Otto von Falke

Otto von Falke (born April 29, 1862 in Vienna , † August 15, 1942 in Schwäbisch Hall ) was a German art historian .

life and work

As the son of the art historian Jacob von Falke , he began studying history, art history and classical archeology at the University of Vienna in 1881 , where he received his doctorate in 1887 . During his studies in 1882 he became a member of the Libertas Vienna fraternity . With the following activity at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin and while traveling, he gained extensive knowledge of the various areas of arts and crafts. In 1895 he became director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Cologne and in 1908 he took over the same position at the Berlin Kunstgewerbemuseum. In 1920 he was appointed general director of the Berlin museums to succeed Wilhelm von Bode . After his retirement in 1927, he continued to devote himself intensively to scientific work, particularly as the founder, editor and main author of the magazine Pantheon . Through his work, he is considered the most important German researcher in the field of applied arts. With the numerous collection catalogs he wrote, he gained a reputation throughout Europe.

He was married to Luise Dreger (1865–1935). Both graves are located in the south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf .

Fonts (selection)

Aesthetics of the arts and crafts. A manual for home, school and workshops , Stuttgart 1883.
Majolika , Berlin 1896; 2nd edition Berlin 1907.
Guide through the Kunstgewerbe-Museum der Stadt Köln , Cologne 1900.
with Heinrich Frauberger : German melting work and other works of art from the art-historical exhibition in Düsseldorf 1902 , J. Baer, Frankfurt / M. 1904.
The applied arts in the MA In: Georg Lehnert: Illustrierte Geschichte des Kunstgewerbes , Berlin 1907/08, pp. 190-422.
Rhenish stoneware , 2 volumes, Berlin 1908.
The Shrine of the Three Kings of Nikolaus von Verdun in the Cölner Domschatz , Munich-Gladbach 1911.
The Mainz gold jewelry of Empress Gisela , Berlin 1913.
The Kunstgewerbemuseum , (Guide to the Royal Museums in Berlin), Berlin 1915.
German porcelain figures , Berlin 1919.
Art history of silk weaving , Berlin 1921; 4th edition Tübingen 1951.
with Hermann Schmitz : German furniture from the end of the Middle Ages to the 19th century , 3 volumes, Stuttgart 1923–1924.
Works of art from the holdings of Leningrad museums and castles , auction catalog, 4 volumes, Berlin 1928–1929.
with Georg Swarzenski : The Welfenschatz , Frankfurt / M. 1930.
with Erich Meyer : Romanesque candlesticks and vessels (= bronze devices of the Middle Ages, vol. 1). German Association for Art History, Berlin 1935.

literature

Charlotte Giese: Otto von Falke. Directory of his writings. Munich 1932 [for his 70th birthday].
Falke, Otto von. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 284.
Erich Meyer: Falke, Otto von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 8 f. ( Digitized version ).
Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume II: Artists. Winter, Heidelberg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8253-6813-5 , pp. 191–192.

Individual evidence

^ Ernst Elsheimer (ed.): Directory of the old fraternity members according to the status of the winter semester 1927/28. Frankfurt am Main 1928, p. 113.

Web links

Wikisource: Otto von Falke - Sources and full texts

Works by and about Otto von Falke in the German Digital Library
Entry in the Dictionary of Art Historians

personal data
SURNAME	Falke, Otto von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German art historian
DATE OF BIRTH	April 29, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH	Vienna
DATE OF DEATH	August 15, 1942
Place of death	Schwäbisch Hall

[1] Ernst Elsheimer (ed.): Directory of the old fraternity members according to the status of the winter semester 1927/28. Frankfurt am Main 1928, p. 113.