Paul von Rittinger

Grave of Paul von Rittinger in the Westfriedhof in Innsbruck

Paul von Rittinger (born April 8, 1879 in Oberhollabrunn , Lower Austria ; † January 23, 1953 in Innsbruck , Tyrol ) was an Austrian painter , writer , polyhistor and private scholar .

Life

Paul von Rittinger was born in 1879 as the son of Max Rittinger, the then district captain of Oberhollabrunn (corresponds to today's Hollabrunn district ). After the early death of his mother Anna, b. Heidler von Egeregg (born February 13, 1856 in Vienna; † November 2, 1880 there) he was raised by his grandmother. In 1903 he received his doctorate in art history from the University of Vienna . In the same year he stayed at the Swedish artists' colony Leksland. In 1906 von Rittinger married Anny von Führich, the granddaughter of the painter Joseph Führich , with whom he had three children (Karl, Hans and Thomas). Between 1906 and 1908 he made two study trips to England. His first pictures and philosophical writings were made in the period from 1910 to 1911. Von Rittinger did his military service from 1915 to 1918, first with the Kaiserjäger in Trento , and later as a Russian prisoner of war. From 1917 he has numerous exhibitions at home and abroad. In 1936 he gave lectures on art history in Innsbruck. In 1953 Paul von Rittinger died in Innsbruck at the age of 73.

Paul von Rittinger's life was shaped by his striving for artistic and personal independence. His economic position enabled him to quit civil service at an early stage and to devote himself only to art, regardless of commercial interests. In order to distance himself from his roots in a deeply bourgeois family of officials, Rittinger provoked and shocked his fellow men at every opportunity. During his time on Rügen, for example, he grew a beard, which he only removed from one half of his face after his return. In his house in Innsbruck he organized elaborate costume parties, which he called "Alpine festivals" based on a picture for ETA Hoffmann's story "The wonderful pigeons of Prosper Alpanus" . Paul von Rittinger often had the Sindbad game , which he had painted and invented, played with family and friends in order to fine-tune the intricacies of the extensive set of rules, to which he made changes until his death.

The rediscovery by Paul Flora contributed significantly to the popularity of the Sindbad game . In the course of the exhibition Austria in the Rosennest in the Vienna MAK in 1996, exhibition visitors were given the opportunity to take part in a game that can easily last four hours.

Works

photos

• The big Sauteufel , Sus diabolus africanus niernzeiserli, the newly discovered giant mammal, so named after Mr. Prof. Niernzeiserl, who first recognized a species that was essentially different from the rabbit. Ink pen, watercolor, Sassnitz 1917.
• Sindbad with the cactus elves . Ink pen, watercolor, Sassnitz 1917.
• Under the glass chandelier . Watercolor, India ink, 1917.
• The wonderful pigeons of Prosper Alpanus . Ink pen, watercolor, metal colors, Sassnitz-Innsbruck 1917–1920.
• The parrot friend . Ink pen, watercolor, metal colors, Sassnitz-Innsbruck 1917–1921.
• Zrvana Akarana . The boundless time. Watercolor, gouache, pen and ink, 1921.
• The city of the colorful Khan . Gouache, India ink, Sassnitz 1918.
• The Hiron's magnificent ship . Watercolor, India ink, Sassnitz 1918.
• Rose harvest in the Kazanlik valley . Gouache, India ink, metal paints, Sassnitz-Innsbruck 1918–1950.
• Finding Moses . Indian ink, watercolor, Sassnitz-Innsbruck 1919–1921.
• Caveman and cave bear . Gouache, pen and ink, Innsbruck 1919–1921.
• The awakening of the trees . Watercolor, Innsbruck 1919.
• Yusuf and Suleika . Gouache, pen and ink, Innsbruck 1919.
• The 1000 pages of the Queen of Samba . India ink, gouache, ca.1924.
• The foolish city . 1925/26.
• Bloomsbury . India ink, watercolor, opaque white and metal colors, 1924–1932.
• The Valikilja Rischis . Indian ink, gouache, silver, 1932.
• The great death and the small life . Watercolor opaque white + metal paint 1932.
• Don Francisco de Olrellana in the golden land of Eldorado . Bronze, pen and ink, opaque colors, 1942.
• The cardinal's merrymaking . Indian ink, watercolor, opaque paints and metal paints, 1944.
• A bird's nest in paradise . Indian ink + watercolor 1946.
• A zoo in the land of Lilliput . Watercolor + metal colors 1946.
• In the land of Fungistan . Watercolor, gouache, Innsbruck 1948.
• The planet Gimpelhuber , named after the discoverer of the same name, from the cycle planets . Watercolor, gouache, Innsbruck 1949.

Other works

• The Sindbad game, board game with 136 fields, the greatest world travelers of all time set off once again on a journey through all continents. Whoever survives wins according to chips, pen and ink, watercolor, Innsbruck 1913–1919.
• The Swedish room with self-designed Art Nouveau furniture , Innsbruck 1906.
• Alpanisches Zimmer named after and inspired by a picture for ETA Hoffmann's story "The wonderful pigeons of Prosper Alpanus" , Innsbruck 1921.
• Historical atlas , unpublished, Innsbruck 1929.

In the movie

Between 1989 and 1991 Paul von Rittinger was memorialized with the film "An Adventurer in a Dressing Gown" by Paul Flora .

literature

• Peter Weiermair (Ed.): "Paul von Rittinger, Selected Works", Allerheiligenpresse, Innsbruck, 1973.
• Literature by and about Paul von Rittinger in the catalog of the German National Library