Otto Engau

Bronze plaque by Otto Engau in Laubegast with the inscription: Where there is a will - there is also a way

Otto Engau (born September 1, 1848 in Cossengrün ; † December 8, 1925 in Dresden ) was a German engineer, innkeeper and the artistic creator of the Bismarck Honor Garden in today's Dresden district of Laubegast on the Elbe, with over 500 Bismarck memorial stones and many artistic ones Bronze memorial plaques.

As a restaurateur, he knew how to take advantage of the convenient location of his garden restaurant on the banks of the Elbe in Laubegast. The beautiful view of the Elbe and the opposite Dresden Elbe slopes attracted many visitors from the extensive Dresden area to the small, old village of Laubegast. Otto Engau cleverly drew attention to himself and his garden restaurant with targeted, Germany-wide advertising campaigns. He published extensive postcards of his "romantic pub" and advertised the cozy wine bar - with a secluded garden. In his time he was considered the “colorful bird” of the region, about which the “whole world” talked. In the restaurant and inn, he maintained a familiar atmosphere with his guests, served Karlsbad coffee and homemade cakes every day. Favorable overnight prices for summer and winter accommodations attracted many guests from far away. The bar was one of the few in the wide area who had a telephone (with the number 2934 - Niedersedlitz office ) before 1906 . Otto Engau was an ardent Bismarck admirer and so he created the Bismarck Honor Grove as a further attraction in his garden. His artistic life achievement as the creator of the garden of honor was mentioned in 1940 in "Das neue Weltlexikon - Wien"

The Bismarck Honor Garden (Ehrenhain) - the memorial stones and plaques

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Bismarck's death, Engau had a "Bismarck Honor Garden" laid out on his property in 1908. This consisted of hundreds of stones, commemorative plaques and bronze reliefs that were closely related to the life and places of work of Bismarck and his family. For the design of the honor grove, he launched a "call" in the German Reich  - with the request to schoolchildren, students and everyone to send him memorial stones. The Bismarck honor garden (Ehrenhain) attracted a lot of attention in Germany with its books, maps and press publications, which Engau's garden restaurant attracted a lot of visitors. Almost 500 memorial stones and plaques were erected over time. Subject areas included the ancestral residence of the former chancellor, the dilapidated Bismarck Castle in the Altmark , Friedrichsruh and Stendal .

Commemorative plaques with inscriptions (excerpt) read, among other things : Bismarck sacrificed his strength - we enjoy what he created - everyone just continues building with - a stone - how big will Germany be then (June 1909) and where there is a will - there is also one way (bronze plate, no date).

Otto Engau as a publisher and his patent

Many of his postcards and the publication on the Bismarck Honor Garden (Ehrenhain) were self-published (Verlag Engau Laubegast). Business-minded, he also took over its sales. In 1910 his work was self-published with the title: Bismarck-Ehrengarten in Laubegast-Dresden - by Otto Engau - engineer. Otto Engau's book contained 42 illustrations from the Bismarck honor garden with a map of Germany, containing the main places where the Bismarck family worked. On October 3, 1900, the patent number 124275 class 30 - was issued by the patent office of the German Reich. A device for stretching the torso and chest was patented in humans.

Dissolution and redesign of the Bismarck honor garden

After the garden restaurant was closed, the Bismark Honor Garden was closed before 1940. The memorial stones, plates and bronze reliefs were removed and for the most part were irrevocably lost in their originality. On April 26, 2007, the state capital of Dresden launched an "appeal" in the official gazette for the 600th anniversary of Laubegast. In this contemporary testimonies from the Laubegaster Bismarck honor garden were sought. So it was possible to find some stones and relief plates again. They were set up at their old location on the Laubegaster Ufer on the corner of Bleiche. A memorial plaque in honor of the creator of the Bismark honor garden - Otto Engau - was unveiled for the festive re-consecration on June 26, 2008.

Publications with mention of the Bismarck honor garden

Lexicon of the Bismarck Monuments

Picture gallery

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  Otto Engau Laubegast Bismarck Garden and Ehrenhain - picture memorial stone 1

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  Otto Engau Laubegast Bismarck Garden and Ehrenhain - picture memorial stone 2

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  Otto Engau Laubegast Bismarck Garden and Ehrenhain - picture memorial stone 3

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  Otto Engau Laubegast Bismarck Garden and Ehrenhain - picture memorial stone 4

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  Otto Engau Laubegast Bismarck Garden and Ehrenhain - picture memorial stone 5

Web links

Commons : Otto Engau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Bismarck Honor Garden , accessed on November 22, 2016.
2. ↑ Das neue Weltlexikon, 1940, Vienna - 97 page 6 5o. ...... received a garden of honor in 1908 with numerous Bismarck memorial stones (no longer exists today)
3. ↑ Academia.edu ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2016 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. , Retrieved November 22, 2016. 
4. ^ Spelling as used by Otto Engau
5. ^ Bismarck - Garden of Honor in Laubegast - Dresden. With 42 illustrations from the Bismarck Garden of Honor and a map of Germany, containing the main places where the Bismarck family stayed. Laubegast is a suburb of Dresden
6. ↑ Zvab.com - Bismarck-Ehrengarten , accessed on November 22, 2016.
7. ↑ Delcampe.net - Patent Specification , Retrieved November 22, 2016.
8. ↑ Dresdner-Stadtteile.de - Laubegast , accessed on November 22, 2016.
9. ^ Dresdner-Amtsblatt.de - archive , accessed on November 22, 2016.
10. ↑ Seele, Sieglinde: "Lexicon of the Bismarck Monuments - Towers, Statues, Busts, Memorial Stones and Other Honors - An Inventory in Word and Image", Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2005, 480 pages, ISBN 3-86568-019-4
11. ↑ Lexikon der Bismarckdenkmäler.de , accessed on November 22, 2016.