CARL FRIEDRICH LESSING (1808- 1880)
Hohe Acht (747m - 2, 450ft)
Germany
1 & 2. In Landscape in the Eifel Mountains, 1834, Oil on canvas, National Museum of Warsaw,
The mountain
The Hohe Acht (747m - 2, 450ft) is the highest mountain in the Eifel mountains of Germany. It is located on the boundary between the districts of Ahrweiler and Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate. The Hohe Acht is located in the High Eifel east of Adenau. The mountain is a tertiary volcano, whose cone is composed of Lower Devonian rock and whose summit is made of basalt.
Emperor William Tower.
In 1908/09 the Emperor William Tower (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Turm) was erected on the Hohe Acht. The reason for the construction of this stone observation tower, based on plans by the architect, Freiherr von Tettau, Berlin, was the silver wedding of Emperor William II and Empress Augusta Victoria as well as the commemoration of Emperor William I.
The tower is 16.30 metres (53.5 ft) high and its walls are one metre thick at ground level. The work was carried out by master masons, Karl and Johannes Leidinger, from Adenau using local stone. The cost of construction was 18,000 marks. The tower has been a protected monument since 1987.
The Emperor William Tower offers a superb view across the whole Eifel (including the mountains of Scharteberg, Dцhmberg, Michelsberg, Hochthьrmerberg, Schцneberg, the nearby Nьrburg Castle and Hochkelberg), as well as the Siebengebirge and its GroЯer Цlberg and, in conditions of good visibility, as far as the Westerwald, the Taunus, the Hunsrьck and the Lower Rhine.
There is a network of footpaths around the Hohe Acht and, at many places there are good views over the Eifel landscape. In winter the Hohe Acht has some very good winter sport facilities including prepared cross country skiing trails, toboggan runs and ski lifts.
The artist
Carl (or Karl) Friedrich Lessing was a German historical and landscape painter, grandnephew of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. He was born near Breslau, and was a pupil of Heinrich Anton Dähling at the Berlin Academy. He first devoted himself to landscape. In this period of his artistic career Lessing was influenced by the landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich: his themes he depicted were castle ruins, forgotten cemeteries, rugged rock formations, which he inhabited with figures of monks, knights and thieves. In 1826 obtained a prize with his Cemetery in Ruins. He accompanied Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow to Düsseldorf, where he continued his studies, devoting himself to historical paintings. In 1830, when Schadow went to Italy, Lessing occupied his place as director of the academy, exercising great influence on the Düsseldorf school of painting. His picture Das trauernde Königspaar (Mourning Royal Couple) brought him great popularity. In 1837, he received a gold medal in Paris; he was a member of the Berlin Academy and was the recipient of several orders. In 1858 he was appointed director of the gallery in Karlsruhe, where he continued his activity as a painter until his death in 1880.