Gotthold Emanuel Friedrich
Seidel
draftsman, copperplate engraver, writer, theologist
born Etzelwang, 10. Mar 1774
died Nürnberg, 06. Feb 1838
Dr. theol., Protestant theologian, amateur draftsman and engraver, writer,
* March 10 (June, according to Simon Pfb.) 1774 Etzelwang – † February 6, 1838 Nuremberg.
Son of Johann Christian Heinrich (* 1743 – † 1787), pastor. ∞ I) Nuremberg October 18, 1802 Margaretha Katharina Sibylla Kraft (* Sulzbach – † November 22, 1823), daughter of a city syndic; II) Nuremberg November 16, 1826 Dorothea Karolina Ziehl (* Nuremberg – † January 28, 1864), daughter of a merchant, childless. Studied in Altdorf from 1793 to 1796, subsequently worked as a tutor. In 1799, he was the Walburg morning preacher in Nuremberg, and from 1800 to 1802 he again worked as an educator. On April 1, 1802, he was ordained in Altdorf. In 1802, he became a deacon at St. Egidien Church in Nuremberg, where he was appointed pastor in 1817. From 1822 to 1837, he also served as district school inspector, and in 1829 as dean. In 1837, he was awarded the title of Church Councilor. In 1813, he introduced confirmation in Nuremberg. On June 10, 1814, the University of Erlangen awarded him an honorary doctorate. Alongside his clerical duties, he wrote poetry, popular literature for young people, and in 1806, a "Schematism of Mathematical Geography." Seidel was also a skilled engraver. In 1813, he initiated the founding of what later became the Maximilian Eye Clinic. From 1821 to 1830, he was the director of the Nuremberg Teacher Training College. In 1819, he co-founded the Bavarian Central Bible Society, serving as its first chairman from 1828 to 1838. He was a member of the Artists' Association and, in 1806, a member of the P.Bl.O., serving as its president from 1813 to 1838. Panzer recorded his portrait, which was engraved by Conrad Wießner based on a design by Johann Andreas Engelhardt. His album amicorum, containing entries from 1794 to 1796, is housed in the Nuremberg City Archives (StadtBN).
Works: "Large View of the City of Nuremberg from the Morning, Taken Behind the Gleishammer," ink drawing, exhibited in 1817; collection of sermon drafts, 1802; ideas for confessional discourses, 1812.
(quoted from the Nuremberg Artists' Lexicon, edited by Manfred H. Grieb)
