Max H. von Freeden

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Max Hermann von Freeden (born November 18, 1913 in Bremen ; † April 20, 2001 in Würzburg ) was a German art historian and the first post-war director of the Mainfränkisches Museum in Würzburg .

Life

Max Hermann von Freeden comes from an old Frisian family: his grandfather Wilhelm von Freeden was an oceanographer and founder of the Norddeutsche Seewarte Hamburg , his father Maximilian von Freeden was the captain on a long voyage in Bremen.

After graduating from high school in Bremen in 1932, von Freeden studied art history at the universities of Würzburg , Munich and again in Würzburg and received his doctorate there in 1936 with a thesis on Balthasar Neumann as a city architect "summa cum laude" - which was awarded the university prize . In it he published his "'discovery" and evaluation of the extensive protocols of the Neumanns Würzburg building commission, which had been completely overlooked until 1935, [...] (the) attribution of buildings in Bamberg and Würzburg as well as [...] Neumann's designs for model street lines to Würzburger Theaterstrasse Uncovering the market square, on the construction projects in Kapuzinerstraße and numerous other projects [...] ”. These materials and the extensive picture section with photos of buildings before the destruction were to be of great value later for the reconstruction of Würzburg after the end of the war. As early as 1935 he became a volunteer at the Franconian Luitpold Museum , which was renamed Mainfränkisches Museum in 1939 , and became deputy curator of the State Monuments Office , in 1938 he became assistant and in 1939 curator. After military service, severe injuries and brief imprisonment, he returned to Würzburg in autumn 1940. In November of the same year he married Eleonore Hartig (1920–2009), their daughter Eva was born in 1942.

In view of the almost complete destruction of Würzburg , von Freeden was commissioned by the Mayor of Würzburg, Gustav Pinkenburg , to “build” a new museum in May 1945 . He appointed him head of the new museum, of which he became director in 1949. Initially, this meant quickly recovering buried works of art from the ruins of the Mainfränkisches Museum, because almost half of the holdings had not been completely destroyed. However, all files and inventories as well as the library with archive were destroyed. Thanks to von Freeden's commitment, it was possible to save important art treasures, including Tilman Riemenschneider's Adam and Eve and his apostles from the burned-out Marienkapelle , numerous Gothic stone figures from the 14th century, putti by Johann Peter Wagner and garden figures by Ferdinand Tietz , which were later reassembled and could be restored. At the same time, he ensured that the museum holdings were secured. As early as 1946, he implemented his idea of ​​establishing the new Mainfränkisches Museum on the Marienberg Fortress, which was initially heavily damaged : On September 8, 1946, the Riemenschneider Hall and four other halls in the former armory and the real bastion were opened. Gradually, under von Freeden's direction, further museum rooms were expanded, which made it possible to accommodate the numerous new acquisitions and donations. From the very beginning, von Freeden developed new concepts to bring the Mainfränkisches Museum to life in the minds of the population: through complete evening lighting of the museum rooms, “non-museum” exhibition presentations close to the public, particularly well-thought-out new room lighting concepts, guided tours, opening of the museum for festive events and, from 1956, through the Organization of regular museum concerts. As a result, he developed new standards for museums in general and, as a museum specialist, was therefore called in as a consultant for the establishment of the Salzburg Fortress Museum (May 1952) and the Reiss Museum Mannheim (August 1954). Von Freeden planned and organized several thematically first-time, large exhibitions with valuable, in part hitherto unknown loans from Germany and abroad, including "Tiepolo in Würzburg, 1750–1753" (1951), "1200 Years of Franconia Sacra" (1952), " Balthasar Neumann, Memorial Show for the 200th Anniversary of Death ”(1953),“ Showpieces of German Wine Culture ”(1957), for which he also published scientifically based catalogs.

