Schiller Monument (Stuttgart 1839)

Schiller Monument on Schillerplatz in Stuttgart.

The Schiller memorial on Schillerplatz in Stuttgart was the first major poet memorial in Germany and the first significant Schiller memorial. The statue, a major work of European classicism sculpture, was cast in bronze by Johann Baptist Stiglmaier in Munich based on the model of the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen . The architectural design of the monument was based on plans by Nikolaus von Thouret and Gottlieb Bindesbøll. The monument was unveiled in 1839.

Another Schiller monument by Adolf von Donndorf from 1913 stands at the State Theater in Stuttgart .

location

Schillerplatz, schematic plan.
North: top left.

The Schiller Monument is “at the center of Schillerplatz , this architecturally most beautiful square in Stuttgart, which is also one of the most beautiful squares in Germany”, as the Stuttgart local historian Gustav Wais noted with pride in his Schiller book.

The monument is surrounded by historical public buildings. Schiller directs his gaze to the old palace and turns his back on the Prinzenbau . The old chancellery extends to his left and the collegiate church rises to the right and the fruit box next to it . The surrounding buildings leave enough space for the monument to develop its effect, but they are not so far away that a feeling of emptiness could arise in the square.

When the weekly market is on, during the wine village and the Christmas market , the staue, surrounded by stalls and people, is hardly noticed.

description

Overview
Still image and reliefs	Bertel Thorvaldsen
molding	Johann Baptist Stiglmaier
architecture	Nicholas of Thouret
Client	Stuttgarter Liederkranz Schillerverein Stuttgart
material	Statue, reliefs and ornaments: bronze base: granite substructure: sandstone candelabra: cast iron
Dimensions	Total height: 9.56 m, width: 9.70 m, statue height : 3.86 m, base height: 4.56 m, width: approx. 4 m, substructure height : 1.14 m, width: 9.70 m candelabra: 2.44 m
Emergence	1835/1836: clay model by Bertel Thorvaldsen 1836: plaster model by Wilhelm Matthiä 1838: cast by Johann Baptist Stiglmaier
Laying of the foundation stone	November 22, 1838
revelation	May 8, 1839

construction

Schiller's statue rises above a base that rests on a five-tier substructure. The monument has a total height and width of about ten meters each. The double life-size statue is almost four meters high, the plinth ( pedestal ) is about 4½ meters higher than the statue, and the substructure is about one meter high. Exact dimensions: see overview .

The statue rests on a bronze base plate ( plinth ) over a wider granite slab. This is surrounded by a four-part bronze leaf garland with tragic masks at the corners.

The base consists of reddish Black Forest granite from the Bad Wildbad area . It consists of a wide base plate and two cuboid blocks placed one above the other. The unadorned lower block is slightly wider than the upper one and ends with a bronze foliage strip. The upper block has four bronze relief panels on the sides and is crowned by a projecting roof panel, the valley of which is also adorned with a bronze foliage strip.

The substructure made of reddish Black Forest sandstone rises in five steps to a platform that surrounds the four-meter-wide base. The large cuboids at the corners (corner platforms) were crowned with candelabras in 1841 , which have disappeared since the end of the Second World War. The square area of the Schiller monument was (like the anniversary column on the palace square today ) initially cordoned off from the surrounding square by iron chains, and from 1880 by a low lattice fence. The lattice fence was also abandoned so that the monument was freely accessible.

Schiller Monument, 2008.
Gottlieb Bindesbøll
design drawing, 1839.

freeze frame

Plaster cast of the clay bozzetto ,
1835.

Cast model of the Schiller statue, 1836.

The statue shows the poet as an imposing man with a powerful figure and broad shoulders. The posture of the body and the head radiate an inner collection, the left leg that is presented at the same time seems to indicate the poet's inner movement.

head

The poet's bowed head gives him the contemplative appearance of a withdrawn thinker, which many critics saw as a gesture of humility and which contradicted the image of the sublime and entranced poet of freedom, whose gaze wanders into unknown expanses. Bertel Thorvaldsen himself commented on his portrayal of the poet:

“I think this statue of ore will probably stand for 300, probably 500 years, and then people will no longer blame me for not giving the poet a high-spirited and challenging attitude. I believed that in the midst of a frivolous time I had to take the poet, who nevertheless remained serious and tragic, in Dantesque. "

Schiller's tall, almost rectangular head is framed by a lush laurel wreath of leaves and berries, which elevates him to a poeta laureatus and equates him with Horace, Dante and Petrarch. The curly hair wells out from under the wreath, curling into the forehead and flowing down to the shoulder. The long, strong neck protrudes uncovered from the open collar of the ruffled shirt (" Schiller collar "). The upper part of the skull, which is almost square in outline, narrows at the pronounced cheekbones to a much narrower mouth area, so that the thoroughly masculine face could appear almost sunken and ascetic. The sharply drawn individual parts of the face combine to form classic, idealized facial features, so that Schiller "appears, together with the Apollonian hairstyle, as an ancient hero":

The high, straight forehead with the deep thinker's wrinkles arising at the root of the nose ends in bulging, protruding browbones, which arch over the deep-set eye sockets.
The protruding, slender nose runs strictly in a straight line before it suddenly curves into a hook at the tip.
The protruding mouth shows concise, expressive lips and a right corner of the mouth drawn down.
The face ends in a broad, pointed chin.

