Walter von Semetkowski

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Walter Edler von Semetkowski (born August 26, 1886 in Pettau , Duchy of Styria , Austria-Hungary ; † October 28, 1965 in Knittelfeld , Styria) was an Austrian art historian and monument conservator as well as a speaker for popular education . From 1914 and 1920 to 1948 he worked as a state curator in the Styrian monument authorities , and from 1940 to 1945 as the "Gau Conservator" of the Reichsgau Styria . From 1945 to 1948 he was a lecturer in the field of monument preservation at the Graz University of Technology .

Life

In 1904, Walter von Semetkowski passed the Matura examination at the kk I. Staatsgymnasium in Graz . He then studied eight semesters at the University of Graz , mainly in the subjects of Classical Archeology, Modern Art History, Philosophy, German Studies and Roman Antiquity, before submitting his dissertation, supervised by Franz Winter , and the doctoral examination in December 1908 under the title Die Athena Parthenos des Phidias to the Dr. phil. under Professors Hans Schrader and Josef Strzygowski on this in March of the following year. After attending the building school (Staatsgewerbeschule) in Graz, he then studied architecture for two years at the Technical University of Munich , where Theodor Fischer , co-founder and committee chairman of the German Werkbund , taught at that time .

Von Semetkowski became a supporter of homeland security architecture , which pursued the goal of remaining true to the traditional forms and materials of building. He saw a role model in the German Homeland Security Association, founded in Dresden in 1904 to propagate this goal . From 1906 at the latest, Styria had concrete considerations to found a corresponding Styrian association. The driving force in this process was von Semetkowski. In 1907, as a student, he took part in a conference of the German Federal Homeland Security, headed by the architect Paul Schultze-Naumburg , in Mannheim . This encouraged him to work in the field of homeland security . In 1909 the "Association for Homeland Security in Styria" was finally founded. Von Semetkowski initially worked there as managing director. He was also a member of the Südmark Association , a Graz association of the homeland movement.

In 1913 he joined the “ kk Central Commission for Monument Preservation ” after applying for it. At the suggestion of Carl von Bardolff , he was initially employed on a trial basis for half a year and assigned as a member of staff to Paul Hauser (1868–1914), the state curator of art history for Styria . Hauser assessed his achievements positively after the probationary period, so that in 1914 Franz Ferdinand von Österreich-Este was permanently employed and promoted . After Hauser's death, he took over his official duties. In 1920 he was officially appointed state curator of art history for Styria. In this role he held the same rank as the technical state curator, the architect Alfons Ivo Quiquerez (Quiqueran-Beaujeu, 1881–1966) until 1933 , after which he was the sole state curator of Styria. From 1921 to 1934 he also worked as a Styrian state advisor for public education. As such, he gave numerous lectures, including at Urania Vienna and Urania Graz. In April 1940 he became “Gaukonservator” of the Reichsgau in Styria. On January 1, 1941, he was accepted into the NSDAP .

From May 1945 he was again the state curator of Styria. Because of the membership in the NSDAP, its use in the public service was restricted in the course of denazification . This restriction was lifted again after he was classified as "less burdened" as a result of numerous professional advocates - including by church authorities. In 1945 he received a teaching position for monument preservation from the Graz University of Technology, which he carried out until he suffered a serious car accident in 1948. As a result of permanent disabilities, he was transferred to Vienna in 1949 , where he was deputy to Otto Demus , President of the Federal Monuments Office , until his retirement in 1951 . In 1953 he broke off a research assignment received in 1952 to prepare a “History of Austrian Monument Preservation 1853–1953”.

For von Semetkowski, the preservation of monuments was embedded in an organic whole. Popular education , homeland and nature protection should be realized together with the ideals of monument preservation. He attached great importance to the protection of a townscape and demanded that planning and construction projects take it into account. According to the folklorist Leopold Schmidt , von Semetkowski, along with the folk educator and theologian Josef Steinberger (1874–1961) and the folklorist Viktor von Geramb, “was one of the driving forces [...] who wanted to bring about a popular education with strong stimuli based on folklore . As an excellent speaker and writer, he worked tirelessly in this direction in addition to his main job . ”According to the folklorist Hanns Koren , von Geramb, Steinberger and von Semetkowski formed a“ triumvirate ”that gave“ decisive impulses ”to Styrian cultural life. They propagated a political model of popular culture, drawn from German Romanticism , in which the "rural settlement area of ​​the homeland, the rural form of house building [...], folk art, folk beliefs and folk customs, folk songs and folk dance" should be protected and cherished.

