Matthias Benningk

Foundry mark Matthias Benningks

Matthias Benningk , also: Mattias , Matties , Benninck , Benning (* in the first half of the 16th century; † 1608 in Lübeck ) was a German piece and bell caster .

Life

Benningk belongs to a family of foundries that was widespread in northern Germany ( Hamburg , Lübeck, Danzig ) in the 16th and 17th centuries , and their exact relationships are not fully understood. He was first mentioned in 1550. According to a contract recorded in the Lübeck Niederstadtbuch in 1561, the widow of the Lübeck piece caster M. Karsten Middeldorp sold him all of her deceased husband's tools for 600 marks Lübsch. In the same year he was appointed council founder instead of Middeldorp.

Outside of the narrower sphere of activity in Lübeck and Holstein , no fewer than 21 bells have come down to us from Matthias Benningk in Denmark , including bells in churches on the island of Bornholm , which was pledged to Lübeck until 1576 and was administered by a Lübeck bailiff. This shows, on the one hand, that his work falls at a time when Lübeck was forced to ally itself with Denmark against Sweden in terms of foreign policy, and on the other hand, how recognized Lübeck's foundry art was at that time.

In 1563 he cast the only bronze Renaissance grave slab in Lübeck Cathedral with the grave slab of the Lübeck bishop Johannes Tiedemann . In 1571 he created the brass epitaph for Lübeck councilor Gotthard IV von Höveln and his wife in Lübeck's Marienkirche .

Benningk's guns have survived far less. These include the guns of the Lübeck admiral ship Engel , cast in 1564 , the wreck of which was discovered off Falsterbo in 1886 . The angel had exploded while trimming the ammunition in Öresund , when the Lübeck fleet was about to unite with the Danish against the Swedes. Some of the guns were recovered after the discovery in 1886 and are today Armory Museum ( Tøjhusmuseet ) in Copenhagen issued. Incidentally, the guns cast in Lübeck with their sayings are only included in a list drawn up in 1763, which roughly covers the heyday of Lübeck's piece foundry from 1540 to 1740 and was published by Muhsfeldt in 1919.

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  Tomb slab cast by Matthias Benningk for Bishop Johannes Tiedemann, Lübeck Cathedral

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  The angel , a gun cast by Matthias Benningk

progeny

• Reinhard, (or Reinhold) Benningk , the son of Matthias Benningk, took over his father's workshop, but died in 1617.
• Hermann Benningk , presumably a grandson of Matthias Benningk, was a caster in Hamburg.
• Albert Benningk , a great-grandson, became a council founder in Lübeck and is considered the most important representative of the family.

List of bells cast by Matthias Benningk

List of bells cast by Matthias Benningk

year	place	Surname	Weight in kg	Diameter in mm	Nominal	comment
1561	Matthias Claudius Church in Reinfeld (Holstein)
1563	Gleschendorfer Church					Two Benningk bells from the same year, each with an ornamental frieze and inscription, one 110 and the other 102 cm high.
1580	Nylars Church					Melted down in 1797 for a new bell
1584	Petersdorf on Fehmarn					Medium in size with decorative frieze and inscription. The bell is a new copy.
1591	St. Aegidien (Lübeck)	Pulse bell	3000	1698	h 0 -9
1585	Smidstrup near Vejle
1586	Pedersborg near Sorø
1588	Eltang near Kolding
1589	Grossenbrode
1589	Kroket, Norrköping (municipality)
1590	St. Andreas (Lübeck-Schlutup)			1120
1594	Vicelinkirche (Pronstorf)			700		Ornamental frieze and inscription
1599	Dalhem Church , Gotland

literature

• Theodor Hach: On the history of ore casting. In: Repertory for Art History. 4, 1881, pp. 401-420 ( books.google.com )
• Benningk, north German piece foundry family, → Matthias B. In: Ulrich Thieme , Felix Becker (Hrsg.): General encyclopedia of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. tape 3 : Bassano – Bickham . Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1909, p. 334–335 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
• Günter Meyer: Bronze cannons from Lübeck - production and trade of the council founders. In: Journal of Lübeck History . Volume 96, 2016, pp. 143–163, here p. 150.
• Theodor Muhsfeldt: Lübeck gun and Lübeck gun inscriptions. Lübeck 1919.
• Konrad Ullmann: From the spirit of old weapons. In: The car . 1958, pp. 65-73.

Web links

Commons : Mattias Benningk  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Antjekathrin Graßmann : Lübeckische Geschichte. 2nd Edition. Lübeck 1989, ISBN 3-7950-3203-2 , p. 376 ff.
2. ^ Hartwig Beseler: Art Topography Schleswig-Holstein. Neumünster 1974, p. 55 ff.
3. ^ Antjekathrin Graßmann: Lübeckische Geschichte. 2nd edition Lübeck 1989, ISBN 3-7950-3203-2 , p. 421 ff.
4. ^ ^{A b c} Richard Haupt: The buildings and art monuments of the province of Schleswig-Holstein. Volume 3. Kiel 1889, p. 31.
5. ^ Hartwig Beseler: Art Topography Schleswig-Holstein. Neumünster 1974, p. 175.
6. ^ Hartwig Beseler: Art Topography Schleswig-Holstein. Neumünster 1974, p. 274.
7. ↑ Nylars Kirke ( Memento of the original from November 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ^ Hartwig Beseler: Art Topography Schleswig-Holstein. Neumünster 1974, p. 533.
9. ↑ pulse bell on youtube.
10. ↑ Antiqvarisk tidskrift för Sverige 1 (1864), p 143
11. ↑ schlutup-online.de
12. ^ Hartwig Beseler: Art Topography Schleswig-Holstein. Neumünster 1974, p. 761; not mentioned in more recent representations.

predecessor	Office	successor
( Karsten Middeldorp )	Lübeck council founder 1561–1608	Reinhold Benningk