Coin frieze
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The so-called coin frieze is a relief that the sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow created based on a design by Friedrich Gilly and that was originally intended to decorate the outer walls of the Berlin mint on Werderscher Markt , which was built between 1798 and 1800 . After an eventful fate, the original of the coin frieze is now stored in a depot under the national monument on Berlin's Kreuzberg . A copy is in the Mühlendamm 3 building in Berlin.
Art in architecture for the Berlin Mint
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The coin frieze was created by Johann Gottfried Schadow as "art in architecture". It was supposed to show passers-by clearly and artistically the purpose of the new building for the Berlin Mint. The designs for the frieze were developed by Friedrich Gilly, who came from a Huguenot family and who worked closely with Heinrich Gentz , the architect of the mint building on Werderscher Markt . Schadow made the models based on these drafts and executed the frieze in sandstone .
The reliefs of around 36 meters in length extended on the three sides of the front building of the Berlin Mint facing Werderscher Markt. They represent the discovery and extraction of the hidden treasures of nature as well as the sighting and scientific treatment of metals , the processes of melting, stretching and minting for the production of coins, the "collecting of treasures" at sacred altars and finally their use in the service of Gods to works of art and to combat the raw forces of nature.
Description of the individual relief parts
Description of the individual relief parts (in the order in which they are attached to the Alte Münze at Werderscher Markt):
- 1. Front, left of the entrance:
Rhea , dismounted from the panther chariot, shows the workers the treasures of nature. Prometheus teaches to use the fire stolen from heaven to melt it.
- 2. Front, right of the entrance:
A teacher, in front of the statue of Diana of Ephesus (the symbol of nature), gives the students instructions for the scientific arrangement of the metals that have been brought in.
- 3. Side front I.
The melting furnace. One worker brings the metal, another pulls the glowing step out of the furnace. The blacksmith at the anvil and the stretching of the metals.
- 4. Side front II.
The embossing machine. Checking the coinage. The discs are inserted and minted, the coins are collected, weighed and handed over to Pluto by the mint master . Mercury wants to teach and convey the use of treasures.
- 5. Side front III.
Minerva in front of the Temple of the Arts. The art of architecture (with compasses) calls on painting and sculpture to work together through a genius . Agriculture. Ceres teaches the rural people.
- 6. Side front IV.
Hydraulic engineering. Bulwarks are erected against the elements excited by Neptune and the winds.
Affixed to the Royal Mint in Unterwasserstraße
From 1868 to 1871 a new building was built for the Berlin Mint on Unterwasserstraße. The architect of the new mint building on Unterwasserstraße was construction officer Bürde. Right from the start he envisaged a reuse of the Schadow coin frieze. However, the design of the building required a longer frieze, so the Schadow frieze had to be lengthened. The sculptors Hugo Hagen and Rudolf Siemering were commissioned with this expansion . They began work in 1870 after the original frieze was removed from the old mint building and taken to the construction site on Unterwasserstraße. In 1886 the old mint was removed from the Werderschen Markt.
The new mint building on Unterwasserstraße only stood until 1934. It was also demolished for the extension of the Reichsbank (today: the old part of the Foreign Office).
The copy of the coin frieze on the Mühlendamm 3 building
The Berlin Mint has now been relocated to a new mint building on Molkenmarkt. Here too, the Schadow frieze with the Berlin Mint moved because it was to be reused on the facade of the new building. In fact, the relief panels were stored on the construction site until 1937. But then the plans were abandoned in favor of a museum presentation. Instead, faithful copies of the Schadow frieze were attached to the facade, that is, without the extension by Hagen and Siemering. The copy is still in this building today (address: Mühlendamm 3).
Jewelry for a retirement home
The original frieze (including the extension) was stored in the vaults of the Reichsmünze until the first years of the war and was transported to Berlin-Dahlem during the war. Because of the war, the originally planned installation of the museum did not come about.
After the Second World War, the coin frieze was stored in various depots for many years. The cultural administration could not come to a conclusion about its further use. After several plans had failed, the frieze was built into the concrete-facing facade of the senior citizens' home on Spandauer Damm 40-44 from November 10 to 18, 1976. Since the legal basis for this measure subsequently proved to be unsustainable, the frieze - after long discussions - was finally removed from the facade of the retirement home from April 20 to 27, 1989 and stored in a depot in the base of the Berlin Kreuzberg monument. The frieze is still in this provisional structure today. His further fate is unclear.
literature
- Heinrich Gentz: Description of the new royal mint building. In: Collection of useful articles and news relating to architecture. 4, 1800, 1, pp. 14-26 ( digitized version ).
- Johann Daniel Friedrich Rumpf : Berlin and Potsdam. A complete display of the strangest items. Volume 1. Berlin 1803, pp. 115-119 ( digitized version ).
- Adolph Doebber : The Berlin “old coin” and its builder. In: Old Berlin. Communications from the Association for the History of Berlin. 26, 1909, pp. 27-36 ( digitized version ).
- Otto Uhlitz : The Berlin coin frieze. History and fate of an important work of classicist sculpture . In: The Bear of Berlin. Yearbook of the Association for the History of Berlin 27, 1978, pp. 51–85
- Otto Uhlitz: The Berlin coin frieze and the new building of the realm coin on the Molkenmarkt (addendum to vol. 27/1978) , in: Der Bär von Berlin. Yearbook of the Association for the History of Berlin 28, 1979, pp. 119–128
- Rolf Kriesten: Johann Gottfried Schadow's frieze for the New Mint Building. An examination of its history from a restoration perspective . In: Anzeiger des Germanisches Nationalmuseums 1996, pp. 175–183.
- Rolf Kriesten: Johann Gottfried Schadow's frieze for the new mint building. An examination of its history from a restoration perspective. (This online article is a revised summary of an investigation and documentation of Schadow's "coin frieze" carried out on behalf of the Berlin State Monuments Office.).
- Andreas Schikora (ed.): The coin frieze by Johann Gottfried Schadow . State Mint Berlin, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-00-045641-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Johann David Friedrich Rumpf: Berlin and Potsdam. A complete display of the strangest items . Volume 1. Berlin 1803, p. 115 f.
- ↑ The description follows the information provided by Adolph Doebbel: The Berlin “old coin” and its builder. In: Old Berlin. Communications from the Association for the History of Berlin. 26, 1909, p. 31 ff .; Photos of the individual relief parts can be found at: Rolf Kriesten: Johann Gottfried Schadow's frieze for the New Mint Building. An examination of its history from a restoration perspective.
- ↑ Rolf Kriesten: Johann Gottfried Schadow frieze for the new Mint building. An examination of its history from a restoration perspective. P. 10 ff.