroldsgrün | |
| 1793 | Baptism angel | Leupoldsgrün |
Examples of works
Wirsberg pulpit altar from 1744
Baptism angel in Trogen
Trogen pulpit altar from 1748
Suspension baptism from 1769 in Köditz
The figure of Aaron from 1693 from the pulpit cover of the Hospital Church courtyard
literature
- Hans Hofner : Hof as a power center of the fine arts . Hof 1955, pp. 62–71.
- Hans Hofner: Master of the Central German Baroque - the Alt-Hofer sculptor family Knoll . In: Grenzlanddekanat Hof . Verlag der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Mission Erlangen, 1988, p. 25ff.
- Hans Hofner: The Alt-Hofer sculptor Knoll, master of the baroque . In: Kulturwarte - Nordostoberfränkische monthly for art and culture , issue April 1957. pp. 8-16.
- Helmuth Meißner: The suspension baptized angel in the Köditz church . ( PDF file )
- Karl Sitzmann : artist and craftsman in Eastern Franconia . Kulmbach 1957. pp. 301f.