Claim Goethe Institut Claim Goethe Institut

Ireland

German Traces in Ireland

The Cobh Heritage Centre, located next to the train station and the harbour. Photo (Detail): Courtesy of Cobh Heritage Centre

There are many places to be found in Ireland with connections to German people and stories; from Handel’s Messiah at Fishamble Street in Dublin to the children of Operation Shamrock in Co.Wicklow, from the Ballinderry Sword to Ardnacrusha’s hydroelectric power station. Artists, writers and historical figures such as Agnes Bernelle, Imogen Stuart, Heinrich Böll and Friedrich Engels also feature with details of their Irish-German links. 

There are also links to further material and resources for each trace featured, thanks to the Centre for Irish-German Studies in Limerick.

Traces in Dublin

Joseph Beuys at Forty Foot Beach, Dublin Image Courtesy of Caroline Tisdall/Violette Editions.

Joseph Beuys and The Brain of Europe

Joseph Beuys, one of the major figures in postwar German art was always strongly attracted to Ireland, which he called "The Brain of Europe."
Professor Heitler (third from left) at Merrion Square Image Courtesy of Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies

DIAS and the physicist Walter Heitler

The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies owes its reputation, in part, to German physicist Walter Heitler, who carried out fundamental research there in its early years.
Agnes Bernelle Foto: Courtesy of Mark Leslie

Traces in Dublin
 German singer Agnes Bernelle

Agnes Bernelle’s journey from Berlin to Dublin created a living link between the German cabaret of the 1920s and contemporary Irish music.
Portrait of Georg Friedrich Händel by John Faber (c. 1695-1756) after Thomas Hudson (1709-1779) Photo (Detail): © Stiftung Händel-Haus, Halle (Saale)

Traces in Dublin
 The premiere of Handel’s „Messiah“

One of the glories of German music, Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” was first performed in Dublin at the New Music Hall in Fishamble Street at noon on April 13th 1742.
John Hennig. Photo (Detail): By permission of the Royal Irish Academy © RIA

Traces in Dublin
 John Hennig, founder of ‘Irlandkunde’

John Hennig is a fine example of the small but influential number of refugees from Nazi Germany who enriched Irish intellectual life in the 1940s and 1950s.
Leinster House (Westfassade), Dublin. Architect: Richard Castle. Foto: © Courtesy of the Irish Architectural Archive

Traces in Dublin
 Richard Castle, architect from Kassel

His name holds a clue to his profession: Richard Castle, born in Kassel, Germany, was an architect. While he built few castles, he designed many landmark buildings in Dublin.
Leopold von Ranke and Clarissa Graves. Foto: © Courtesy Rankemuseum Wiehe, Germany

Traces in Dublin
 Leopold von Ranke and Clarissa Graves

The pioneering German historian Leopold von Ranke was married to a Dublin woman Clarissa Graves, who became influential in Berlin.
The Ballinderry Sword Photo: © Courtesy of the National Museum of Ireland

Traces in Dublin
 The Ballinderry Sword

The first known piece of German technology in Ireland dates to the mid-9th century. It is a superb sword marked with the name of its maker Ulfberht.

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way

Casement Monument Image © Ben Adamson

The capture of Roger Casement

Roger Casement landed on Banna Strand from a German U-boat on April 21st 1916. He was quickly captured by the British authorities and later hanged.
 
Annette Kolb Image Courtesy of Monacensia Literaturarchiv und Bibliothek München

The german writer Annette Kolb

Rainer Maria Rilke wanted to send her “all the flowers I can lay my eyes on“, Erich Kästner described her as “Munich’s first lady” and for her publisher, Gottfired Bermann Fischer, she soared “like a monument out of the chaos of the times”: Annette Kolb.
IRELAND_Heinrich-Boell_6-website.jpg From left to right: Heinrich, Annemarie, René and Raimund Böll in front of the cottage in Keel, Achill Island, Ireland, c. 1958. Photo (Detail): © Archiv Erbengemeinschaft Heinrich Böll. Heinrich Böll Fotoarchiv

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way
 Heinrich Böll and his “Irish Journal”

Read by millions of Germans since 1957, the Irish Journal and its author, Heinrich Böll, have had an unsurpassed impact on the German image of Ireland.
In Principio (at the back) and Ladders (right), Imogen Stuart at Mary Immaculate College. Photo (Detail): Goethe-Institut Irland

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way
 Imogen Stuart, sculptor

