Kaiserin Friedrich und die Künste

The German Empress Victoria was artistically active from her childhood. Born in London on 21 November 1840, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, she grew up in castles from which her mother ruled England, then a world power. In 1858 she married Prince Frederick William of Prussia. Emperor Friedrich Wilhelm succumbed to cancer on 15 June 1888, only 99 days after taking office. Empress Friedrich, as Victoria henceforth called herself after his death, had Schloss Friedrichshof built for herself as a widow's residence in Kronberg from 1888 to 1894. With Friedrichshof Palace she created a representative domicile for herself and her rich art collection and used a spacious room on the north side as a studio for her own occupation with painting. As an artist and art lover, she also maintained contact with the members of the Kronberg Painters' Colony. Norbert Schrödl and Anton Burger should be mentioned here, as well as Wilhelm Friedenberg, Mathilde Knoop-Spielhagen and Ferdinand Brütt. In addition to numerous paintings and watercolours by Empress Frederick, the catalogue shows her connection to the local artists in numerous portraits, genre paintings and still lifes. The catalogue text was written by Christine Klössel, Ingrid Ehrhardt and Esther Walldorf, among others.