Constantin Lipsius

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Constantin Lipsius, ca.1890
Design for the Lipsius building, approx. 1887
The "lemon squeezer"
Grave of Constantin Lipsius in the Trinitatisfriedhof in Dresden

Constantin Lipsius (born October 20, 1832 in Leipzig , † April 11, 1894 in Dresden ; full name: Johann Wilhelm Constantin Lipsius ) was a Saxon architect and architectural theorist of historicism . He was the planner of the Lipsius Building , the former art academy and art exhibition building on the Brühlsche Terrasse in Dresden (1883–1894), in which the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts is now based.

Life

Stele Constantin Lipsius in Dresden

Lipsius was born in Leipzig in 1832 as the son of Karl Heinrich Adelbert Lipsius (1805–1861), who later became the rector of the Thomas School . After high school, Lipsius first studied at the building trade school in Dresden, then at the construction studio of the Dresden Art Academy under Hermann Nicolai , Gottfried Semper's successor . He then went on a trip to Italy , during which he was particularly enthusiastic about the buildings in Venice . He then stayed in Paris and worked briefly for Jakob Ignaz Hittorff . Here he also dealt with the work of Henri Labrouste , Charles Garnier and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc ; the influence of French architecture is visible in his later work.

In the early 1860s , Lipsius took part in a number of regional and national architectural competitions. At the same time, he expanded his knowledge in the construction of houses and restorations. His competition entry for the construction of the Dresden Art Academy in 1866 already shows details that he was to take up again in his final design around 20 years later. His award-winning design for the new Johannis Hospital in Leipzig earned Lipsius the title of Royal Building Councilor. In 1874 Lipsius was appointed president of the newly founded "Association of Leipzig Architects" and took over the management of the building trade school. In 1877 he began the restoration of the St. Thomas Church , which lasted until 1889. Today it is considered the most important achievement of its kind in Saxony .

In the late 1870s , Lipsius began working with August Hartel . They designed the St. Peter's Church in Leipzig and the St. John's Church in Gera and in 1882 participated with a design in the second competition for the construction of the German Reichstag .

When Hermann Nicolai died in 1881, Lipsius was appointed professor of architecture at the Dresden Art Academy. Shortly afterwards, he was commissioned to rebuild the entire academy complex, which, in the press of the time, quickly became a controversial project. The reason for the argument was that the building was deemed too big for the construction site. In addition, many contemporaries saw it as an inadequate imitation of the Dresden neo-Renaissance buildings by Semper and Nicolai.

The fact that the contract had also been awarded without a public invitation to tender caused Lipsius considerable resentment. Opinions about the construction are divided to this day. The unusual glass dome was popularly known as the " lemon squeezer "; nevertheless, the building undoubtedly represents the most progressive architectural theory of the first half of the 1880s in Europe. At that time it represented a conservative approach to the architectural language of Gottfried Semper , as can be found in the decorative execution of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna . At the same time, Lipsius turned to architectural symbolism as a stylistic renewal. Against this background, the bizarre glass dome becomes a model for unrepresentative architecture. This concept, which Lipsius expressly refers to the theories of Gottfried Semper, reflects the first phase of architectural realism. Shortly after the completion of the academy complex, it appeared as a grotesque, much too ornamental monster; architectural realism had already advanced and had taken on much sharper contours in Otto Wagner's theoretical work . The public rejection of his main work embittered Lipsius until the end of his life.

In the 1880s, Lipsius became the strongest proponent of realism; This took away the importance of the slavish imitation of historical standard forms, reconsidered the original symbolic power of the structural forms and tried to revive contemporary architecture. Architectural realists in Germany, Austria , France and Switzerland hoped that a renewal of style would develop organically. This theory became the starting point of early modernism and led via Art Nouveau to later developments in the 20th century.

After his death, Paul Wallot , the architect of the Berlin Reichstag, succeeded Lipsius as a professor. Constantin Lipsius was buried in the Trinity cemetery in Dresden.

