Franz Theodor Kugler
Franz Theodor Kugler (19 January 1808, Stettin – 18 March 1858, Berlin) was an art historian and cultural administrator for the Prussian state. He was the father of historian Bernhard von Kugler (1837–1898). • Illustration — Kugler memorial plaque at Rudelsburg castle He studied literature, music and the visual arts at the University of Berlin. After attending classes in Heidelberg, he returned to Berlin in 1827 in order to study architecture.
Also recorded as Franz Kugler
Franz Theodor Kugler

SchiDD · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Nationality
- Kingdom of Prussia
- Occupation
- art historian · poet · writer · archaeologist · university teacher · author · draftsperson · graphic artist · painter
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Franz Theodor Kugler. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q64509 · wikipedia · Franz Theodor Kugler
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
Statements marked “Documentary record” are set in the article beside the passage they confirm. Each is read from the authority records of the institutions named here; select “Prove” to see the record it was read from, where in that record, and when.
Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek · Getty Union List of Artist Names
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Literary works
Literary works
In 1831 he obtained his doctorate under Ernst Heinrich Toelken with a dissertation on Werinher of Tegernsee. In 1833 he was appointed professor of art history at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin, and ten years later, was named to the Ministry of Culture, from which he served as an overseer of Prussian art. Cultural historian, Jakob Burckhardt, was a prominent student of his. In 1837 he released his "Handbuch der Geschichte der Malerei" (2 volumes), and a few years later, he published the acclaimed "Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte", a comprehensive survey of world art. He was also the author of a biography on Frederick the Great, "Geschichte Friedrichs des Großen" (1840) and of a monograph on architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1842). From 1833 to 1837, he was editor of the journal "Museum, Blätter für bildende Kunst". Johannes Brahms employed text written by Kugler for his Ständchen ("Der Mond steht über dem Berge"), a song for voice and piano, Op.
Documentary record
Franz Theodor Kugler, an art historian, etcher, poet, draughtsman, illustrator, printmaker, writer and university teacher, was born in 1808 and died on 18 March 1858 in Berlin. Berlin is recorded as a place of activity by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
• Skizzenbuch, Berlin 1830 • Liederbuch für deutsche Künstler, 1833 (with Robert Reinick) – Song book for German artists. • Die Bilderhandschrift der Eneidt, 1834 – The illuminated manuscript of Eneidt. • Handbuch der Geschichte der Malerei, 2 Vols., 1837 – Handbook on the history of painting. • Geschichte Friedrichs des Großen, (with Adolph Menzel) Leipzig 1840 – History of Frederick the Great. • Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte, 2 Vols., Stuttgart, 1841 & 1842 – Handbook of art history. • Kleine Schriften und Studien zur Kunstgeschichte, 1853 – Smaller works and studies of art history. • Geschichte der Baukunst, 1856 – History of architecture. Works by Franz Kugler that have been published in English • "A hand-book of the history of painting: from the age of Constantine the Great to the present time", London: J. Murray, 1842-1846. (2 volumes). • "History of Frederick the Great", London: G. Virtue, 1844. • "Handbook of painting: the German, Flemish, Dutch, Spanish, and French schools" London: John Murray, 1854. 2 volumes (translated by Margaret Hutton). • "Handbook of painting: the Italian schools. Based on the Handbook of Kugler". London, J. Murray, 1874 (4th edition). • "Life of Frederick the Great, comprehending complete history of the Silesian campaigns and the seven years' war", New York, The Perkins Book Company, 1902 (an introduction by G. Mercer Adam).
Documentary record
The birthplace of Franz Theodor Kugler is recorded as Stettin (Pologne) by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, as Szczecin by the Getty Union List of Artist Names and as Stettin by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. The death is recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1808–1858
The full dated record · 3 entries
1808
Franz Theodor Kugler born at Szczecin.
1847
D. Franz Kugler's Handbuch der Geschichte der Malerei seit Constantin dem Grossen (1847) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1858
Franz Theodor Kugler died at Berlin.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Franz Theodor Kugler, revision 1372554177 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.ADB 28 807 807 Berichtigung Gottfried von Bülow ADB:Kugler, Franz
- 2.Petra Wilhelmy: Der Berliner Salon. S. 704 f.
- 3.Walter Rehm: Jakob Burckhardt und Franz Kugler. In: Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde, 1942, Band 41, S. 155–252; doi:10.5169/seals-115350
- 4.Eadmund Head: A Hand-Book of the History of the Spanish and French Schools of Painting – Intended as a Sequel to “Kugler’s Hand-Books of the Italian, German and Dutch Schools of Painting”. London 1848 (books.google.de).
- 5.Der Tunnel, seine Mitglieder und seine Einrichtungen. In: Theodor Fontane: Von Zwanzig bis Dreißig. Der Tunnel über der Spree. 1. Kapitel;
- 6.Günther Binding: Was ist Gotik? Eine Analyse der gotischen Kirchen in Frankreich, England und Deutschland 1140–1350. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2000, S. 24.
- 7.Joachim Petsch: Eigenheim und gute Stube. Zur Geschichte des bürgerlichen Wohnens. Köln 1989, S. 72.
- 8.Die Pommersche Zeitung. Nr. 3/2008, S. 4.
- 9.04. 1141. Kuglerstrasse-10439-Berlin. Kuglerstraße.
- 10.Académicien décédé: Franz Theodor Kugler.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q64509: Franz Theodor KuglerWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Paintings
19,456 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Franz Seraph StirnbrandArtist
- Franz SkarbinaArtist
- Franz SteinfeldArtist
- Franz StreittArtist
- Franz ThieleArtist
- Franz VinckArtist
- Franz Werner TammArtist
- Franz WidnmannArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Franz Theodor Kugler?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.