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Karl Feininger

German-American musician (1844-1922)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ16031731
Source-derived summary

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Feininger (born in Durlach, Grand Duchy of Baden, 31 July 1844; died in New York City, 31 January 1922) was a German–American musician.

Biography

Feininger came to the United States with his parents in 1853. They settled in Columbia, South Carolina. Feininger was educated in St. Mary's College there. He displayed a talent for music, and was placed with August Koepper for instruction. He made his debut at 14, playing the violin part of a Beethoven trio (Op. 70, No. 2). Afterward, he studied music in the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany where he studied with Ferdinand David.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Karl Feininger” as german-American musician (1844-1922). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Karl, Feininger and German-American.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1844, 1922, 1853—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1844-07-31. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Karl, Feininger and German-American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Karl Feininger”, the useful work is to connect “german-American musician (1844-1922)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16031731. VIAF identifies the subject as 299814264. The Library of Congress control number is no2013039636. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1844, 1922 and 1853.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Karl Feininger”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Karl Feininger primary sources, Karl Feininger archive and Karl research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Karl Feininger”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Karl Feininger” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.