Statues - Hither & Thither

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Berlin
(Bezirk Mitte)
Stadt Berlin
Land Berlin

Schinkelplatz

Albrecht Thaer

Celle 1752 - Gut Möglin near Wriezen, Oberbarnim 1828
renowned German agronomist and an avid supporter of the humus theory for plant nutrition
(Wikipedia)

Christian Daniel Rauch & Hugo Hagen
1860/2000

Description

Bronze statue of Thaer with a plow. The statue was begun by Rauch and after his death in 1857 finished by Hagen (copy of 2000 by Hans Starcke) on a pedestal covered with bronze reliefs. These reliefs are also copies made by Starcke. Only three of the eight reliefs are still in existence, they are, just as the original statue, in the Humboldt University.

Upper section

Four allegorical reliefs.

Ceres with sickle and ears, between two boys, one of them holds a scroll with the names of the antique writers about agriculture, varro. columella. virgil. cato and the other a tablet with Thaer's major works: Engl. Landwirthschaft 1798. Ackergeraethe 1803. Annalen 1805. Grundsaetze 1810 and holding a cartouche with Thaer's name and dates:

ALBRECHT THAER
geb. 1752 gest. 1828

dem begründer
des wissenschaftlichen
landbaues
das dankbare vaterland

errichtet im jahre 1860
Thaer standing thoughtfully before a sphinx between the figures of Hygieia and philosophy. This relief refers to Thaer's first profession as a physician.
The flourishing agriculture, between the figures of trade and industry. This reliefs refers to Thaer's aim, Thaer himself is depicted as a bust in the background.
Thaer as teacher mediates between the figures of Agriculture and Science.

The relief frieze

Front

einhof. frau v. friedland. mentzel. v. wulffen. koppe. thaer. herz.v.holstein. beck. v.buelow. grabert.

Thaer during practical lessons, explaining the benefits of sheep race between friends and students. In the background Thaer's agricultural academy in Möglin. Depicted are Helene Charlotte von Friedland (1754-1803; Wikipedia), the chemist Heinrich Einhof (1777-1808; Wikipedia), the agronomist Johann Gottlieb Koppe (1782-1863; Wikipedia), the agronomist Carl von Wulffen (1785-1853; Wikipedia), his student Oswald Mentzel (1801-1874; dtsch. Biogr.), Friedrich Karl Ludwig Herzog von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (1757-1816, Wikipedia), his friend and teacher Friedrich Ernst von Bülow (1736-1802; Wikipedia), and the shepherd Johann Gottlieb Grabert, who brought the first sheepherd to Möglin.

Right

heinrich lxiii. fuerst reuss klipphausen.

Sheep washing, with to the right Heinrich LXIII. Prinz Reuß zu Köstritz (1786-1841; Wikipedia). in the background Thaer's model farm in Möglin

Back

georg thaer. koerte. alb. thaer. ernst thaer. frau thaer. thaer. v.bredow schwanebeck. graf itzenplitz z. baath. v.arnim neuensund. bar:eckards

Thaer as a celebrated old man with his family and friends. To the left Thaer's wife Philippine von Willich and three sons Georg (1789-1857), Albrecht Philipp (1794-1863; Wikipedia), and Ernst, and son-in-law Franz Körte (1782-1845; Wikipedia). To the right his friends Peter Alexander Graf von Itzenplitz (1769-1834; Wikipedia), Christoph August von Bredow (1780-1844; Wikipedia), Carl Baath, Hans Anton Joachim von Arnim auf Neuensund usw. (1753-1821), Ernst Jacob Freiherr von Eckardstein (1742-1803; Wikipedia), and Carl von Treskow (1787-1846; Biography)

Left

v. thuenen

The Harvest at Thaer's model farm. In the center the agriculturalist Johann Heinrich von Thünen (1783-1850; Wikipedia).

Signature

C. RAUCH fec.
guss noack berlin 2000
Reliefs: hans starcke 2008 and Hans Starcke 2008

Information Sign

das standbild
wurde im jahr 2000
als bronzeabguss nach den
original durch die
ernst freiberger-stiftung
der stadt berlin
gespendet

Annotation

Three reliefs are new casts from plaster casts of the originals, the others are reconstructions by Starcke. The original was unveiled 5 November 1860.

Schinkelplatz

The Academy of Architecture (Bauakademie) on this square was the work of the city architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1836), who intended to create a square encircled by trees in front of the northern facade of the Academy. In 1837 Peter Joseph Lenné created here a decorative square, then called Platz an der Bauakademie (Square at the Academy of Architecture). In the 1860s monuments for Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1860), Christian Peter Wilhelm Beuth (1861) and Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1869) were erected. With the erection of the third monument the name of the place was altered in Schinkelplatz. Honoring these three men in this form was a first in the history of Berlin, an expression of the growing self-consciousness of the urban bourgeoisie. The sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch spoke of the "first hero on a public place without a sword".

During the Second World War, the Schinkelplatz and the surrounding buildings suffered severe damage. Schinkel's statue was toppled from its pedestal, the monuments of Beuth and Thaer had suffered bullet and splinter damage. By 1949, the four caryatids from the base of Schinkel's statue and five reliefs of Thaer's statue were stolen. The Academy of Arts was demolished 1962 to make place for the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the German Democratic Republic (1966). The statues were placed in the Humboldt university and other locations in town. The ministry building was demolished in 1995/96 and the reconstruction of the Schinkelplatz started. Schinkel's statue returned in 1996, Beuth's in 1999 and a copy of the statue of Thaer in 2000 (the original is in the agricultural faculty of the Humboldt University). Landscaping was finished in 2008. There are plans to rebuild the Bauakademie - now you see scaffolding with a large image of the facade.

Wikipedia, Schinkelplatz.
Luise-Berlin, Hans Hauser, Denkmalrücken am Schinkelplatz.

Sculptors

Hugo Hagen (1818 - Berlin 1871), German sculptor (href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Hagen" target="_blank">Wikipedia).
Christian Daniel Rauch (Arolsen, Hessen, 1777-Dresden 1857), one of the most important sculptors of the German classicism ((his bust in Bad Arolsen) (RKDArtists – Wikipedia).

Sources & Information

Bildhauerei in Berlin, Skulpturen in Mitte.
Die Enthüllung des Thaer-Denkmals zu Berlin, Annalen der Landwirtschaft in den königlich Preussischen Staaten 18, 36 (1860), p. 426-433.

Locatie (N 52°30'59" - E 13°23'54") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: debe020; Photograph: 9 August 2013
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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