Melchior by Reidt

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Figure of Melchior von Reidt on the Cologne town hall tower
The Senate Chamber (1655) with Reidts' stalls

Melchior von Reidt (also Melchior van Raedt or Melchior van Rheidt ; * before 1590 , † after 1624 ) was an art carpenter in Cologne .

Life

Melchior von Reidt came to Cologne from Mainz in 1590 and enrolled in the stonemasons - Gaffel , but worked as an art carpenter. With his work he achieved a high reputation in the city as a master of his craft.

His most famous works were magnificent inlaid portals for the Cologne City Hall and the stalls for the councilors (today Senate Hall ), which he completed in 1602. About the payment he got into a dispute with the Cologne council, which is why two "experienced masters of the carving trade" came from Frankfurt am Main to examine the woodwork. They estimated the value to the advantage of Melchior at 700 Reichstaler ; thereupon the charge was made that he had ridden against the two men and had bribed them.

The dispute over payment lasted until 1607. In this dispute, the Gaffel opposed its member Melchior von Reidt, probably because the organization of his workshop violated the rules of the previous strict guild system. In 1611 he was punished for employing too many journeymen and in 1614 he was even banned from working.

Von Reidt's work is regarded as the highlight not only of the Cologne-based carpentry, but of the entire German Renaissance carpentry . In the Cologne City Museum there is a so-called “Cologne cabinet”, created by him around 1610, with the story of Susanna .

Von Reidt himself, about whose person little is otherwise known, was considered an unpleasant person. In a council minutes from 1624 he was described as "unpeaceful and drunkard". Johann Jakob Merlo wrote in 1889 that von Reidt had "caused scandalous appearances through his' constant drinking and enthusiasm".

Commemoration of the city

Melchior von Reidt is part of the figure program for the Cologne town hall tower (No. 53, 2nd floor). The sculpture was created by the sculptor Marlene Dammin .

literature

Web links

Commons : Melchior von Reidt  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Rheidt, Melchior van. Deutsche Fotothek , accessed on January 17, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b c Hiltrud Kier , Bernd Ernsting , Ulrich Krings : Cologne, the council tower: its history and its program of figures . Ed .: City of Cologne. JP Bachem Verlag , Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-7616-0858-6 , p. 493 f .
  3. ↑ a b Alexander Kierdorf: Magnificent portal and stalls of Melchior von Reidt in the old council chamber of the city of Cologne . In: Hiltrud Kier / Bernd Ernsting / Ulrich Krings (eds.): Cologne: The council tower. His story and his program of characters . City tracks - monuments in Cologne. JP Bachem Verlag, Cologne 1996, p. 203 .
  4. ^ A b "Rheidt, Melchior von" by Johann Jakob Merlo in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie , edited by the Historical Commission at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Volume 28 (1889), p. 378, digital full-text edition in Wikisource, [1 ] (Version of January 17, 2015, 4:04 p.m. UTC)
  5. ↑ a b c Sculptures on the second floor. City of Cologne, accessed on January 14, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Reidt, Melchior from
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Raedt, Melchior van; Rheidt, Melchior van
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Art carpenter in Cologne
DATE OF BIRTH before 1590
DATE OF DEATH after 1624