Through his work as director until 1978, von Freeden not only led the Mainfränkisches Museum “to a worldwide reputation”, but also made a significant contribution to “ensuring that the [...] badly destroyed Würzburg with this museum [...] despite all the losses suffered his soul regained ”. He initiated the establishment of the Society of Friends of Mainfränkischer Kunst und Geschichte e. V. Würzburg . With more than 800 publications (books, exhibition catalogs and articles) Max H. von Freeden made the Main Franconian art landscape known to a broad public and to science.

At the request of Count Karl von Luxburg and the district of Lower Franconia , von Freeden also set up the Aschach Castle Museum in Aschach near Bad Kissingen in 1956/1957 and looked after it until 1982.

In 1962 the University of Würzburg appointed von Freeden as " Honorary Professor for Middle and Modern Art History, especially for Main Franconian art history and museums ". In 1952 he was invited to the Stockholm Academy and University and in 1954 to Harvard to give guest lectures . He was a sought-after reviewer for the works of Balthasar Neumann, Tilman Riemenschneider and father and son Tiepolo . Von Freeden was Bavaria's representative on the administrative board of the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg (1969–1978). He was a member of the Bavarian State Monument Council (1974–1980), the International Council of Museums and the “Federal Commission for Nationally Valuable Works of Art”. He had several honorable appointments and inquiries for the management of large foreign museums, which he declined because of his connection with his work in Würzburg, including Focke-Museum Bremen (1950), appointment as general director of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg (1951 and 1961), Alte Pinakothek (1953) , Nomination for General Director of the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich (1953), Appointment to General Director of the Cologne Museums and Director of the Wallraf-Richartz Museum (1959), Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin (1958), General Director of the Berlin Museums (1962).

Awards and honors

Fonts (selection)

  • Balthasar Neumann as city architect. (= Art Studies, Volume 20 / also Phil. Diss. University of Würzburg 1936). Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin 1937 (reprint, Würzburg 1978).
  • From the new acquisitions of the Mainfränkisches Museum 1945–1950. In: Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kunst. Volume 2. Spurbuchverlag, Baunach 1950, ISSN  0076-2725 , pp. 286-300.
  • Marienberg Fortress. Stürtz, Würzburg 1952 (new edition, Stürtz, Würzburg 1982, ISBN 3-8003-0187-3 ).
  • Balthasar Neumann. Life and work. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1953 (3rd expanded edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-422-00118-2 ).
  • Tilman Riemenschneider. Life and work. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich Berlin 1954 (5th enlarged and combined edition 1981, ISBN 3-422-00124-7 ).
  • as contributor: Sources on the history of the Baroque in Franconia under the influence of the House of Schönborn. Part I: The time of Archbishop Lothar Franz and Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn 1693–1729. Filser, Augsburg 1955.
  • The new acquisitions of the Mainfränkisches Museum 1946–1956. In: Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kunst. Volume 8. Spurbuchverlag, Baunach 1958, ISSN  0076-2725 , pp. 1-65.
  • The masterpiece of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. The frescoes of the Würzburg Residence. Hirmer Verlag, Munich 1956.
  • The Mainfränkisches Museum 1945–1960, I. 1945–1948. . In: Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kunst. Volume 11. Spurbuchverlag, Baunach 1959, pp. 247–264 (Simultaneously: Heritage and Order - From Franconian Art and Culture. Essays and articles from fifty years. Friends of Mainfränkischer Kunst und Geschichte, Würzburg 1988, pp. 70–77).
  • Würzburg's residence and royal court at the time of Schönborn. Emig Verlag, Amorbach 1961.
  • Gothic sculpture. Small works by great masters. Bruckmann Verlag, Munich 1962.
  • From the treasures of the Mainfränkisches Museum Würzburg. Wuerzburg 1972.
  • Aschach Castle near Bad Kissingen - Graf-Luxburg-Museum of the Lower Franconia district. (= Great Art Guide, Volume 94). Schnell & Steiner, Munich / Zurich 1982, ISBN 3-7954-0838-5 .
  • Heritage and Mission - From Franconian Art and Culture. (= Mainfränkische Studien, Volume 44). Friends of Mainfränkischer Art and History, Würzburg 1988, ISSN  1612-4286 .

