Lorenz Clasen (IZ 57-1871 S 180 HScherenberg)

Lorenz Clasen - Germania auf der Wacht am Rhein (1860)

Lorenz Clasen (14 December 1812,

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

- 31 May 1899,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

) was a German history painter and author; best known for his frequently reproduced painting, "Germania auf der Wacht am Rhein" (

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north-c ...

at Watch on the Rhein), in the town hall of

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, ...

, which was inspired by the popular song ''

Die Wacht am Rhein "" (, ''The Watch on the Rhine'') is a German patriotic anthem. The song's origins are rooted in the historical French–German enmity, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War. The origi ...

''.

Biography

At the request of his father, he began by studying law at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

, but switched to the

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Magdalena Jetelová ...

in 1829, where he studied art with

Rudolf Wiegmann Heinrich Ernst Gottfried Rudolf Wiegmann (17 April 1804, Nordstemmen – 17 April 1865, Düsseldorf) was a German painter, archaeologist, art historian, graphic artist and architect. He worked in the Classical style and, as a painter, is best kn ...

instead. His early works were mostly religious in nature. In addition to painting, he worked as an art critic; providing reviews for numerous local and foreign publications. In 1842, he moved to

Neuwied Neuwied () is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the east bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne. Th ...

, where he served as a tutor for Prince Maximilian. Over the next few years, he produced historical paintings and created

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

es for the

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a doc ...

Town Hall (now the

Von der Heydt Museum The Von der Heydt Museum is a museum in Wuppertal, Germany. The Von der Heydt Museum includes works by artists from the 17th century to the present time. History The museum is housed in the former city hall of Elberfeld, which in 1902 became a ...

). During the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, he served as a Deputy Commander of the Bürgerwehr (

Vigilance committee A vigilance committee was a group formed of private citizens to administer law and order or exercise power through violence in places where they considered governmental structures or actions inadequate. A form of vigilantism and often a more stru ...

). When his cousin, Lorenz Cantador, resigned, he was promoted to Commander. From 1847 to 1849, he was Chief Editor of the ', a satirical monthly. Then, after a brief stay in Berlin, he settled permanently in

sometime in the early 1850s. While there, he served as an editor at the ''Familien-Journal''. Later, he produced "Germania at Watch by the Sea", but it never became as popular as the original.

Selected writings

* ''Lagerscenen, gesammelt auf dem Manöver zu Salzkotten'', (Camp Scenes, Collected on Maneuvers in

Salzkotten Salzkotten is a town in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name Salzkotten (in English, "Salt cottages") is based in the former salt production, which gave Salzkotten its raison d'être. Salt was found in the salty ...

...a Humorous Essay), 1836 * ''Des Kunstfreundes Reiseabenteuer'' (An Art-Friendly Travel Adventure), Hoffmann & Campe 1847 (Published under the name "Lorenz Hempel"
Full Text online
@ Google Books * ''Der Einzug des Teufels in Leipzig, von einem Inspirirten – ein Büchlein für Kluge und Dumme'' (The Entry of the Devil into Leipzig...an Inspirational Book for the Wise and Foolish), originally confiscated on grounds that it "offended the church", but later reissued. * ''Erlebtes und Verwebtes; aus der Schreibmappe eines Malers.'' (The Everyday and the Strange: From a Painter's Notebook), Novellas.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clasen, Lorenz 1812 births 1899 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German history painters German male painters German art critics Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni German editors Artists from Düsseldorf