Schillerkopf after Bertel Thorvaldsen (1839), frontal view and three-quarter profile.
For comparison: Schillerkopf based on Adolf von Donndorf (1913) and Johann Heinrich Dannecker (1810).

body

The poet's powerful, broad-shouldered stature is wrapped in half-antique, half-fashionable clothing. Under a toga- like cloak, which is supposed to be reminiscent of the poets and philosophers of antiquity, Schiller wears contemporary clothing consisting of an open ruffled shirt, knee-length frock coat and lace-up low shoes. With the bent right arm he gathers the cloak that falls over his right shoulder so that the frock coat is visible over the left torso and arm. Schiller puts his left leg in a walking position so that the foot pushes itself over the edge of the plinth. The tight-fitting frock coat and the left leg, which is clearly visible under the toga, suggest a well-formed, muscular body.

Schiller holds the poet's insignia in his hands: a pen in his right hand and a book on his left arm. The pinched index finger as a bookmark underlines the poet's posture, who pauses pensively.

Reliefs

There are four reliefs on the side walls of the monument base. Three reliefs were modeled in plaster by his pupil Wilhelm Matthiä in 1836/1837 based on sketches by Bertel Thorvaldsen from 1835 (Figures 1, 3 and 4 after lithographs by Franz Seraph Hanfstaengl ). Thorvaldsen created the plaster model for the rear relief in 1835 (Figure 2 after an engraving by Albert-Désiré Barre). The four reliefs were cast in 1838 under the direction of Johann Baptist Stiglmaier in the royal ore foundry in Munich .

1. Schiller's apotheosis.
2. Two griffins with lyre.

No.	position	Building opposite	relief
1	front	Old castle	"Schiller's apotheosis ". Description of the relief after Bertel Thorvaldsen: “The Aar, who rises closest to heaven among all creatures, carries up works of the poet in apotheosis; the sphere here as a picture of eternity contains Schiller's name, which is transplanted under the rarest stars, the comets, as a symbol of genius. The tragic and lyrical muse support the ball and show us how Schiller perpetuated himself; Below, the two signs of the Zodiacus indicate the month of birth and death, that it is a question of someone who has already departed, and that Germany is not flattering its poet - (which is to be the simple inscription of the monument) - only the recognition it deserves pays. " Inscription below (missing in the picture): Born d. November X, MDCCLIX, died d. IX. May MDCCCV.
2	back	Prinzenbau	Two griffins with lyre. Inscription below (missing in the picture): Erected MDCCCXXXIX.
3	Left	Collegiate church	With wings outspread, the soaring genius of poetry with lyre and plectrum .
4th	right	Old firm	Victoria, the goddess of victory, floating with unfolded wings with a laurel wreath and palm branch.

3. Genius of poetry.
4. Victoria goddess of victory.

history

Albert Schott, initiator of the Schiller Monument.
First Schiller Festival in 1825 with Dannecker's bust of Schiller.
Georg Reinbeck, chairman of the Schiller Club from 1834.
Thorvaldsen in his studio, 1840. To the right of the window: Bozzetto of his statue of Schiller.

prehistory

In 1824 the male choral society Stuttgarter Liederkranz was founded. The liberal Chamberlain Albert Schott became the first chairman . At the beginning of 1825, the association's statutes were adopted, stating that "the wreath of songs annually around the time of Schiller's death anniversary celebrates a festival in his memory and with it the intention to erect a monument to the great compatriot". With the planned monument, the self-confident, aspiring bourgeoisie not only wanted to pay homage to the poet prince, but also to highlight him as a symbol of their own emancipation efforts and national unification efforts.

