Moritz Rachel

Moritz Rachel (born June 16, 1639 in Kiel , † September 1, 1697 in Dresden ) was a German goldsmith.

Live and act

Moritz Rachel was the son of a goldsmith of the same name from Kiel and his wife Anna, née Rathgen († 1669). His father, who died on July 14, 1661, had been a citizen of Kiel since 1640 and from 1656 a senior man of the goldsmiths' guild.

Rachel was an apprentice to his father and from the autumn of 1657 went hiking. He stayed in Hamburg until Easter 1658 , then in Dresden for a year. He then crossed Upper Germany, went to the Rhineland, on to Holland and arrived in Paris in November 1659 , where he stayed for a year and a half. In the early summer of 1661 he reached England. However, he only stayed there until his father's death in July 1661.

Back in Kiel, he saw no opportunity to continue his father's workshop, as the Danish-Swedish War , which had only recently ended, meant that there was no sufficient income to be expected. For this reason he went to Dresden again, which he reached in June 1664. Here he first worked as a journeyman with Matthäus Arnold, who was the court goldsmith of the widowed Electress Magdalena Sibylle . After Arnold's death, Rachel took over his business, initially under the widow's name. In 1667 both married; Rachel then continued the workshop under her own name.

In October 1666 Rachel became the court goldsmith Johann Georg III. appointed. In Dresden he quickly became wealthy and in 1676 bought a house in Schlossgasse, and three years later an additional one in Frauengasse.

Rachel was not a famous master goldsmith and did not provide works for the Green Vault . However, he produced numerous everyday objects for the court. During his creative period he evidently shifted increasingly to the trade in silver, including in 1693 for August the Strong and his wedding. From 1685 to 1688 and 1696/97 Rachel was the senior age of the goldsmith's guild.

Works that can be assigned to Rachel via a signature no longer exist today.

family

Rachel had four sons and five daughters, including:

• Moritz († 1717). He worked as a goldsmith and founded a family of citizens and academics who lived in Dresden until the 20th century.
• Herinrich worked as a silver dealer in Augsburg. Most of his sons moved to Dresden and carried a title of nobility under the name Rachel von Löwmannsegk . The family died out.
• The daughter Anna Dorothe married the goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger .

literature

• Dieter Lohmeier: Rachel, Moritz . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 6 - 1982. ISBN 3-529-02646-8 , pages 235-236.