Hermann Lungkwitz

Background

Karl Friedrich Hermann Lungkwitz was born on March 14, 1813 in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt to hosiery manufacturer Johann Gottfried Lungkwitz and his wife Friederike Wilhelmine (Hecht) Lungkwitz.

Career

Lungkwitz was enrolled at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts from 1840–1843 and received his artistic training under the tutelage of Adrian Ludwig Richter. In 1850, the Lungkwitz and Petri families emigrated to the United States, landing first in New York City. They migrated to Wheeling, West Virginia, but decided on the destination of in 1851.

In 1852, the two families bought a 320-acre farm for $400 in the settlement of Pedernales, near Fredericksburg and took up farming and cattle ranching.

The families remained there until 1864, although Petri drowned in the Pedernales River in 1857. Lungkwitz continued to create paintings of the Hill Country, one of his favorite subjects being Enchanted Rock, of which he painted at least six landscapes:

The artist created in great detail in both pencil drawings and paintings.

In addition to Gillespie County vistas, his subjects were the German settlements of New Braunfels and Sisterdale, the Hamilton Pool and West Cave at Round Mountain, Marble Falls, and areas around Austin and San Antonio. From 1866–1870, Lundkwitz ran a San Antonio photography studio with Carl G. von Iwonski.

He held the position for the entirety of the administration of Governor Edmund J. Davis.

In 1877, Martha"s husband Jacob Bickler founded the German and English Academy in Austin, where Lungkwitz taught drawing and painting. Bickler became superintendent of Galveston public schools in 1887, and also founded the Bickler Academy in Austin in 1892. Lungkwitz gave private lessons at both Austin and Galveston whenever he visited the Bicklers.

Lungkwitz married Elisabeth "Elise" Petri, sister of Friedrich Richard Petri.

The couple had six children. Elisasbeth died in 1880 and is buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Austin.

Achievements

• After receiving an academy certificate of achievement in 1843 for his sketch of the Elbe River, Lungkwitz spent the next three years honing his artistic skills in Salzkammergut and the Northern Limestone Alps in Bavaria.

Connections

brother-in-law:

Friedrich Richard Petri