This laid the symbolic foundation stone for the later Schiller monument. On May 9, 1825, on the 20th anniversary of Schiller's death, the first Schiller Festival with thousands of participants took place in a public garden. The focus was on an improvised monument with the famous colossal bust of Schiller, which Johann Heinrich Dannecker had created between 1796 and 1806. At this and the next Schiller Festival, donations were eagerly collected for the future Schiller Monument. In 1826 a commission was formed within the Liederkranz, the “Association for Schiller's Monument in Stuttgart”, which was supposed to bundle efforts to erect the memorial. Albert Schott was the first chairman of the Schiller Club. In 1827 the Liederkranz bought a five-acre field ("Schillerfeld") in front of the city, on which the future Schiller monument was to be erected. (At the beginning of the 20th century, the new Stuttgart main station was built on the site. The street that stretches from the main station to the east bears the name Schillerstraße as a reminder.) Albert Schott resigned from the chairmanship of the Schiller Club in 1834 due to overload. He was followed by the high school professor Georg Reinbeck , who drove the monument project with great enthusiasm in the years to come.

realization

Inauguration of the Schiller monument on May 8, 1839 (corner platforms with dummy candelabra).

In 1830 a delegation from the Schiller Club met with Bertel Thorvaldsen in Munich. She brought a letter in which the " Phidias of our time" was asked to take over the construction of the planned monument. Thorvaldsen agreed, but did not comment on the requirement to depict Schiller as a seated figure and to use Dannecker's bust, a limitation of his artistic freedom that he later simply disregarded.

After his fundamental acceptance, however, the busy Thorvaldsen did not create a half-life-size clay bozzetto of the Schiller statue until 1835. His student Wilhelm Matthiä created a double-life-size plaster model based on this template. It was sent to Munich in 1838 together with the models of the four base reliefs and cast in the royal ore foundry under the direction of Johann Baptist Stiglmaier .

The Stuttgart architect Nikolaus von Thouret took over the planning of the monument complex , like Dannecker a former friend of Schiller. He adapted a design by the Swedish architect Gottlieb Bindesbøll to the local conditions ( → illustration ). The ornamental bronze decoration was modeled by the architect Ludwig Mäntler, the later added candelabra was designed by the architect Johann Mathäus Mauch. Both Thorvaldsen and Stiglmayer and Thouret worked free of charge, they only asked for reimbursement of their expenses. Overall, the cost of the monument amounted to over 45,000 guilders, which corresponds to around 1,130,000 euros.

inauguration

The Schiller Monument was not erected, as originally planned, "between cabbage and turnips" on the Schillerfeld outside the city, but in the middle of the city on the Old Palace Square, which later became Schillerplatz. After 14 years of efforts, the memorial was ceremoniously unveiled on the eve of Schiller's 34th anniversary of death on May 8, 1839. Several thousand guests had come from all parts of Germany, among which the singers' organizations formed the largest group with 1,500 participants. After a speech by Gustav Schwab , the monument was given to the city. The city celebrities then celebrated a feast, at which Georg Reinbeck was awarded honorary citizenship of the city for his services to the monument. The people went to the Schillerfeld, where “not only did the wine flow in rivers in honor of the poet, but also industry had taken his name; There were glasses, crystal jars, and bosom needles with his image on them, there was his own Schiller pastry, Schiller hairbrushes, Schiller sweets and the like. the like. "

reception

The first great poet monument in Germany and Schiller's first national monument was born. When the later novelist, private secretary to the Crown Prince and building and gardening director Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer came to Stuttgart in 1840, while strolling through town he also came across Thorwaldsen's statue of Schiller, as he reported in the "novel of my life" in 1878:

“… I am strolling through the streets of Stuttgart without any purpose or destination. The statue of Schiller, modeled by Thorwaldsen, had recently been unveiled here, and at that time the lively forms of the splendid monument were still undividedly admired, and it was not inappropriate for the poet and philosopher to stand thoughtfully with his head bowed instead of looking at the To fetch heaven's enthusiasm; while. it later became fashionable to vilify the famous sculptor in words and songs and to portray the statue of the great poet as having failed. I was and am not of this opinion and still love this first Thorwaldsen-Schiller statue, especially after many later unsuccessful attempts to raise the nose of the great poet and thinker. "

The lack of understanding of some critics, who had wanted a proud and not a thoughtful Schiller, was soon forgotten. "Despite the harsh criticism, the Schiller monument was enthusiastically celebrated by the Stuttgart population and attracted attention far beyond the national borders." As one art historian says, “Thorvaldsen's work has not become really famous or popular; and it has not found a successor: Not one of the many later ... Schiller monuments makes reference to Thorvaldsen's Schiller (at least not with regard to the posture of the head) Thinker saw and did not use him as a vehicle for the political struggle of the day.

