Nachgeahmt, gefaked oder gefälscht?

Abstract

A science drama from the years 1725/26: A collector of fossils—Johann Beringer, professor in Würzburg—is reputed to have been the victim of a plot by his colleagues who provided him with fanciful, man-made “fossils” which Beringer proudly presented to the public. It was only several months later that the fake was discovered. Re-reading the sources and considering the time and effort to produce the so-called “Lie Stones”, however, it seems likely that Beringer himself was the forger. This article reconstructs Beringer’s neo-platonic idea of nature on the basis of this assumption. It shows how he was guided by a conception of a divine nature that imitated the prototypes created in pre-historical times. Within this theoretical framework of models and imitations, concepts of “original”, “imitation” and “forgery” were insubstantial.