The Trakehner Förderverein is participating in the major art exhibition of the three Aachen museums—the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, the Centre Charlemagne, and the Ludwig Forum Aachen—from mid-May to the end of August 2026 on the theme of “The Horse in Art.” It will contribute historically significant Trakehner paintings: NEDJED ox (c. 1880) by Carl Steffeck (1818–1890) and the painting of the Trakehner chestnut mare INWENDIGE (c. 1917) by Georg Koch (1857–1931). On the occasion of this year’s CHIO and the World Equestrian Games, the three museums will showcase the horse in art from May 17 to August 23, featuring over 130 works from the last five centuries.

These two historically significant Trakehner paintings by academic painters of the Prussian Academy of Arts, Carl Steffeck and Georg Koch—which the Trakehner Förderverein was able to secure and restore with the help of many donors and sponsors and can now show to a broad and interested public—join major internationally significant works by Albrecht Dürer, Philips Wouwerman, Peter Paul Rubens, Francisco de Goya, and Max Liebermann on the subject of horses, to name just a few of the artists exhibited in this unique art show.

The two historically significant Trakehner paintings are a contribution by the Trakehner Förderverein to the major art exhibition “The Happiness of This Earth. Dürer, Rubens, Goya: Horses in Art” at the renowned Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen. The request for these two special paintings by the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum for this exhibition shows that the Trakehner paintings discovered, secured, and restored by the Trakehner Förderverein are not only of great significance for breeding history but also represent a special value in terms of art history.

The historically outstanding painting of the Trakehner foundation sire NEDJED ox, painted by Carl Steffeck around 1870, formerly belonged to the large painting collection of the Trakehnen Main Stud and was located in the Landstallmeister’s house in Trakehnen. This painting was acquired in Eastern Europe in late autumn 2018 with the very effective support of Erhard Schulte.

Nedjed ox originated from the desert and came to London via Madras. He was acquired here by Landstallmeister v. Burgsdorff, arguably the greatest of Trakehnen’s Landstallmeisters, during an official trip in 1826. From 1827 to 1838, he was used as a foundation sire at the Trakehnen Main Stud. The “Trakehnen Foundation Sire Book” (Jürgen von Henninges/1985) lists 26 daughters integrated into the Trakehnen herds and 40 sire sons, including seven foundation sires. NEDJED ox had a lasting influence on the breeding of the Main Stud in the mid-19th century. Carl Steffeck painted this foundation sire around 1870 on behalf of the Prussian Stud Administration, based on contemporary templates and reports.

The second painting exhibited in Aachen, featuring the Main Stud mare INWENDIGE (born 1906 by Polarsturm out of Intrigante by Greif xx), was painted around 1917 by Georg Koch, a student of Carl Steffeck, in the mixed-color herd of the Main Stud. Around 1917, Georg Koch portrayed the mixed-color herd at the Trakehnen Main Stud several times on behalf of the Prussian Stud Administration, immortalizing them in his paintings. This painting was located through a private tip from a family in West Germany who had acquired it at an art auction about 50 years ago as a representative wall decoration for their home.

Thus, it is always special circumstances that bring to light historically significant Trakehner cultural assets that were thought to be lost in the turmoil of the World War. Since each of these historically significant Trakehner cultural assets has its own story, we intend to report on these stories in detail in the following issues of DER TRAKEHNER.

Securing historically significant Trakehner cultural assets is an important objective of the Trakehner Förderverein. The Trakehner Förderverein supports the indexing and securing of original Trakehner documents and artworks of historical significance, such as sculptures and paintings with Trakehner motifs, original documents from the Trakehnen Main Stud and renowned East Prussian private studs, as well as historically significant Trakehner book projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We need your support in finding historically significant cultural assets related to Trakehner breeding history.

Please feel free to contact us regarding this! (Contact: www.trakehnerfoerderverein.de)

Dr. Martin Mehrtens for the Trakehner Förderverein