Arnold Wolff

Arnold Wolff in the roof structure of Cologne Cathedral on October 18, 2003

Arnold Wolff (born July 26, 1932 in Wevelinghoven , Grevenbroich district ; † December 24, 2019 in Cologne ) was a German architect . From 1972 to 1998 he was Cologne's master builder and head of the cathedral construction works of the High Cathedral in Cologne . From 1986 to 1997 he was professor for restoration and conservation at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences .

Life

Arnold Wolff, son of a teacher couple, grew up with four younger siblings in Kapellen / Erft . Already in his childhood and youth he was interested in historical buildings. He attended grammar school in Neuss from 1942 to 1954, initially with interruptions due to the war . After a semester of teaching at the Pedagogical Academy in Cologne, Wolff studied architecture at RWTH Aachen University from November 1954 , where he graduated with a diploma in autumn 1961.

At the RWTH, the Cologne cathedral builder Willy Weyres , who had a teaching position in Aachen, became aware of the student Wolff. As early as the late 1950s and early 1960s he was doing work for Cologne Cathedral (recording of the Epiphany shrine on a scale of 1: 1) before Willy Weyres finally hired him in May 1962 as an architect in the Cologne cathedral building administration . In 1968 Wolff received his doctorate from RWTH Aachen University with a dissertation on the first construction period of the Gothic cathedral. With this work he set new standards in the field of medieval architectural archeology, its essential results are still up-to-date today and the basis of any architectural history study of Cologne Cathedral.

In 1972 he succeeded his teacher Weyres in the office of master builder in Cologne , which he held until the anniversary year 1998. During these years, not only was the cathedral archives reorganized, but also the Cologne cathedral building and the in-house “Cologne Cathedral Publishing House” founded. In addition to the immense restoration and maintenance work on the cathedral, a new appreciation of the artistic achievement of the 19th century took place under his direction. This primarily concerns the reinstallation of the large west window by Carl Julius Milde , which was created between 1865 and 1870 and expanded and yet damaged during the Second World War.

In 1986 the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia appointed him professor. He taught at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences in the field of restoration and conservation. Arnold Wolff also worked as an author and editor for the scientific research and popularity of Cologne Cathedral.

Wolff was married to Gerta Ramjoue (1935–2018), author of the multiple published city and museum guide The Roman-Germanic Cologne (1981). The marriage resulted in three daughters and one son.

On the occasion of his 70th birthday, the Dombauhütte honored Wolff in 2002 by giving a gargoyle on Cologne Cathedral the shape of a wolf carrying a bow tie and holding a wolf - three allusions to Arnold Wolff.

Arnold Wolff died on Christmas Eve 2019 and was buried on January 11, 2020 at the Melaten Central Cemetery in Cologne .

Awards

• 1998: Cologne Culture Prize
• 1998: Commander of the Papal Order of Knights of St. Gregory the Great
• 2004: Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
• 2012: Honorary membership of the Koldewey Society

Fonts (selection)

• Chronology of the first construction period of Cologne Cathedral 1248–1277. Dissertation , Kölner Domblatt , Vol. 28/29 (1968) pp. 7-230, DNB 482426608 .
• The Cologne Cathedral. Edited and supplemented by Barbara Schock-Werner . Greven, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-7743-0658-5 .
• The choir mosaic in Cologne Cathedral (= masterpieces of Cologne Cathedral, Volume 11). Verlag Kölner Dom, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-922442-74-5 , (also in English: ISBN 978-3-922442-75-2 ).
• Arnold Wolff (Ed.): Sulpiz Boisserée . The correspondence with Moller , Schinkel and Zwirner . Verlag Kölner Dom, Greven, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-7743-0405-5 .

See also

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

literature

• Barbara Schock-Werner : Farewell to cathedral builder Prof. Dr. Arnold Wolff. In: Kölner Domblatt , 64, 1999, pp. 290–294.
• Clemens Hillebrand : Cathedral sketches. Introduction and comments on the pictures by Arnold Wolff . Verlag Ferger, Bergisch Gladbach 1998, ISBN 3-931219-05-4 , illustrated book.

Web links

• Literature by and about Arnold Wolff in the catalog of the German National Library
• Maria Schmitz, Ulrike Lillge: On the 750th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral: Interview with master builder Prof. Dr. Arnold Wolff. In: Ibykus March 64 , 1998 . 
• Former cathedral builder Arnold Wolff turns 70. In: ksta.de . July 24, 2002. 
• Matthias Deml: 80th birthday of cathedral builder Arnold Wolff. In: Dombauhütte Cologne. July 25, 2012 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [ https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/kunst/zum-tod-des-koelner-dombaumeisters-arnold-wolff-16557503.amp.html Frankfurter Allgemeine Kunst from December 29, 2019: On the death of Arnold Wolff. Cologne's first servant of the cathedral, by Andreas Rossmann], accessed on December 30, 2019
2. ↑ ^{a b} Martin Mölder: Former cathedral builder Arnold Wolff is dead: "A little man who was fully committed to the cathedral". In: Domradio.de . December 28, 2019, accessed on December 28, 2019 (Interview with Barbara Schock-Werner , his successor). 
3. ↑ Metropolitan chapter of the High Cathedral in Cologne: Obituary Arnold Wolff , FAZ from January 4, 2020
4. ↑ ^{a b} In: Koken Nomura: 36 views of Cologne Cathedral. Edition Rosenbaum, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-9809262-0-6 .
5. ^ ^{A b} Arnold Wolff: curriculum vitae . In: same: Chronology of the first construction period of the Cologne Cathedral 1248-1277. RWTH Aachen University, dissertation 1968. Reprint from: Kölner Domblatt 28th and 29th episode, 1968. JP Bachem, Cologne 1968, OCLC 74076478 .
6. ^ ^{A b} Paul Behrens : Master Arnold the Second: Arnold Wolff has been master builder in Cologne for 25 years. In: The time . August 1, 1997, accessed December 28, 2019 . 
7. ^ ^{A b} Matthias Deml: 80th birthday of cathedral builder Arnold Wolff. In: Dombauhütte Cologne. July 25, 2012, accessed December 28, 2019 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b c} biography Arnold Wolff. In: Who's Who . Retrieved January 29, 2017 . 
9. ^ Tomb in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved May 11, 2020.
10. ↑ AAS 91, 1999, p. 1016.