Ernst Hähnel

German sculptor (1811-1881) and professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. Mostly remembered for his public statuary. His works of art can be admired throughout Germany.

Born in Dresden,  studied architecture at the Dresden Academy and Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, where he remained until 1831 and later switched to sculpture after taking classes with Ernst Rietschel and Ludwig Schwanthaler. He took a study trip to Rome and Florence and returned to Munich, living there from 1835 to 1838, when he was appointed to the Dresden Academy. Upon arriving there, Gottfried Semper entrusted him with the preparation of some sculptures for the new Semperoper (Opera House). In 1845, he created the Beethoven Monument in Bonn, the work which made him famous. He became a full Professor at the Dresden Academy in 1848. Many Meissen artists/designers were among his students – Otto König, Emmerich Andresen, Friedrich Offermann.

Meissen acquired a total of 39 large models from Ernst Hähnel which were mostly his existing sculptures reduced in size.

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