Caspar David Friedrich and the University of Greifswald

No, he didn't - but he still had close links to the university. This was not only because the university’s buildings shaped the face of the town centre even then, social structures were somewhat different to today. And so, as part of his university tasks as drawing master, the mathematician and painter Johann Gottfied Quistorp (1755-1835), also took on private pupils, including Caspar David Friedrich from 1790 onwards. Quistorp taught his pupils to copy accurately and pay special attention to proportions. (Johannes Grave, Caspar David Friedrich. Munich, London, New York: Prestel. p. 39). His influence on Caspar David Friedrich is still today a subject of debate.

The opportunities to study art in Greifswald were, however, very limited; only the paintings and drawings from Quistorp's private collection were available for the usual method of learning to copy works of art by the Old Masters. It was probably also Quistorp who suggested to Friedrich in 1794 that he should continue his training in Copenhagen. Copenhagen was one of Northern Europe’s biggest cultural centres and the art academy didn’t demand any study fees and was considered liberal. It was also no problem to communicate in German there, Friedrich spoke both German and Low German, but there is no evidence to suggest that he spoke Danish.

Johann Gottfried Quistorp (1755-1835), born in Rostock, studied applied mathematics in Greifswald and painting in Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden. He became a drawing teacher at the University of Greifswald in 1788, but also worked as an architect in Greifswald and was appointed University Architect in 1812. Several of the “Quistorp buildings” can still be found in Greifswald’s town centre today, e.g. the “Primary Education Building” in the Steinbeckerstraße 15. The list of his private pupils contains further well-known names: e.g. portrait painter Wilhelm Titel (1784-1862), who himself became a drawing teacher at the University of Greifswald in 1826 and painted several of the portraits of professors still on display today in the Konzilsaal of the University Main Building. Greifswald architect and painter Gottlieb Giese (1787-1838) was also one of Quistorp’s pupils.

The range of Quistorp’s activities was not unusual at that time: professor’s salaries were extremely modest and activities outside of the university were often lucrative. His brother, Johann Quistorp (1758-1834) was Professor of Natural History, Economics and Botany, but also worked as a doctor and obstetrician.

More about the Quistorps can be found in the “Beiträgen zur Genealogie und Geschichte der Quistorps” by Achim von Quistorp here [de] and in Peter Heinke’s Die Quistorps: Portraint einer mecklenburgish-pommerschen Familie, 2008 (p. 25-26).

Caspar David Friedrich maintained friendly relations with several professors at the university, even long after moving to Dresden. One of these was theologian Ludwig Gotthard Kosegarten (1758-1818), to whom he was presumably introduced by Quistorp whilst Kosegarten was still a pastor on Rügen. Kosegarten was well known for his poems and his sermons in Low German. He also translated the (supposed) bard Ossian from English. In 1808, Kosegarten was appointed Außerordentlicher Professor (Senior Lecturer) of History at the University of Greifswald by the French occupying forces under Napoleon - whom Friedrich vehemently opposed.

A further acquaintance was the law scholar Carl Schildener, who was also a university librarian.  He began to collect Friedrich’s drawings early on.

Whilst Friedrich was receiving drawing lessons, Ernst Moritz Arndt studied at the university (1791-1793), the friendship of these two men probably dates back to these years (see Herrmann Zschoche, Caspar David Friedrich: Die Briefe. Hamburg: Conference Point Verlag 2006, p. 86 A detailed account of their friendship can be found in Reinhard Bach’s Caspar David Friedrich und Ernst Moritz Arndt: Identitätssuche im Epochenumbruch. Greifswald: Karl Lappe Verlag, 2023.

According to the Geschichte der Universität Greifswald by Johann Gottfried Ludwig Kosegarten from 1856/1857 (reprint Scientia Verlag Aalen, 1986), the number of professors under the Swedish King Gustav III in 1775 was set at 15, plus "adjuncts" and "private lecturers" as required (p. 315). Between 30 and 40 new students enrolled every year (p. 305) These numbers didn’t change much over the next few decades.

The first ties between the Eldena Abbey and the University of Greifswald date back to the 15^th century, when several of the monks and abbots were enrolled at the university. During the Reformation, the abbey was dissolved in 1535 and initially served as the ducal seat until it was gifted to the university by Bogislaw XIV in 1634 (see University Chronicle). The buildings had already been damaged in the Thirty Years War, Eldena was further ravaged on several occasions during the 18^th century. The former abbey was used as a quarry into the 19^th century and it was even at risk of complete demolition around 1827. It might actually have been Caspar David Friedrich who played a decisive role at this point: his drawings of the ruins were well known and Greifswald began its efforts to preserve the ruins. The Prussian King Frederick William III had bought Friedrich’s now famous “Abbey among Oak Trees” in 1810 and also campaigned for the preservation of the ruins on a visit around 1827. However, it still took several years before steps were actually taken towards conserving the Eldena Abbey Ruins.

Further information can be found in: Hans Georg Thümmel, Greifswald – Geschichte und Geschichten. Die Stadt, ihre Kirchen und ihre Universität. Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2011 (p. 170).

It was not yet possible for women to enrol at German universities during Caspar David Friedrich’s lifetime. The University of Greifswald admitted its first female guest students in 1895 and the first women enrolled for winter semester 1908/09 (University Chronicle).

However, there were exceptional talents every now and again, who – often via family relatives – gained access to university facilities. For example, at the age of only fourteen, Anna Christina Ehrenfried von Balthasar, herself a daughter of a professor, gave a speech in Latin at the opening ceremony for today’s University Main Building on 28 April 1750 with “perfect rhetorical skill”. The chronicler and librarian Johann Carl Dähnert commented: “Maybe this perfect example will also encourage other members of the fair sex to renounce the obstacles that are thought to block their path to the sciences.” He even went one step further and explained that it is “an honour for our academy that a woman publicly declares that she has overcome such doubts and is giving hope through a diligent study of languages and serious sciences” (p.40). She also gave a speech at the opening ceremony of the Academic Library (today’s Aula in the University Main Building) on 14 July 1750 that was even published. Dähnert reports again that “our clever muse” thus delivered proof that “libraries are the safest repositories for true and genuine friendship” and that women were presumably granted access (p. 60). Women were definitely present during the speeches and at the subsequent “entertainments”. On the following day, Anna Christina von Balthasar gained an honorary enrolment and was awarded a “Baccalaurea”.

Hans Georg Thümmel, Greifswald – Geschichte und Geschichten. Die Stadt, ihre Kirchen und ihre Universität. Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2011 (p. 135-36).

J. C. Dähnert’s Pommersche Bibliothek (Erster Theil, Greifswald, 1750-1752) [de]

Art academies were also still largely closed to women during Friedrich’s lifetime. However, Caspar David Friedrich was acquainted with several female artists during his time in Dresden: he corresponded with the painter Louise Seidler (1786-1866) and was friends with salonnière Caroline Bardua (1781-1864).