Martin Joseph von Reider (1793-1862)

Martin Joseph von Reider was the son of Elias Adam von Reider, an eminent Bavarian lawyer and professor of law in Bamberg. Martin was born in 1793 and early on developed an interest in art, especially drawing and architecture. In 1824 he became a teacher at the Academy of Drawing in Bamberg, where he remained for 36 years, and he additionally taught in the city’s vocational and craft schools.

Reider dedicated his free time to the study of the history of Franconia and of the town of Bamberg, and in support of this he built a large collection of various objects including coins, manuscripts, old books and documents as well as carpets, embroidery, ivories and other carvings. In 1859, this collection was acquired by the Bavarian National Museum in Munich in exchange for a life pension of 1525 florins – Bamberg having already declined the offer. Reider followed his collection to Munich, where he died of a heart attack in 1862.