Friedrich Schüz, Bergamo

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				Price: on request

Description

‘Bergamo’ (city of Bergamo, seen from the top of the San Vigilio Castle (Castello di San Vigilio), situated on a hill next to the old city.
Biography: Friedrich Schüz

Displayed at the GDK 1942 room 5. Bought by company Ernst Seifert GmbH for 2,500 Reichsmark.
Original frame and remains of the original GDK stickers (and medal cord) at the back.
Another Italian depiction by Schüz (‘Taormina‘, also displayed at the GDK 1942) hung in Hitler’s private appartement at the Prinzregentenplatz 16 in Munich. 

Remains of an original GDK sticker at the back. Still readable is the name of the buyer: textile company ‘Ernst Seifert Gmbh, Glauchau’ (near Chemnitz).

Left: remains at the back of the GDK red-white twisted medal cord and staple.
Right: an example of the original GDK medal.
 

Remains at the back of the original GDK sticker: ‘Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung 1942 im Haus der Deutschen Kunst zu München’. 

‘Bergamo’ by Schüz, displayed at the GDK 1942 room 5.

City of Bergamo, seen from the top of the San Vigilio Castle (Castello di San Vigilio), situated on a hill next to the old city. Photo: 2024.

San Vigilio Castle, locally known as Castello di San Vigilio, lies in the city of Bergamo, in the Bergamo province in the Lombardy region in Italy. The first fortification upon this almost 500 m high hill is thought to have been a Roman watch tower. The first mention of a fortification here dates from the 6th century. During the next centuries a small chapel was built in the vicinity of the castle and the castle was thus called Castello della Cappella. In 889 the castle was conquered by the Frankish troops of Arnulf of Carinthia, the Carolingian king of East Francia. In 1166, because of its strategic importance, the city of Bergamo, situated on an adjacent hill, ordered a new castle to be built to replace the old one. After the Visconti family came to regional power, they started to enlarge and strengthen the castle until it was completed in 1335. The 15th century saw the beginning of the domination of the Venetian Republic, and at the end of that century they updated and strengthened the castle. It was besieged and taken several times in the first part of the 15th century by French, Spanish and Venetian troops. In the 2nd part of that century, the Venetians constructed the Bergamo city walls. San Vigilio Castle, situated on a hill next to the old city, was changed considerably because of this; its central keep was demolished to allow for a subterranean tunnel connecting the castle to the northern bastion of the city. Also, barracks and a castellan’s residence were erected in the castle. That the castle remained a strategic stronghold is attested by the fact that in 1797, after the disintegration of the Venetian Republic, the French troops of the Cisalpine Republic first settled here when they took over the city. In the first part of the 19th century, the Austrian Empire took over and dismantled the castle. After this it lost its military purpose. At the end of the 19th century, the castle came into private hands before being acquired by the Bergamo municipality in the mid-20th century. San Vigilio Castle is freely accessible as it now serves as a public park. A nice castle on a great setting, offering fantastic views over the city of Bergamo and the surrounding countryside.

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