Researching Johann Meyer

He studied law at the University of Göttingen and attended lectures on philosophy and natural sciences at Leipzig University. In 1799 he became a trainee at the Reichskammergericht in Wetzlar, and in 1807 was appointed to the Stadtgerichtsrat (city court council) in Frankfurt. On three separate occasions he served as alteren bürgermeister (senior mayor), and from 1837 was a representative of the four Freien Städte (Free Cities) to the German Bundestag.

In 1816 he founded the Frankfurt Bible Society.

In his 21st year, he went to Düsseldorf and began his studies at the Academy of Art there, which was led by Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow, the son of sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. In 1841, Meyer opened a studio of his own, but moved to Berlin as his fame increased (1853). While scenes from the Bible were first the subjects of his brush, he later turned his attention to incidents from popular life, especially among the Hessian peasantry, and finally to the portrayal of family life in its pathetic aspect. Such pictures as ‘The Jubilee of a Hessian Pastor’ (1843), ‘Christmas Eve,’ ‘Blindman's Buff,’ ‘The Soldier's Return,’ ‘The Inundation’ (1846), ‘The Repentant Daughter’ (1852, in the gallery at Bremen), are full of intense sympathy with the “simple annals of the poor.” After taking up his residence at Berlin, he chose especially scenes from child life, which he rendered with spirited humor. Among his pictures of this kind are: 'The Little Flower Girl(1853)', ‘The Fairy Tale,’ ‘Children Playing Blindman's Buff,’ ‘Grandfather and Grandchild,’ and others. A third group of his pictures includes those of young women, as single figures or in groups, such as ‘The Tryst’ and ‘The Love Letter.’ An example of his work, ‘The Letter’ (1873), is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Meyer trained at the Royal Gardening School in Potsdam under Peter Joseph Lenné and others. He worked on the planning of gardens, landscape photography and designed several gardens around Potsdam on orders from Frederick William IV. The style of gardening is called the Lenné Meyer school and used both geometric forms and free-form styles. He was appointed as court gardener in 1859. On July 1, 1870 he was appointed garden director of Berlin. His work included the design of Treptower Park and Humboldthain in which he used Humboldt's idea of using vegetation from different parts of the world.

He died in 1877 and is buried at Saarmunderstraße, now Heinrich-Mann-Allee 25, in Potsdam. He was succeeded by Hermann Mächtig (1837-1909). Gustav-Meyer-Allee and Gustav-Meyer-Straße (Zehlendorf) are named after him.