Publications (selection)

Semetkowski's better-known writings include an art-historical travel guide for Graz that was written until 1910 and published several times until 1971, and the Joanneum special volume Heimatliches Bauen im Ostalpenraum, published in 1941 together with Josef Papesch and Hans Riehl . From Semetkowski's essays and notes from six decades , compiled by his widow Reinhild von Semetkowski as well as Erich Gschwend and Erika Horn, the Steirische Volksbildungswerk published posthumously in 1968.

literature

  • Otto Demus , Walter Frodl : Councilor Dr. Walter von Semetkowski on his 70th birthday . In: Austrian Journal for Art and Monument Preservation 11, 1957, p. 49 f.
  • Walter Frodl: Walter Semetkowski † . In: Austrian Journal for Art and Monument Preservation 20, 1966, p. 60.
  • Maria Schaffler, Reinhild von Semetkowski: Walter von Semetkowski. His work for Graz . In: Historisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Graz 1, 1968, pp. 93–136.
  • Walter von Semetkowski . In: Eva Frodl-Kraft : Endangered Legacy. Austria's monument protection and monument preservation 1918–1945 in the prism of contemporary history (= studies on monument protection and monument preservation, Volume 16). Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-205-98757-8 , p. 440 ( Google Books ).
  • Theodor Brückler, Ulrike Nimeth: Personal Lexicon for Austrian Monument Preservation . Bundesdenkmalamt, Verlag F. Berger, Vienna 2001, ISBN 978-3-85028-344-1 , p. 253.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Doctoral file Walter Edler von Semetkowski , digitized in the portal unipub.uni-graz.at .
  2. ^ Antje Senarclens de Grancy: Conservative Reform. The beginnings of the Society for Homeland Security in Styria . In: Antje Senarclens de Grancy (ed.): Identity. Politics. Architecture. The "Association for Homeland Security in Styria" . Jovis Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86859-218-4 , p. 33 ( PDF ).
  3. ↑ Box No. 1583 (35-2 / 7) . In: Theodor Brückler: Heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand as a curator. The "art files" of the military chancellery in the Austrian State Archives (war archive) . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-205-78306-0 , p. 482 ( Google Books )
  4. ↑ Thomas Dostal: Education on “Volkstum and Heimat” in Austrian popular education in the interwar period . Dissertation, University of Vienna 2017, p. 53 f. ( PDF ).
  5. ↑ Final Report of the Expert Commission for street names Graz . Graz 2017, p. 13 ( PDF ).
  6. ↑ Eva Frodl-Kraft, p. 125.
  7. ↑ Walter of Semetkowski: monuments in Styria , 1956. In: Walter of Semetkowski: essays and recordings from six decades. Preservation of monuments and homeland after 1918 . Steirisches Volksbildungswerk, Graz 1968, pp. 173–181.
  8. ^ Leopold Schmidt : Walter von Semetkowski, essays and notes from six decades . Review. In: Austrian magazine for folklore . Volume 13 (new series), Volume 72 (complete series), Vienna 1969, p. 186 ( PDF ).
  9. ↑ Helmut Eberhart: "... on a local basis ...". Viktor Geramb and the Association for Homeland Security in Styria . In: Antje Senarclens de Grancy (ed.): Identity. Politics. Architecture. The "Association for Homeland Security in Styria" . Jovis Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86859-218-4 , p. 71 ff. ( PDF ).
  10. ↑ Helmut Eberhart, p. 6
  11. ^ Viktor Geramb : Folklore and home care . In: Österreichischer Heimatschutz-Verband (Hrsg.): Basic questions of Heimatschutz . Vienna 1933, pp. 20–33.
  12. ↑ Illustrated guide through the Styrian capital Graz . Brochure, Graz 1910.
  13. ^ Josef Papesch , Hans Riehl , Walter von Semetkowski (eds.): Heimatliches Bauen in the Eastern Alps . Styrian publishing house, Graz 1941.
personal data
SURNAME Semetkowski, Walter von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Semetkowski, Walter Edler von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian art historian and monument conservator
DATE OF BIRTH August 26, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Pettau , Duchy of Styria , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1965
Place of death Knittelfeld , Styria