Wilhelm Ewald (heraldist)

Wilhelm Ewald (born June 4, 1878 in Cologne ; † May 12, 1955 ibid) was a German heraldist , seal researcher and professor of history. He was director of the Rheinisches und Historisches Museum in Cologne.

Ewald first studied theology in Bonn , then art history , archeology and history in Innsbruck . In 1902 the doctorate to Dr. phil. He then took on an order from the Society for Rhenish History to create the corpus "Rheinische Siegel". The six volumes of this work appeared from 1906 onwards.

From 1906 to 1911 Ewald lived at Thurant Castle near Alken on the Moselle, where he devoted himself to his work as a private scholar. In 1914 his “Siegelkunde” appeared, which is still highly regarded throughout Europe today.

From 1911 he was commissioned to set up the “Städtisches Museum” (today “ Clemens-Sels-Museum ”) in Neuss, which was opened in 1912.

During the First World War , Ewald was employed as a hospital inspector in France and was also assigned to a German staff of scholars there for the protection of art. His written and photographic documentation on this, which he created in the field, appeared in 1919 in the publication “Kunstdenkmäler between Maas and Mosel” , written together with Heribert Reiners .

In 1924 he was commissioned by the city of Cologne to prepare and carry out the "Millennium Exhibition of the Rhineland" in 1925 together with the economic historian Bruno Kuske . On January 1, 1925, Ewald took over the management of the "Historisches Museum" in Cologne (today: Cologne City Museum ) as the successor to Joseph Hansen , and soon also took on the task of setting up the "Rheinisches Museum" and a lecturer at the University of Cologne . The "Rheinische Museum" initiated by Konrad Adenauer in Cologne-Deutz , conceived as the Rhenish Central Museum for the period since 800, opened in 1936, was renamed by the National Socialists to " Haus der Rheinische Heimat ".

Ewald succeeded in building the museum according to the original concept without the required department on the development of National Socialism, but the department on Judaism in the Rhineland planned by Ewald was banned by the National Socialists. Ewald was able to save the Jewish art and cult objects largely from destruction and save them in salvage depots during the war. It is thanks to him that the city of Cologne now has an important Judaica collection. Ewald developed forward-looking ideas for the redesign of Cologne's museum landscape. His conception, which is modern in terms of content and museum education, found high recognition in specialist circles, including the gold medal at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris .

Family grave in Melaten cemetery

During the Second World War he was entrusted with relocating the “movable” works of art from the city of Cologne, and since 1946 with their repatriation. His collection of seals, comprising more than 10,000 casts, is now a deposit in the historical archive of the Archdiocese of Cologne .

Wilhelm Ewald was buried in Cologne's Melaten cemetery (hall 37).

A street in Cologne-Seeberg is named after him.

Fonts

• Rhenish seal . In: Publications of the Society for Rhenish History. 27, Bonn 1906–1941 (6 volumes):
  • Vol. I: The seals of the Archbishops of Cologne (948–1795), Bonn 1906
  • Vol. II: The seals of the Archbishops of Trier (956–1795), Bonn 1910
  • Vol. III: The seal of the Rhine. Cities and Courts, Bonn 1931
  • Vol. IV: Seal of the pens, monasteries, etc. Spiritual Dignitary, Bonn 1933–1941
  • Vol. V: Rhine. Seal customer, Bonn 1931
  • Vol. VI: Seal of the Counts u. Dukes v. Jülich, Berg, Kleve, Mr. v. Heinsberg, Bonn 1941
• Seal abuse and forgery in the Middle Ages , Trier 1911
• Seal customer , Munich-Berlin 1914
• with Hugo Rathgens: Die Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt Köln , Vol. 1.4, ed. v. Paul Clemen ( The Art Monuments of the Rhine Province 6.4), Düsseldorf 1916
• with Heribert Reiners : The art monuments between Maas and Mosel , on behalf of the Army High Command 5, Verlag F. Bruckmann, Munich 1919
• The development of the city map and the fortification of Neuss , Düsseldorf 1926
• The Quirinus Church in Neuss , Düsseldorf 1926
• On the history of the Rhenish shooting range , Cologne 1930
• Contributions to the Rhenish seal and coat of arms , Bonn, 1931
• The Rheinische Schützengesellschaft , Bonn 1933
• Rhenish Heraldry , Düsseldorf: Schwann 1934
• The medieval archery. In: We Protect , ed. v. Wilhelm Ewald, Duisburg 1938
• The Hansahaus in Antwerp , Cologne 1941

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Vita based on documents in the Ewald estate, Cologne (family property)
2. ↑ Cf. Paul-Georg Custodis : Thurant Castle on the Moselle. Construction work and reconstruction plans in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In: Rheinische Heimatpflege . Volume 47, No. 2, 2010, pp. 111–121 ( article online ).
3. ^ First, paperback edition by Verlag F-Bruckmann, Munich, for the Army High Command 5
4. ↑ Millennium Exhibition of the Rhineland
5. ↑ Inventory overview of the Historical Archives of the Archdiocese of Cologne
6. ^ Josef Abt, Johann Ralf Beines, Celia Körber-Leupold: Melaten - Cologne graves and history . Greven, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-7743-0305-3 , p. 176
7. ↑ cf. Ulrich S. Soénius (Hrsg.), Jürgen Wilhelm (Hrsg.): Kölner Personen-Lexikon. Greven, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-7743-0400-0 , p. 145.

Web links

• Literature by and about Wilhelm Ewald in the catalog of the German National Library
• Publications by Wilhelm Ewald in the Opac of the Regesta Imperii