Wittwerk

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Wittwerk , also Witwerk or Wittwerck, is the family name of a Gdansk- based family of artists made up of gunsmiths , from which a number of well-known piece and bell foundries emerged.

family

The family became acquainted with Absalon Wittwerk (1634-1716). He became a master craftsman in 1664 and a citizen of Danzig in 1666 ; There were bells from him in the Pelplin Cathedral , in the Nikolaikirche in Danzig and other churches in the vicinity of his workshop. His son Michael (1674-1732) became a master craftsman in 1700 and a citizen in Gdansk in 1706. He made three bells in Bytów in 1702 , several in other places in Pomerania and East Prussia, such as B. in the cathedral to Marienwerder and in the cathedral of Gnesen . Another son of Absalon, Michael's younger brother Benjamin (I) Wittwerk (1676–1729 / 30) became a master craftsman in 1692 and a citizen of Danzig in 1696. He also made a name for himself as a piece caster. His guns ended up in the collection of the arsenal in Dresden or the armory in Berlin , but his bells in Danzig and Marienwerder have also survived. The family was still active in the third generation: Michael's sons Johann Gottfried (1711–1783) and Immanuel (1719–1779) have been handed down in the region around Danzig with cast bells. Benjamin's son Benjamin (II) became a foundry master in 1726. During the Second World War, a number of Wittwerk bells came to the bell cemetery in Hamburg, some of which in turn survived the war there. They were distributed as loans to predominantly north German churches.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Irmgard Koska: Witt work Rotgießerfamilie, Gdansk . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 36 : Wilhelmy-Zyzywi . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1947, p. 146 .