Förster, FRIEDRICH CHRISTOPH, poet and historian, born near Kamburg, in Saxe-Meiningen, on 24th September 1791, devoted himself at first to the study of archaeology and the history of art, but on the outbreak of the war of liberation joined the Lützow sharpshooters along with young Theodor Körner, and, like him, wrote fiery war-songs, stirring up his countrymen against the French. After his return to Berlin he taught for a while in the school of artillery and engineering, but was dismissed for writing a work criticising the Prussian constitution. In 1829, however, he was appointed a custodian of the Royal Art Museum at Berlin, where he died on 8th November 1868. He wrote several popular historical works, dealing chiefly with the war of liberation and the history of Prussia, including a collection of biographical sketches entitled Preussens Helden im Krieg und Frieden; and, besides these, three works on Wallenstein; a History of Frederick William I. (3 vols. 1835); Urkundenbuch (new ed. 2 vols. 1839); and Die Höfe und Kabinette Europas im 18. Jahrhundert (3 vols. 1836-39). His Gedichte appeared in 2 vols. 1838.
His brother ERNST, painter and writer, was born 8th April 1800. His passion for art was first awakened by Cornelius, under whose direction he executed various fresco pieces in Bonn and
Munich, from 1823 to 1825. An expedition to Italy for the purpose of making drawings from the old masters bore fruit in Contributions to the History of Modern Art (1836). From this time he abandoned painting and devoted himself almost exclusively to investigations bearing upon the history of art, his principal books being Letters on Painting (1838); History of German Art (5 vols. 1851-60); Monuments of German Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting (12 vols. 1853-69); Introduction to the History of Art (1862); biographies of Fra Angelico (1859), J. G. Müller (1851), Raphael (1867-68), and Cornelius (1874), and a translation, in conjunction with Schorn, of Vasari's Lives of the Painters. At the time of his death, on 29th April 1885 at Munich, Förster left two large works unfinished, a History of Italian Art (5 vols. 1869-78), and Monuments of Italian Painting (4 vols. 1870-82). He also edited the posthumous works of his father-in-law, Jean Paul (1836-38), and wrote several biographical works relating to the great humorist, the chief being the last five volumes of Wahrheit aus Jean Pauls Leben (1827-33).