Gerning, Johann Isaac Freiherr von (ennobled 1804)

Diplomat, collector, writer

born: 14.11.1767 in Frankfurt am Main

died: 21.02.1837 in Frankfurt am Main

Gerning came from a wealthy family of canvas merchants and bankers. After an apprenticeship as a merchant in Switzerland and Amsterdam, he attended law lectures in Jena. He had been friends with Goethe since 1793.

A cavalier tour took him through Europe, including to Italy, where he was in the service of the Kingdom of Naples as a legation councillor from 1797. After returning to Frankfurt, he was able to pursue his literary and antiquarian interests thanks to his father's fortune. In 1802-11, his country house "Tauninum" in Kronberg and, from 1803, another summer residence in Homburg vor der Höhe were the center of his life.

He forged close ties with Landgraves Friedrich V and Friedrich VI of Hesse-Homburg, including acting as their diplomatic envoy to the Bundestag in Frankfurt. In 1804 he was appointed Privy Councillor. On behalf of Landgrave Friedrich V, he arranged the marriage of the hereditary prince to the daughter of the English King George III.

Gerning played a major role in the founding of the Association for Nassau Antiquities and Historical Research. He was the "foreign director" of the association from 1821-37.

His numerous works include "Reise durch Oestreich und Italien" (1802) and above all "Die Heilquellen am Taunus. Ein didactisches Gedicht in vier Gesängen" (1803), "Die Rheingegenden von Mainz bis Cölln" (1819) and "Die Lahn- und Maingegenden von Embs bis Frankfurt, antiquarisch und historisch" (1821). These writings were closely related to his intensive study of the Rhine-Main region and the Taunus, which he introduced to regional historiography to a certain extent.

His passion for collecting was art. He initially acquired engravings and hand drawings, and later also paintings and sculptures. He preferred early German, Dutch, Flemish and Italian masters. At Goethe's request, Gerning donated his collection to the Duchy of Nassau in 1824 in return for an annual annuity of 2,000 fl. It became the basis for the Nassau Antiquities Collection of the Wiesbaden Museum and was publicly exhibited in the Erbprinzenpalais. In 1830, he donated his father's butterfly collection, which is still considered one of the largest and oldest private zoological collections and also includes specimens collected by the famous naturalist and illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian, to the Nassau Natural History Society.

Gerning was ennobled by Emperor Franz II in 1804 and elevated to the rank of baron of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1818.