Ferdinand Avenarius
Encyclopedia
Ferdinand Avenarius was a lyric poet
, a leading representative of the culture reform movement of his time and the first popularizer of Sylt
.
. His father, Eduard Avenarius, a publisher from Leipzig
, founded a joint subsidiary company with the Brockhaus publishing house. His mother, Cäcilie née Geyer, was a daughter of the actor and painter Ludwig Geyer
. Eduard Avenarius represented the company in Paris
, where he consorted with Heinrich Heine
and Richard Wagner
, the latter being the stepuncle of Ferdinand Avenarius and his brother, the philosopher Richard Avenarius
. However, there are speculations in science that Ludwig Geyer was not only the stepfather but the biological father of Wagner too.
Ferdinand Avenarius attended schools in Berlin and Dresden
and studied in Leipzig and Zurich
medicine
, natural science
s, art and literature history as well as philosophy
. He returned to Dresden in 1882, where he founded the magazine Der Kunstwart, the leading publication channel of the German culture reform movement, which was dedicated to aesthetic education as well as to love to culture and nature. Avenarius married Else Doehn divorced Schumann. His father-in-law, Dr. Rudolf Doehn
, was a German writer and an American representative in Missouri
. In 1895, Schilling & Graebner
built a first villa for Avenarius in Blasewitz
.
In 1902 Avenarius founded together with art historian Paul Schumann the Dürerbund
, named after Albrecht Dürer
, which became the leading culture organization in Deutsches Reich
, Austria
and Switzerland
. Avenarius was member of Deutscher Werkbund
and belonged to the directorate of the German garden city movement
. From 1903, Avenarius spent the summer months on Sylt
, which he made popular. Kampen made him its first honorary citizen and the University of Heidelberg appointed him honorary doctor.
Avenarius became especially known as editor and publisher. He supported young authors like Hermann Häfker
and painters, but fought heavily against all appearances of "low taste" or "little value", as he ranked e. g. the work by Karl May
. This controversy lasted many years.
Lyric poetry
Lyric poetry is a genre of poetry that expresses personal and emotional feelings. In the ancient world, lyric poems were those which were sung to the lyre. Lyric poems do not have to rhyme, and today do not need to be set to music or a beat...
, a leading representative of the culture reform movement of his time and the first popularizer of Sylt
Sylt
Sylt is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Frisia...
.
Life
Avenarius was born in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. His father, Eduard Avenarius, a publisher from Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, founded a joint subsidiary company with the Brockhaus publishing house. His mother, Cäcilie née Geyer, was a daughter of the actor and painter Ludwig Geyer
Ludwig Geyer
Ludwig Geyer was a German actor, playwright and painter.Born in Eisleben, he was the stepfather of composer Richard Wagner, whose biological father had died some six months after his birth...
. Eduard Avenarius represented the company in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he consorted with Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
and Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, the latter being the stepuncle of Ferdinand Avenarius and his brother, the philosopher Richard Avenarius
Richard Avenarius
Richard Heinrich Ludwig Avenarius was a German-Swiss philosopher. He formulated the radical positivist doctrine of "empirical criticism" or empirio-criticism....
. However, there are speculations in science that Ludwig Geyer was not only the stepfather but the biological father of Wagner too.
Ferdinand Avenarius attended schools in Berlin and Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and studied in Leipzig and Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, natural science
Natural science
The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...
s, art and literature history as well as philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. He returned to Dresden in 1882, where he founded the magazine Der Kunstwart, the leading publication channel of the German culture reform movement, which was dedicated to aesthetic education as well as to love to culture and nature. Avenarius married Else Doehn divorced Schumann. His father-in-law, Dr. Rudolf Doehn
Rudolf Doehn
Rudolf Doehn was a German writer and journalist. He belonged to the Forty-Eighters who participated in the American Civil War as volunteers in the Union Army...
, was a German writer and an American representative in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. In 1895, Schilling & Graebner
Schilling & Graebner
Schilling & Graebner was founded by the architects Rudolf Schilling and Julius Graebner in Dresden in 1889. Over the years Schilling & Graebner changed their style repeatedly. Starting with historistic buildings they became especially known as leading German architects of Art Nouveau and Modernity...
built a first villa for Avenarius in Blasewitz
Blasewitz
Besides being an urban and often preferred multiple dwelling villa quarter with appealing architecture situated on the Elbe river Blasewitz is also a larger borough of Dresden, Germany in the eastern centre of the city...
.
In 1902 Avenarius founded together with art historian Paul Schumann the Dürerbund
Dürerbund
The Dürerbund was an organization of writers and artists with a strong influence on the intellectual life of the middle class in the German Reich, but also in Austria and Switzerland....
, named after Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
, which became the leading culture organization in Deutsches Reich
Deutsches Reich
Deutsches Reich was the official name for Germany from 1871 to 1945 in the German language.As the literal English translation "German Empire" denotes a monarchy, the term is used only in reference to Germany prior to the fall of the monarchies at the end of World War I in 1918...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Avenarius was member of Deutscher Werkbund
Deutscher Werkbund
The Deutscher Werkbund was a German association of artists, architects, designers, and industrialists. The Werkbund was to become an important event in the development of modern architecture and industrial design, particularly in the later creation of the Bauhaus school of design...
and belonged to the directorate of the German garden city movement
Garden city movement
The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...
. From 1903, Avenarius spent the summer months on Sylt
Sylt
Sylt is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Frisia...
, which he made popular. Kampen made him its first honorary citizen and the University of Heidelberg appointed him honorary doctor.
Avenarius became especially known as editor and publisher. He supported young authors like Hermann Häfker
Hermann Häfker
Hermann Wilhelm Häfker was an important film theoretician as well as an acknowledged Esperantist and writer....
and painters, but fought heavily against all appearances of "low taste" or "little value", as he ranked e. g. the work by Karl May
Karl May
Karl Friedrich May was a popular German writer, noted mainly for adventure novels set in the American Old West, and similar books set in the Orient and Middle East . In addition, he wrote stories set in his native Germany, in China and in South America...
. This controversy lasted many years.
Biographies
Bibliographies
- Avenarius in the Open LibraryOpen LibraryOpen Library is an online project intended to create “one web page for every book ever published”. Open Library is a project of the non-profit Internet Archive and has been funded in part by a grant from the California State Library and the Kahle/Austin Foundation.-Books for the blind and...
Further reading
- Gerhard Kratzsch. Kunstwart und Dürerbund. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Gebildeten im Zeitalter des Imperialismus. Vandenhoeck u. Ruprecht, Göttingen 1969. ISBN 3-525-36125-4.