At the city bet between Greifswald on the Baltic Sea and Dresden on the 250th birthday of the artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) at the beginning of September, participants and onlookers in the city on the Elbe donated a total of 1,270 euros. The money will now go towards the restoration of two entrance portals to the Trinitatisfriedhof cemetery, where the famous Romantic master is buried. He used one of them as a motif in his painting "The Cemetery", which was created around 1825.
According to the city's marketing company, this means that its administration has reached its goal of raising a total of 15,000 euros for the project faster than expected, as a basis for municipal funding for the project. The sandstone portal drawn and painted by Friedrich is in great need of restoration. A total of almost 97,000 euros is needed for this and for another striking gate at the Feierhalle.
More than 2,000 people took a journey through time
Greifswald, the birthplace of the painter and draughtsman, challenged his adopted city of Dresden in the Friedrich Year 2024 with a bet to see who could gather the most people dressed in the style of Romanticism. Saxony's state capital offered 2,033 participants - the Baltic city won the bet with 2,241.
Dresden was the center of Friedrich's life for over four decades - until his death in 1840. In the former royal seat, he studied the paintings of the old masters in the picture gallery, took part in art debates, began to paint and started a family. His main works were created here. He also found the motifs he drew in the surrounding countryside, for example on hikes in Saxon and Bohemian Switzerland. In his studio, he composed them into his paintings - which are considered masterpieces of German Romanticism.
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