Otto Christian Gaedechens

Otto Christian Gaedechens (born July 22, 1791 in Hamburg ; † June 20, 1856 there ) was a German businessman, insurance broker , art lover and numismatist . On behalf of the Association for Hamburg History , he wrote the standard numismatic work "Hamburg Coins and Medals", which is still in use today.

Life

Otto Christian Gaedechens was the son of a Hamburg sugar manufacturer. He was a businessman in Hamburg and a committed member of the newly founded art association in Hamburg . After Gaedechen's long co-owner of the trading company Brentano, Bovara u. Urbieta , he became an authorized representative of the new 8th Assecuranz-Compagnie in 1835 ; one of his sons continued this company after his death. Another son, Cipriano Francisco , after whom the Gaedechensweg in Hamburg-Eppendorf is named, was later also the author of important writings on Hamburg's history.

In 1839 the Association for Hamburg History was founded, whose "artistic section" set itself the task of continuing the outdated standard numismatic work on Hamburg coins, the "Langermannsche Hamburgische Münz- und Medals-lust" published from 1741 to 1753. Coin collecting had a long tradition among wealthy hamburgers. The most complete collection of old coins and medals was in the Free State Hamburg Bank at the beginning of the 19th century . While the valuables in the bank were "confiscated" by Napoleonic occupation troops during the French era , the coin cabinet was spared.

Otto Christian Gaedechens, merchants' collective grave (II a),
Ohlsdorf cemetery

The new numismatic work of the association was to appear annually in sequels with a booklet. The first issue was published in 1843 and dealt with the Portuguese , the second with the mayor's pennies , the third with the commemorative medals struck to honor hamburgers , the fourth with the “jubilation medals”, the fifth with various medals, including wedding and baptismal pennies as well as Masonic medals, as well as the sixth with the Hamburg coins.

The great fire of 1842, together with the Hamburger Bank building, destroyed the registration and description of the coin collection that Gaedechens had made. The manuscript of the book was also lost. Only the copperplate engravings could be saved, as well as the coin cabinet itself. After Gaedechens, together with his “assistant and senior auditor Dr. Buck ”had made the registry and the manuscript again, the work was published in 1850 in three volumes.

Otto Christian Gaedechens is commemorated on the collective grave plate Merchants (II a) of the Althamburg Memorial Cemetery, Ohlsdorf Cemetery .

Works

Association for Hamburg History (Hrsg.): Hamburg coins and medals. Three volumes. Johann August Meissner, Hamburg 1850.

1. Department: The coins and medals since 1753. Hamburg 1850, ( online ), published from 1843 in 7 issues a. a .:

The newer Hamburg coins and medals. 1st piece: The Portuguese. With copper engravings by Franz Schröder. Perthes-Besser u. Mauke, Hamburg 1843.
The newer Hamburg coins and medals. 2nd piece: The mayor's pennies. With copper engravings by Franz Schröder. Perthes-Besser u. Mauke, Hamburg 1844.
The newer Hamburg coins and medals. 3rd piece: The historical medal. With copper engravings by Franz Schröder. Perthes-Besser u. Mauke, Hamburg 1846.

2nd section: The addition to Langermann's Hamburg coin and medal amusement published between 1741 and 1753. Hamburg 1854, ( online ).
3. Department: Hamburg coins and medals. Additions and continuation. Hamburg 1876, ( Published by his son Cipriano Francisco Gaedechens ).

The Dutch poor casse. Hamburg's silent benefactress. Carstens, Hamburg 1826, (third edition intended for the rulers. Th. G. Meißner, Hamburg 1880, online ).

literature

Cipriano Francisco Gaedechens : From the life of Otto Christian Gaedechens. In: Hamburgische Geschichts- und Heimatblätter . Vol. 18, No. 4, 1960/1961, pp. 306-311 .
Hans Schröder : Lexicon of the Hamburg writers up to the present. Volume 2: Dassovius - Günther. Perthes-Besser u. Mauke, Hamburg 1854, No. 1148 .

Web links

Literature by and about Otto Christian Gaedechens in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

↑ Uwe M. Schneede : A public for art - The beginnings of the art association in Hamburg (and elsewhere) . In: Uwe Fleckner , Uwe M. Schneede (Hrsg.): Civil avant-garde. 200 years of the Kunstverein in Hamburg . Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-7757-4374-7 , pp. 8–35, here p. 13 .
↑ Medals that were minted in memory of deceased Hamburg mayors. Illustration of a mayor's penny from 1834 on the death of Johann Arnold Heise .
↑ Illustration of a jubilation medal showing Johann Georg I , Elector of Saxony.
^ Foreword in: Hamburg coins and medals. S. V – VIII .
↑ "A high noble and high wise Rath's book printer".
↑ Various reprints, latest edition as paperback by Strothotte, 2000, ISBN 3-934777-13-9 . A bound reprint of all three volumes was published in 1970 by the Central Antiquariat of the GDR.

personal data
SURNAME	Gaedechens, Otto Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German businessman, insurance broker, art lover and numismatist
DATE OF BIRTH	July 22, 1791
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH	June 20, 1856
Place of death	Hamburg

[1] Uwe M. Schneede : A public for art - The beginnings of the art association in Hamburg (and elsewhere) . In: Uwe Fleckner , Uwe M. Schneede (Hrsg.): Civil avant-garde. 200 years of the Kunstverein in Hamburg . Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-7757-4374-7 , pp. 8–35, here p. 13 .

[2] Medals that were minted in memory of deceased Hamburg mayors. Illustration of a mayor's penny from 1834 on the death of Johann Arnold Heise .

[3] Illustration of a jubilation medal showing Johann Georg I , Elector of Saxony.

[4] Foreword in: Hamburg coins and medals. S. V – VIII .

[5] "A high noble and high wise Rath's book printer".

[6] Various reprints, latest edition as paperback by Strothotte, 2000, ISBN 3-934777-13-9 . A bound reprint of all three volumes was published in 1970 by the Central Antiquariat of the GDR.