Ernst Friedrich Zwirner

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ernst Friedrich Zwirner
Ernst Friedrich Zwirner
Arenfels Castle
Apollinaris Church in Remagen, March 2007
Herdringen Castle
Moyland Castle
Tomb in the Melaten cemetery

Ernst Friedrich Zwirner (born  February 28, 1802 in Jakobswalde , district of Cosel ( Upper Silesia ), †  September 22, 1861 in Cologne ) was a German architect and master builder of Cologne's cathedral.

Life

Zwirner attended the building school in Breslau until 1821 , then the royal building academy and the University of Berlin until 1828 . Soon afterwards he joined the royal building deputation as a student of Karl Friedrich Schinkel as an unskilled worker in Berlin . In 1830, when Schinkel was appointed head of the senior construction department, Zwirner passed the agricultural master's examination. With this formal qualification he was employed by Schinkel in the Oberbaudeputation. Between 1829 and 1831, Zwirner built the town hall in Kolberg according to Schinkel's design and the reformed church completed in 1834 according to his own plan.

On August 14, 1833 - after the death of his predecessor Friedrich Adolf Ahlert - he took over the construction work on Cologne Cathedral as master builder . The state building administration in Berlin had designated him for this position. As a Protestant, he initially feared encountering local concerns.

Thanks to his leadership, the cathedral building quickly took off again. His particular merit is the organization of the construction works of the cathedral, from which many younger builders who are thoroughly familiar with the basic rules of the Gothic emerged. In 1841, after completion of the restoration work, Zwirner submitted the plans for the completion of the cathedral to King Friedrich Wilhelm IV , which he accepted. With his book Past and Future of the Cologne Cathedral , published in 1842, he inspired not only King Wilhelm, but all of Germany for the completion of the cathedral. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia calls Zwirner “one of the finest experts on the medieval style”; Nevertheless, she complained that when he was working on the cathedral, the "monotony of the design" became visible.

Under Zwirner's direction, the transept with its two facades, then the upper aisle of the nave were built and vaulted until 1855, the substructure of the north tower began and the cast-iron crossing roof turret was completed in 1860. Zwirner did not live to see the actual completion of the church interior in 1863, when the separating wall to the high choir was removed.

In 1853, Zwirner was appointed a secret government and building councilor in Cologne. Zwirner was a member of the Society of German Natural Scientists and Doctors .

After his death on September 22nd, 1861, the Domblatt, the association journal of the Dombauverein, appeared with a black border on the title page - an honor that, apart from Zwirner, had only been given to King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who had died the same year before.

Zwirner was a cathedral builder until his death. He was buried in the Melaten cemetery (location: HWG between Lit. K and Lit. L).

The cathedral building was completed according to his plans by his former deputy and successor Richard Voigtel . Initially still close to the classical sense of style, he then showed himself in his own buildings as a representative of neo-Gothic historicism.

plant

Posthumously were carried out following designs:

See also

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

literature

Web links

Commons : Ernst Friedrich Zwirner  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joseph Schlecht : Zwirner, Ernst Friedr. In: Michael Buchberger (Ed.): Kirchliches Handlexikon. A reference book on the entire field of theology and its auxiliary sciences. Volume 2: I-Z. Allgemeine Verlags-Gesellschaft, Munich 1912, Sp. 2832.
  2. ^ Arnold Wolff : The building history of Cologne Cathedral in the 19th century . In: Hugo Borger : The Cologne Cathedral in the century of its completion . Cologne 1980, vol. 2, p. 30.
  3. ↑ Members of the Society of German Natural Scientists and Doctors 1857
  4. ↑ Armin Beuscher, Asja Bölke, Günter Leitner, Antje Löhr-Sieberg, Anselm Weyer: Melaten tells of Protestant life. A tour. Published by Annette Scholl on behalf of the Evangelical Community of Cologne, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-942186-01-8 , p. 12f.
personal data
SURNAME Zwirner, Ernst Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect, Cologne cathedral builder
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1802
PLACE OF BIRTH Jakobswalde , Cosel district (Upper Silesia)
DATE OF DEATH September 22, 1861
Place of death Cologne