Most Irish people may not know her name but almost all know at least one of her sculptures. The work of the German-born Imogen Stuart is everywhere – in churches, shopping centres and public buildings.
Construction work in Ardnacrusha. The Scheme was one of the largest engineering projects of its day. Photo (Detail): Courtesy ESB Archive

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way
 The hydroelectric power station Ardnacrusha

The hydroelectric plant on the River Shannon in County Clare, built by the German firm Siemens-Schuckert, can be described as a milestone in Irish history.
Langs Pub in Grange, in vicinity to Lola Montez’ alleged place of birth. Photo (Detail): Goethe-Institut Irland

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way
 Lola Montez, dancer and king’s mistress

Beautiful and frivolous, vain and extravagant, loved and hated, she caused mayhem at a Bavarian king’s court and was the subject of a Max Ophüls film.
The Cobh Heritage Centre, located next to the train station and the harbour. Photo (Detail): Courtesy of Cobh Heritage Centre

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way
 Friedrich Engels and the sisters Burns

Friedrich Engels, co-founder of communism, lived much of his life with an Irish woman Mary Burns. She, her sister Lizzie and his visits to Ireland had a big influence on his thought.
Irish Palatines Photo: Courtesy of Irish Palatine Association

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way
 Irish Palatines

In the early 18th century, thousands of German Protestants fled as refugees from the Lower Palatinate and hundreds settled in Ireland.
Fleischmann dirigiert das Irische Rundfunk-Symphonieorchester am 30. September 1953. Das Konzert mit Werken von Arnold Bax findet in Gegenwart des Komponisten statt. Bax stirbt am 3. Oktober 1953 in Cork während eines Besuches bei Familie Fleischmann. Photo (Detail): Irish Times. Digitale Fotografie: Max Fleischmann © Fleischmann Estate

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way
 A life in music: Aloys Fleischmann

He was born in Germany but made music history in Ireland: Aloys Fleischmann was a key figure in the world of music and the arts in twentieth-century Cork.
Fanore village Photo (Detail): Goethe-Institut Irland

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way
 Francis Stuart, writer and controversial Saoi

He was elected a Saoi, the highest honour given by Ireland to an artist, yet the controversy surrounding his links with Nazi Germany never went away.
The German contribution to Celtology Photo (Detail): Kuno Meyer

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way
 The German contribution to Celtology

German philologists played a significant role in the development of Celtic Studies, or Celtology. Nowadays, the subject is taught only at a small number of German universities.

Traces along the Wild Atlantic Way
 From Kerry to California: Michael Fassbender

He has played a psychologist and an IRA hunger-striker, a superhero and a slave owner: Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender is a bright star in the Hollywood sky.

Traces in Other Regions

Rudolf Heltzel in his studio Image Courtesy of Rudolf Heltzel Studios

The jeweller Rudolf Heltzel

Rudolf Heltzel, born in Berlin, has been a key figure in Irish craft and design for 50 years. His sumptuous jewellery, made with gold, silver and precious stones, has given his workshop in Kilkenny international standing.
Aerial View of the Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare Image Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland

The Curragh Camp

In Ireland, the Second World War was euphemistically called “The Emergency”; the country was neutral, prisoners of war were “guests of the state”, and they were interned in very comfortable camp: the Curragh.
An Irish Red Cross promotion for “Operation Shamrock” Photo: Courtesy of Glencree archives

Traces in other regions
 Operation Shamrock: post-war relief for German children

After the Second World War, Ireland not only provided £12 million in aid to Germany but also took in 500 traumatised children.
The statue of St Kilian outside St Kilian’s Church, Mullagh. Photo (Detail): Goethe-Institut Irland

Traces in other regions
 St Kilian, patron saint of Franconia

Between the sixth and eighth centuries, Irish monks spread Christianity all the way from Iceland to the north of Italy. Among the best-known names is that of St Kilian.
The shipyard partners Gustav Wolff (left) and Edward Harland (right). Photo (Detail): IIIB-Harland © National Museums Northern Ireland – Collection Ulster Museum

Traces in other regions
 Harland & Wolff shipyard

“Samson” and “Goliath”, two Belfast landmarks: dominating the city skyline, these yelllow gantry cranes belong to Harland & Wolff, the shipyard where the “Titanic” was built.
IRELAND_Duke-Schomberg_1-website.jpg Frederick Herman de Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg by and published by John Smith; after Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt mezzotint, 1689 (circa 1689) Photo: NPG D1338 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Traces in other regions
 Duke of Schomberg

Frederick Schomberg, once called “the ablest soldier of his age”, was a key figure at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Top