Ludwig Geyer (painter)

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Ludwig Geyer

Ludwig Heinrich Christian Geyer (born January 21, 1779 in Eisleben , † September 30, 1821 in Dresden ) was a German portrait painter, writer and actor. He married Richard Wagner's widowed mother . Their daughter Cäcilie (born February 26, 1815 in Dresden) was the half-sister of Richard Wagner and mother of Ferdinand Avenarius .

Live and act

Ludwig Heinrich Christian Geyer was born as the son of an actuary at the Eisleben supervisory authority. He spent his childhood in Artern , where his love for nature and his ability to observe paintings awoke. After attending high school in Eisleben, Geyer first studied law in Leipzig . When his father was about to take up a job in Dresden in 1799, he had an accident so badly on the way home that he died soon afterwards. Not only did the son run out of funds to study, he also had to look after the family. He achieved this by turning his hobby into a profession and selling small portraits that he made while traveling extensively in the provinces.

Around 1801 Geyer returned to Leipzig, where he met Friedrich Wagner, who discovered his acting talent. Geyer had engagements in Magdeburg, Braunschweig and from 1805 in Stettin. After the Napoleonic troops took power there in 1806, Geyer moved to Breslau . When the French had also moved in there, he returned to Leipzig in 1807. It helped Geyer that his fatherly friend Friedrich Wagner had some influence due to his knowledge of French. On October 6, 1809, Geyer made a notable debut in Leipzig. He was accepted into the ensemble of Franz Seconda , who had acquired the title of "Royal Saxon Court Actor" for himself and his actors. In Magdeburg he was accepted into the Freemason Lodge Ferdinand for happiness .

Geyer repeatedly visited Dresden, where he distanced himself from the alliance between the Saxon King Friedrich August and Napoleon. In 1813 he played in the Bohemian Teplitz Theater; Johanna Rosine Pätz, Richard Wagner's mother, also had a stay there from July 21 to August 10, 1813. In 1814 the Secondasche Gesellschaft was incorporated into the Dresden Court Society . In the same year Geyer married the widow of the police actuary Friedrich Wagner, who had died of typhus after the Battle of Leipzig. Geyer's wife brought seven children with her into the marriage, and he encouraged their musical talents. Wagner's favorite sister, the later court actress Rosalie Wagner , made her debut in 1818 in the play The Harvest Festival of her stepfather, her sister Luise had already made her debut in 1817 in Geyer's comedy Das Mädchen aus der Fremde .

Geyer was a member of the Dresden court theater ensemble until his death in 1821 , wrote stage texts and even appeared as a singer under Carl Maria von Weber . Carl August Böttiger regretted, however, that Geyer had not remained true to his original profession, painting, alone: ​​“His painting profession was the earliest and most decisive. If he had been granted the privilege of devoting all his strength to portraiture alone, the works of his brush would have been kept in galleries as true artifacts, regardless of the often paid charm of resemblance. ”Geyer died in Dresden in 1821 and is supposed to have been buried in the Elias cemetery. However, there is no evidence of this in the completely preserved burial books of the cemetery.

Richard Wagner moved to Ludwig Geyer's brother in Eisleben, the goldsmith Julius Geyer, in mid-October 1821 and attended a private school there.

Physical father of Richard Wagner?

In science it is still controversial today whether Geyer was the biological father of Richard Wagner, who was born the year before. This question was at times explosive because Geyer speculated on a possible Jewish descent (which has not yet been confirmed). The so-called “Geyer legend” originates from the writings of Nietzsche and the biographical memories of a philosophy student whom Nietzsche met in Nice in the summer of 1884. In a manuscript written by Schirnhofer from this resa, which initially remained unpublished, it says:

“Both in Nice and later in Sils-Maria, Nietzsche spoke to me often and a lot about Wagner. Initially cautious, later sharper, increasing in itself. Ruthlessly dissecting Wagner's essence and his music, and with devastating criticism emphasizing the inauthentic and the acting. Through him I heard for the first time that Wagner's stepfather Geyer was his real father and that he therefore had Jewish blood. "

- Resa von Schirnhofer : Vom Menschen Nietzsche , 1937

In a footnote in the Wagner case (1888), Nietzsche wrote a little more mysteriously, without any obvious devaluation: “Was Wagner a German at all? There are several reasons to ask that way. It is difficult to find any German train in it. […] His father was an actor named Geyer. A Geyer is almost an eagle… ”The legend is essentially based on these two references, which are based on Nietzsche's personal encounter with Wagner. The Geyer and Adler imagery is connected with Wagner's coat of arms, which Nietzsche dealt with and which showed a vulture next to the constellation of the chariot and the seven stars. Allegedly Wagner stylized himself as the son of the musically gifted Geyer.

literature

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marcel Prawy , Karin Werner-Jensen: Richard Wagner. Life and work. Wilhelm Goldmann, Munich 1982, p. 319.
  2. ↑ Otto Bournot: Ludwig Heinr. Chr. Geyer, Richard Wagner's stepfather . CFW Siegel, Leipzig 1913, p. 71.
  3. ↑ Marcel Prawy , Karin Werner-Jensen: Richard Wagner. Life and work. Wilhelm Goldmann, Munich 1982, p. 319.
  4. ↑ Quoted from Curt Paul Janz: Friedrich Nietzsche . Volume 2. Hanser Verlag, Munich and Vienna 1978, p. 274.
  5. ^ Friedrich Nietzsche: The case of Wagner. A musicians problem , in: Works . Volume 2. Hanser Verlag, Munich 1956, p. 929, note 2.
  6. ↑ Werner Ross: The fearful eagle. Friedrich Nietzsche's life. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1994, p. 287.
personal data
SURNAME Geyer, Ludwig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Geyer, Ludwig Heinrich Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter, writer and actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1779
PLACE OF BIRTH Eisleben
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 1821
Place of death Dresden