Dezember 2024: Konráð Maurer - a 19th century playboy turned mastermind?

Konrad Maurer’s engagement for the Icelandic national cause generated a reputation that can be observed resonating up to the present day. There is a bust of Maurer sculpted by Joseph Echteler in 1888, that watches diligent students in the Handritasafn reading room of the National Library of Iceland. And at Alter Südfriedhof in Munich, basalt gravestones donated by Ferðafélag Íslands in 1998 praise Maurer as the ‘velgjörðarmaður Íslands’, the benefactor of Iceland.

Another rather curious – or surprising – example is to be found in the depths of Þjóðskjalasafn, the National Archives of Iceland. Stumbling upon a collection of Tryggvi Gunnarssons correspondence, one finds not only letters by the legal historian Konrad Maurer, but also letters by a Konráð Maurer. Further inspections of the National Archives reveal the legal documents of two proceedings against this so called Konráð Maurer, a salesman married to Ragnheiður Simonardóttir.

So, could this have been the same Konrad Maurer that lived in Munich most of his adult life, just with an "icelandicised" name? Considering the rarity of a name like Konrad Maurer in Iceland at the time as well as the missing patronym in the Þjóðskjalasafn material, one might question whether Konrad Maurer somehow managed to lead a double life despite all the obstacles presented by 19th-century transportational infrastructure. Going back and forth between Iceland and Germany (including a 10-day sea voyage) and keeping up the facade of not one, but two family lives, would have been an achievement almost as remarkable as Maurer’s academic legacy.

Checking the website islendingabok.is, however quickly destroys this image of Konrad/Konráð Maurer, the skilled 19th century playboy – it rather seems that Maurer made such an impression that not just one, but two children were named after him: Konráð Maurer Hákonarson (1877–1877) and Konráð Maurer Ólafsson (1862–1897). And before you ask – no, their birth years are too far from his only known visit to Iceland in 1858 for him to have fathered two illegitimate sons. It might therefore relieve the reader to hear that neither Valérie Maurer nor Ragnheiður Simonardóttir were cheated on in an elaborate scheme, but that Maurer’s resonance spans wider than hitherto thought.

For further insights into Maurer’s wide-spanning social network, the resonance of his œuvre and its connection to the Freistaat, you can check out my project description and stay tuned for updates and publications.

Many thanks to Þjóðskjalasafn for providing me with letters and legal transcripts, as well as to Lea Pokorny.