Anton Strauss

Anton Strauss (born June 12, 1828 in Cologne , † July 1, 1888 in Cologne) was the first city gardener and garden director employed by the city in local self-government.

Life

Anton Strauss completed his apprenticeship in Cologne under Jakob Greiß in the old botanical garden there . After his teacher Greiß fell ill frequently in the last years of his life, Strauss, now senior assistant, temporarily took over the management of the garden. After the death of Jakob Greiß in 1853, the council decided in May 1854 to appoint Anton Strauss as the new gardening director. Strauss received an official apartment in the Stadtgarten and an annual salary of 540 thalers plus an allowance of 60 thalers. Since Strauss did not have any additional teaching activities like his predecessor, his salaries were considerably lower. Anton Strauss took over the part for the horticultural design of the first 10 sections of the ring roads (1885) under Josef Stübben in the construction of the Cologne rings . As garden director, Strauss was under the supervision of the churchyards and the museum (first Wallrafianum, later Wallraf-Richartz-Museum). He was in charge of the "Eigelstein Glacis" and the "Rheinau". In 1854 the city planning department was divided into two areas, with Julius Raschdorff being appointed second city architect. He was responsible for all building construction work and the civil engineering work now went to the Stadtbauamt II under the direction of town builder Bernhard Wilhelm Harperath (deceased in 1864). A good collaboration developed between Strauss and Harperath, who is now also responsible for the gardens.

Act

Anton Strauss - grave in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne

Gardens, avenues and squares were created or redesigned under Anton Strauss. Drafts for many facilities bear his signature, such as the plans for the redesign of the Melaten cemetery (1854), the plans for the planting of the Lichhof square (near St. Maria im Kapitol ) (1854), the Appellhofplatz (1855), the park of the Rheinau (Werthchen 1855), the Stadtgarten (redesign in 1858), the Minoritenplatz (1863), the design for the Augustinerplatz (1879), the design for the redesign of the area around the cathedral (1887), the Eigelstein Glacis, the Zoological Garden and the Friesenplatz. Furthermore, the avenue between the “Holztor” and the “Bayentor”, traces of which is still referred to today on the Malakow Tower , as well as tree planting on the Hansa and Habsburgerring and gardens on the Hohenstaufenring was created under Strauss .

Since the subsequent incorporation in the 1880s brought with them an immense increase in tasks, the city appointed Anton Strauss with another gardening director in 1887. Adolf Kowallek , who had been a gardening inspector in Nuremberg until then , could only be briefly trained by Anton Strauss, and Strauss died in office in 1888. His grave is in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne (hall 37).

literature

• Joachim Bauer / Carmen Kohls: "Cologne under French and Prussian rule", in: Werner Adams / Joachim Bauer (eds.): "From the Botanical Garden to the Urban Green - 200 Years of Cologne Green" (City Traces - Monuments in Cologne, Volume 30) Bachem Verlag, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-7616-1460-8

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Joachim Bauer / Carmen Kohls: "Cologne under French and Prussian rule", in: "Municipal self-administration in the adolescent big city", p. 32 ff.
2. ↑ Joachim Bauer, p. 34 f