literature

  • Rudolf Stahr: Bibliography Max Hermann von Freeden. Publications from 1936–1988. Würzburg University Library, Würzburg 1988, ISBN 3-923959-11-7 .
  • Hans-Peter Trenschel: Prof. Dr. Max Hermann von Freeden (1913–2001). In: Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kunst. Volume 53. Spurbuchverlag, Baunach 2001, ISSN  0076-2725 , pp. 1-5.
  • Stefan Kummer : Fine arts and architecture from the beginning of the Bavarian period to the end of the Second World War. Epilogue: After 1945. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. Volume III / 1: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 866-867.
  • Claudia Lichte: Civil collections in prince-bishop buildings - the Mainfränkisches Museum Würzburg on the Marienberg fortress. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. Volume III / 1: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century , Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 870–872.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Genealogy of Freedens. In: Deutsche-Biographie.de. Retrieved March 17, 2019 .
  2. ↑ The information below is based on: Hans-Peter Trenschel: Prof. Dr. Max Hermann von Freeden (1913–2001). In: Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kunst. Volume 53, Baunach 2001, pp. 1-5; Max H. von Freeden: On the becoming and growing of the Mainfränkisches Museum Würzburg on the Marienberg Fortress , lecture on September 8, 1997. In: Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kunst. Volume 53. Baunach 2001, pp. 6-14. The preliminary remark by Freedens was also included in: Rudolf Stahr: Bibliography Max Hermann von Freeden. Publications from 1936–1988. Würzburg 1988, pp. VIII-XI.
  3. ↑ So Max H. von Freeden in his foreword to the reprint: Balthasar Neumann as Stadtbaumeister. Würzburg 1978, p. 6.
  4. ↑ Von Freeden made an extensive list of the damage in his contribution to Art Monuments. In: Hans Oppelt (Ed.): Würzburger Chronik 1945. Schöningh, Würzburg 1947, pp. 43–57 (At the same time: Heritage and Order - Of Franconian Art and Culture. Friends of Mainfränkischer Art and History, Würzburg 1988, pp. 1–5 ).
  5. ↑ According to the information provided by his daughter Eva von Freeden, he and his family lived in the fortress next to the museum from 1946 to 1957.
  6. ↑ "[...] this is what I wanted, the unmusical, that the person feels spoken to, feels comfortable and is only then taught", so von Freeden in: From becoming and growing of the Mainfränkisches Museum Würzburg on the Marienberg fortress, Lecture from September 8, 1997. In: Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kunst. Volume 53, Baunach 2001, p. 13.
  7. ↑ Max H. von Freeden: About lighting issues in the Mainfränkisches Museum on the Marienberg Fortress in Würzburg. In: German art and monument preservation. 16th year. Munich / Berlin 1958, pp. 45–55.
  8. ↑ Lord of the Marienveste - Max von Freeden died. In: FAZ, April 26, 2001.
  9. ↑ Johannes Willms: Rescuers and Stimulators - On the death of the art historian Max von Freeden. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 25, 2001.
  10. ↑ Max H. von Freeden: Aschach Castle. In: German art and monument preservation. 16th year. Munich / Berlin 1958, pp. 112–120 (At the same time: Schloss Aschach: Graf Luxburg-Museum des Bezirks Unterfranken. In: Heritage and Order - From Franconian Art and Culture. Friends of Mainfränkischer Kunst und Geschichte, Würzburg 1988, pp. 316–324 ).
personal data
SURNAME Freeden, Max H. von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Freeden, Max von; Freeden, Max Hermann von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian and museum director
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Bremen
DATE OF DEATH April 20, 2001
Place of death Wurzburg