Wolfgang Hugo Rheinhold (26 March 1853 – 2 October 1900) was a German sculptor best known for his '' Affe mit Schädel'' ("Ape with Skull"). His surname is often misspelled "Reinhold".

Life

Hugo Rheinhold was born in

Oberlahnstein Oberlahnstein () is a part of the city of Lahnstein in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. It lies on the right bank of the Rhine, at the confluence of the Lahn 4 m. above Koblenz, on the Right Rhine railway from Cologne to Frankfurt-on-Main. Oberla ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

, on March 26, 1853. He went to school in Koblenz before entering the merchant trade. When 21, Rheinhold sought success in the United States and became an import and export merchant, living in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

(1874–1878), where he had the head office for his business, as well as in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, where he settled in 1879. The next year he married his childhood sweetheart Emma Levy from

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

; she was to die in 1882, after only one-and-a-half years of marriage. Emma's death had a huge impact Rheinhold. He sold his successful business and moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

to study science and philosophy at the Friedrich-Wilhelms University. In 1886, he studied under the sculptors

Ernst Herter Ernst Gustav Herter (14 May 1846, Berlin – 19 December 1917, Berlin) was a German sculptor. He specialized in creating statues of mythological figures. Life and work Herter studied at the Academy of Arts in Berlin and later also as apprent ...

and Max Kruse, before officially enrolling as a student at the Berlin Academy of Arts (1888–1892). He died, aged 47, in

Works

Rheinhold produced a series of notable works within a very short career span. These include: a group of reading monks (''Lesende Monche''), a tribute to Alfred Nobel (''Dynamite in the Service of Mankind''), a bust of socialist leader August Bebel and his most famous piece ''Am Wege'' (1896) a marble of "an unfortunate young woman with a child at her breast". His biggest bronze work was for Dynamit Nobel AG, a statue titled ''Dynamite in the Service of Man'', which included a tall goddess, possibly representing Athena, with a foot over a prostrate man. The statue was melted down for use in the Second World War for armaments. Rheinhold was protective of his Jewish heritage, and was a strong influence in the Deutsch-Israelitischer Gemeindebund (an association of Jewish corporations). He sculpted ''Die Kämpfer'' ("The Warriors") in protest against burgeoning anti-Semitism. His last work, of serpentine deities in a fountain ("Brunnengrotte mit zwei Wassergottheiten"), was exhibited close to his death in 1900.Schmetzke Today, Rheinhold is probably known for his ''Affe mit Schädel''. Image:Affe mit Schädel.jpg, '' Affe mit Schädel''
c. 1893 Image:HugoRheinholdAmWege.jpg, ''Am Wege''
c. 1894 Image:HugoRheinholdAusverkauft.jpg, ''Ausverkauft''
c. 1899 Image:HugoRheinholdBrunnengruppe.jpg, ''Brunnengruppe''
c. 1900 Image:HugoRheinholdLesendeMönche.jpg, ''Lesende Mönche''
c. 1900

Notes

References

* Morgan, R., & Moore, A
Hugo Rheinhold's monkey.
Boston Medical Library. (Website). 1. Dec. 1998. Retrieved on 1. Dec. 2008. * Richter, J., & Schmetzke, A. (2007). Hugo Rheinhold's philosophizing monkey—a modern Owl of the Minerva. ''NTM—International Journal of History and Ethics of Natural Sciences, Technology and Medicine, 15''(2), 81–97. * Schmetzke, A

''Hugo Rheinhold ... and his Philosophizing Monkey''. (Website). Library, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. 8. Dec 1999, last revised 6. Nov. 2008. Retrieved on 1. Dec. 2008. * Singer, I., & Mannheimer, S.(1901–1906)
Rheinhold, Hugo.
In ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' (pp. 399–400). New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

External links

Varieties of Rheinhold's Philosophizing Darwin Monkey

Der Philosophische ''Affe und die Eule der Minerva''

Hugo's Philosophical Ape
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rheinhold, Wolfgang Hugo 1853 births 1900 deaths German sculptors German male sculptors 19th-century sculptors