Johann Ulrich Kraus
and the Würzburg Council Calendar of 1696

On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of his death, the studio exhibition dedicated to him offers the opportunity to take a closer look at a prestigious Würzburg commission for Kraus: the Würzburg Council Calendar of 1696. Kraus produced the three printing plates for the more than 130 cm high council calendar, which was intended to represent the city council's self-image both internally and externally. It was used for a good thirty years from 1696, with only the typographically designed calendar being added each year.

Two of the original copper plates of the council calendar are preserved in the Museum für Franken and form the centerpiece of the exhibition. The only known complete original copy of the council calendar was stolen from the Würzburg Bürgerspital in 1962; there is no trace of it. However, fragments of another copy are shown in the exhibition.

In addition, there are numerous examples of Kraus' extensive production, which demonstrate his thematic versatility as a creator of broadsheets, graphic series and book illustrations. These include portraits, cityscapes, biblical and Ovidian scenes, fables and ornaments.

Kraus was particularly important as a mediator of the current stylistic trends at the court of the French Sun King to Central Europe and as a political propagandist for the Habsburg imperial family and its supporters. These achievements make him one of the most important protagonists of international cultural transfer around 1700.