Schiller monument, around 1839 (with barrier chain).
Schiller monument, around 1890 to 1905 (with barriers).
Schiller Monument, 1991 (corner platforms with flowers).
Schiller Monument, 2015 (empty corner platforms).

literature

Newer literature

Katharina Bott: The Schwab must make a monument to the Swabian and friend. Dannecker's plan for a Schiller monument and Thorvaldven's execution. In: Christian von Holst (editor): Swabian classicism between ideal and reality, essays. Stuttgart 1993, pages 321-330.
The Schiller Monument. Paul Faerber: Nikolaus Friedrich von Thouret. A builder of classicism. Stuttgart 1949, pages 352-356.
Fritz Fischer: Who is the grim man there? - Thorvaldsen's Schiller Monument. In: Sabine Rathgeb; Anette Schmidt; Fritz Fischer: Schiller in Stuttgart: on the occasion of the exhibition in the Württemberg State Museum in Stuttgart, February 12, 2005 - July 24, 2005. Stuttgart 2005, pages 28–62, 168–189.
Irene Ferchl : Stuttgart. Literary milestones in the city of books. Stuttgart 2000, pages 44-47.
Sylvia Heinje: On the history of the Stuttgart Schiller monument by Bertel Thorvaldsen. In: Gerhard Bott (editor): Bertel Thorvaldsen. Investigations into his work and the art of his time. Cologne 1977, pages 399-418.
Patricia Peschel: The Stuttgart court sculptor Johann Ludwig von Hofer (1801 - 1887), work monograph. Stuttgart 2009, pages 116-136.
The poet as a national monument: The Stuttgart Schiller statue by Bertel Thorvaldsen 1839. In: Friedemann Schmoll: Eternal nation. Studies on the remembrance culture of the empire and individual state in the Württemberg monument cult of the 19th century. Tübingen 1995, pages 129-148.
Schiller and the Stuttgarter Liederkranz. In: Gustav Wais : The Schiller City of Stuttgart. A representation of the Schiller sites in Stuttgart. Stuttgart 1955, pages 70–76, Figures 104–112.
Egon Weyer: Thorvaldsen, Dannecker and Stuttgart. Thoughts on the 125th anniversary of the Schiller Monument. In: Contributions to regional studies. Regular supplement to the State Gazette for Baden-Württemberg , number 4, October 1964, pages 1–9.
Dagmar Zimdars (editor): Baden-Württemberg I. The administrative districts of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe . In: Georg Dehio (editor): Handbook of German art monuments. Munich 1993, page 774.

Older literature

The Schiller Festival. The Schiller Monument. In: Otto Elben : Memories from the history of the Stuttgarter Liederkranz: Festgabe for the 70th anniversary. Stuttgart 1894, pages 9-16.
Ernst Förster: The honorable statue of Schiller on the old Schloßplatz in Stuttgart. In: Morgenblatt für educated readers / Kunstblatt , Volume 20, Number 41, May 21, 1839, Pages 161-164, online .
Friedrich Hackländer: The novel of my life. Volume 1. Stuttgart: Krabbe, 1878, page 171.
Emil Mayer: Information about the construction of the Schiller monument in Stuttgart. In: Monthly of the Württemberg Association for Building Studies , year 1893, issue 4, pages 25–30.
Just Mathias Thiele : Thorwaldsen's life. Volume 2: Leipzig 1856, pages 221-231, 302-303, 318-321, 334, online .
Just Mathias Thiele : Thorwaldsen's life. Volume 3: Leipzig 1856, pages 87-91, 119-120, online .

Web links

Commons : Schiller Monument on Schillerplatz (Stuttgart) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

↑ #Zimdars 1993 .

↑ #Wais 1955.1 , page 73. - Until 1934 the square was called the Alter Schlossplatz.

↑ #Mayer 1893 , page 28.

↑ At the inauguration, “emergency candelabra” were set up ( # Förster 1839 , page 164), which were removed after the inauguration and replaced by real candelabra in 1841. The images of the monument show it with or without a candelabra, depending on the time it was created.

↑ #Mayer 1893 , page 30.

↑ #Wais 1955.1 , page 74.

↑ Quoted from #Weyer 1964 , page 5.

↑ # Fischer 2005 , page 30.

↑ #Peschel 2009 , page 124.

↑ Two plaster models are kept in the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen that represent parts of the back relief: lyre , griffin with lyre .

↑ Quoted from #Heinje 1977 , page 402. - Muses: Melpomene (tragedy) with mask as an attribute, Klio (historiography) with a scroll. Signs of the Zodiacus: Scorpio and Taurus.

↑ Born November 10, 1759, died May 9, 1805.

↑ Erected in 1839.

↑ #Elben 1894 , page 9.

↑ #Wais 1955.1 , pp. 70-72.

↑ # Fischer 2005 , pp. 40–41, letter from the Schiller Club to Thorvaldsen of January 30, 1830, Thorvaldsen Museum .

↑ The candelabras were cast in the ironworks in Wasseralfingen in 1840/1841 under the direction of Albert Stotz . The candelabras have disappeared since the end of World War II.