Richard Voigtel

Richard Voigtel

Richard Voigtel (full name Karl Eduard Richard Voigtel ; born May 31, 1829 in Magdeburg , † September 28, 1902 in Cologne ) was a German architect and Cologne cathedral builder , under his direction the Cologne Cathedral was completed.

After attending the Domgymnasium Magdeburg and completing the surveyor's examination in 1848, Voigtel studied architecture and engineering at the royal building academy in Berlin from 1849 to 1851 . In 1851 he undertook an “art trip” to Paris with a grant from the Ministry of Commerce, then he worked as a construction manager under Friedrich Hitzig in Berlin. In 1853 he was transferred to Cologne. In 1855 he was taken over by the Cologne cathedral builder Ernst Friedrich Zwirner as deputy cathedral builder, after Zwirner's death in 1861 Voigtel was his successor. After the fire in Frankfurt Cathedral in 1867, Voigtel was one of the experts who prepared an expert report on the damage to the structure. This event was a further impetus for Voigtel to replace the old wooden roof structure of the Cologne cathedral choir with an iron structure.

Grave in the Melaten cemetery

The cast-iron roof structure of the Cologne Cathedral had already been installed in 1860 by Ernst Friedrich Zwirner against the resistance of conservative forces in Cologne with reference to its advantages in terms of increased fire safety and improved statics on the nave and transept. Zwirner also provided the designs for the cast iron substructure of the cathedral's crossing ridge. In 1867 Voigtel introduced a steam engine to drive the winches to lift the material of the towers, thereby accelerating construction, without which the completion of the towering towers would not have been possible by 1880.

Voigtel continued to have the choir roof, which was still made of wood, replaced by a cast iron chair only after the actual completion of the cathedral in 1880, following the example of the Zwirner roof structure. The aisles were also given uniform roof structures made of this refractory material.

Together with the sculptor Peter Fuchs , Voigtel created the Petrusbrunnen south of the cathedral choir in 1870.

After the completion of Cologne Cathedral in 1880, Voigtel was appointed Privy Councilor and remained in Cologne as master builder. As recently as 1902, Voigtel was of the opinion that Cologne Cathedral would not need restoration for the next 100 years.

Voigtel died in 1902 at the age of 73. His grave is located in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne (hall 77).

Voigtelstraße in Cologne-Braunsfeld is named after him.

See also

Portal: Cologne Cathedral  - Overview of Wikipedia content on the subject of Cologne Cathedral

literature

• Friedrich Carl Heimann : Karl Eduard Richard Voigtel † . In: Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung. Volume 22, No. 80, October 8, 1902, pp. 489–490 ( digitized version ).
• On the 50th anniversary of the death of the cathedral builder Richard Voigtel. In: Kölner Domblatt 6/7, 1952, pp. 133-134.
• Herbert Rode: The career of the cathedral builder Richard Voigtel . In: Kölner Domblatt 21/22, 1963, pp. 157–158.

Web links

• Entries on Richard Voigtel in the German Digital Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Thomas Schumacher: Large construction site Cologne Cathedral . Verlag Kölner Dom, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-922442-20-X , p. 603-635 .
2. ^ Josef Abt, Johann Ralf Beines, Celia Körber-Leupold: Melaten - Cologne graves and history. Greven, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-7743-0305-3 , p. 102 .