In the Dresden district of Altstadt II , a street was named after him and a stele was erected in his honor at the corner of Lipsiusstraße and Stübelallee.

buildings

Fabrice mausoleum
Peterskirche in Leipzig (1898)
Pedestal of the Golden Rider in Dresden

Private buildings

  • House for the publishing bookseller Ernst Keil in Leipzig, Südostvorstadt, Königstrasse (today: Goldschmidtstrasse) (1860–1861)
  • Frege house in Leipzig, Ostvorstadt, Dörrienstraße (not dated)
  • Kleinzschocher Palace for Christian Bernhard Freiherr von Tauchnitz in Kleinzschocher near Leipzig, Windorfer Strasse (1865)
  • Wetzelstein Castle for Arnold Woldemar Freiherr von Frege in Saalfeld (1878–1880)
  • "Mirror Hall" of the Schützenhaus in Leipzig (1876)
  • Restaurant Baarmann in Leipzig, Katharinenstrasse (not dated)
  • Conversion of the "Café Français" (since 1914 " Café Felsche ") in Leipzig, Augustusplatz (not dated)
  • Mausoleum in the form of a pyramid for the landowner and donor Hedwig Freiin von Eberstein in Schönefeld near Leipzig (1883)
  • Chapel for the Frege family in Abtnaundorf near Leipzig (1888–1889)
  • Mausoleum for the Saxon War Minister Count Alfred von Fabrice in Dresden, Antonstadt (1891-1893)

Public buildings

  • New Johannishospital in Leipzig, Ostvorstadt, Hospitalstrasse (today: Prager Strasse) (1867–1872)
  • Stock exchange in Chemnitz , Beckerplatz (1864–1867; canceled 1922)
  • Equipment of the exhibition hall for the arts and crafts exhibition, Leipzig (1879)
  • Art academy and exhibition building (today Lipsius-Bau ) in Dresden (1883–1894)

Churches

Restorations

Competitions

  • New Town Hall in Munich (1866)
  • Art Academy in Dresden (1867) (Motto: "DKJK")
  • 1st competition for the building of the Reichstag in Berlin (1872)
  • St. Gertrud Church in Hamburg (1880)
  • 2nd competition for the building of the Reichstag in Berlin (1882) (motto: "That's it")

Miscellanea

literature

  • Hermann Arthur Lier:  Lipsius, Constantin . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 52, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1906, pp. 5-7.
  • Karl Emil Otto Fritsch : The stock exchange in Chemnitz. Invented by Constantin Lipsius, architect in Leipzig. In: Deutsche Bauzeitung , 5th year 1871, p. 370 + panels.
  • Bernhard Kühn: Speech at the royal funeral. Baurates and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Johann Wilhelm Constantin Lipsius in Dresden. Leipzig 1894.
  • Karl Emil Otto Fritsch: In memory of Constantin Lipsius. In: Deutsche Bauzeitung , Volume 29, 1895, pp. 181–203.
  • Fritz Schumacher : Movements in German architecture since 1800. Leipzig 1935. / as reprint : Vieweg, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 1982, ISBN 3-528-08686-6 , p. 75.
  • Fritz Löffler : The old Dresden. 8th edition, Leipzig 1983, ISBN 3-86502-000-3 , p. 389.
  • Wolfgang Rother: The art temple on the Brühl terrace. Constantin Lipsius' academy and exhibition building in Dresden. Dresden / Basel 1994, ISBN 3-364-00292-4 .
  • Volker Helas : Sempers Dresden. The buildings and the students. Dresden 2003, ISBN 3-930382-95-4 , p. 38, p. 42, p. 49-51, p. 71.
  • J. Duncan Berry: Stone bell against lemon squeezer. Lipsius' iconology of the dome. In: Gilbert Lupfer u. a. (Ed.): The view of Dresden. The Frauenkirche and the emergence of the Dresden city silhouette. Dresden 2005, ISBN 3-422-06576-8 , pp. 16-19.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Art Academy on elbtal.com ( Memento from January 22, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  2. ↑ New Gothic in FAZ of August 29, 2016, page 12

Web links

Commons : Constantin Lipsius  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Lipsius, Constantine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lipsius, Constantin Wilhelm Constantin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect and architectural theorist of historicism
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH April 11, 1894
Place of death Dresden