Friedrich Adler (building officer)

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Friedrich Adler
Friedrich Adler, photograph by Paul Graef from 1897

Johannes Heinrich Friedrich Adler (born October 15, 1827 in Berlin ; † September 15, 1908 there ) was a German architect , construction clerk and building researcher .

Life

Educational path

Friedrich Adler, son of the flour trader Johann Karl Friedrich Adler (1788–1857) and his wife Marie Louise Dorothea (née Kochhann; † 1866), grew up as an only child in Berlin's Dorotheenstadt . The close relationship with his uncle Friedrich Heinrich Eduard Kochhann , the later head of the city council and honorary citizen of Berlin, was decisive for Adler's development . Contrary to his father's wishes, Adler graduated from high school in 1845 as "primus omnium", followed by an apprenticeship as a surveyor and in 1848 he began studying at the Berlin Building Academy .

He further developed his potential through intensive drawing and painting lessons at the art academy through lectures in the natural sciences and art history at the former Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin . At the Bauakademie he was in contact with architects and building researchers Karl Bötticher , Ferdinand von Arnim , Heinrich Strack and Friedrich August Stüler .

Start as an architect

Babelsberg Castle around 1900

After passing his exams in 1850, he became a construction manager at Heinrich Strack, where he was entrusted with the Petrikirche in Berlin on Spittelmarkt and the completion of the Babelsberg Palace begun by Karl Friedrich Schinkel . Through his connections, he came into close contact with the then leading German archeologist and archeologist Ernst Curtius , who employed the talented draftsman for his publications. In 1851 he joined Friedrich August Stüler's office , where he designed and executed his first significant works. So between 1852 and 1857 a stately residential complex was built under him in the extended Dorotheenstrasse in Berlin, which work was influenced by Bötticher's teaching. A little later he created an extensive mansion complex for an industrialist in Ozorków, Poland , a stately summer house on the beach at Hapsal in Estonia and a number of smaller works such as hereditary funerals and chapels, primarily in Berlin and the Margraviate of Brandenburg .

The Prussian antiquity

While his interests in the history of architecture were previously exclusively oriented towards antiquity, he turned to the medieval world of construction for the first time in a lecture in 1853. His discussion of the “Marienwerder and Marienburg” buildings also showed for the first time an occupation with the technology of brick construction, an area that would remain a research focus for the following decades. In the fall of 1854, Stüler obliged him, after having passed the second state examination, to run the Bartholomäuskirche on Friedrichshain in Gothic style. Since there were no scientific accounts of Prussian building history at the time, Adler published a large-scale table about the "Medieval Brick Buildings of the Prussian State" in 1859.

The two towers of St. Thomas Church on Mariannenplatz in Berlin, 2004

The recognition that Adler enjoyed was reflected in the admission to the scholars' committee of the aid association for the Germanic Museum in Nuremberg . In 1855 he was university lecturer with the appointment as assistant at the School of Architecture at Ferdinand von Arnim . Other work such as the renovation of the village church in Gröben , Teltow district (1860), the residential building for city councilor Georg Halske at the Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin (1859/60, destroyed), the Kochhann residential building , Berlin-Mitte, Georgenstrasse 44 / Bauhofstrasse 7 ( 1863–1865, destroyed), as well as the semi-detached house complex near the linden trees expand Adler's spectrum of activity.

In 1862, the “Mission Association for the Support of Christians in Need” in Berlin decided to build its own house of worship. Friedrich Adler, without question the leading expert on this architectural style among active architects, was won over for the execution in the Gothic style. From 1862 to 1865 he built the Christ Church, which despite being based on medieval and Brandenburg models, especially through the use of iron constructions inside, can be seen as its own interpretation of this architectural style in the sense of Schinkel's church designs . The architectural breakthrough came in 1863 with the construction of the Thomas Church in Berlin. The Thomas Church, with its sermon room, which was more like a central building, and the aisle-like narrow aisles, was henceforth exemplary for German Protestant church building. In the years 1865/66 he arranged for the von Rohr family to renovate Meyenburg Castle in Prignitz in the style of the North German Renaissance. In the spring of 1869, the now widely courted, versatile Friedrich Adler was elected chairman of the architects' association, which was influential throughout Prussia .

When construction began on his third house of worship, the Christ and Garrison Church in Wilhelmshaven , he had expressly requested, as was the case with the War Ministry, that the project be designed in “Gothic forms”. But in contrast to the above-mentioned Christ Church, the scope for one's own ideas was limited. The result was a rather brittle building that, because of the extreme limitation of resources, was also artistically poorly shaped.

On the orders of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, Adler took Ernst Curtius on a three-month trip to Asia Minor in 1871 to advance the exploration of ancient sites. This company laid the foundations for the later excavations of the eagle pupil Carl Humann in Pergamon . More important for him was his related mission to Jerusalem , where he had to do the first preparatory work for the construction of the Protestant Church of the Redeemer , which was to rise above the ruins of a crusader church.

He used a stopover in Rome to research the original form of the Pantheon . The result was an attempt at reconstruction that was considered binding in research circles for decades. The recently uncovered Stoa of Attalos in Athens and the Strasbourg cathedral also dealt with important architectural studies .

In 1874 construction began on his Pauls Church in Bromberg , the next most important after the Thomas Church .

Ancient antiquity

View of the restored Altis
The old museum in Olympia was designed by Adler. Today: Museum of the History of the Ancient Olympic Games in Olympia

In the early 1870s, ancient Olympia came to the fore of Adler's interest. It culminated in the spectacular excavations of the Altis . What was new and tried and tested in the organization was the division of the work and the fact that an essential part of the task, the architectural and topographical research of the art site, was placed in the hands of the architect. During the six years of work, Curtius was the soul and Adler the organizer of the company. Adler's task was to evaluate the detailed weekly work reports and to issue new excavation directives after Olympia. The extraordinary number of unearthed finds raised the question of a later location for the collection while the work was still going on.

In 1878, Adler was entrusted with working out the museum plans, and after overcoming extraordinary difficulties and intrigues, the museum in Olympia was opened in 1887. Despite the modest circumstances and the inevitable defects in the execution due to the low construction costs, Adler was able to transform its diverse scientific research on Olympia into a prestigious architectural testimony. In terms of its design, the museum presents itself as a pure building from Berlin's late classicism. In terms of time, it is the last utterance of the so-called Berlin Building School from the pen of a great architect.

The civil service

In October 1877 the Prussian department head for church construction resigned. Friedrich Adler took on this task despite other competitors. In addition to the professional security as a civil servant, the title of a secret building council and lecturing council in the Ministry of Commerce was associated with it. The importance of this task for Adler was demonstrated by the fact that he made his entry into state construction dependent on the fact that he was allowed to continue his lectures on the history of architecture without restriction. In addition to the granting of this special condition, it is extremely noteworthy that with Adler, not a candidate from the general reserve of civil servants, but rather a well-known expert was appointed to a state position of this rank.

As head of the church building department, a phase of practical activity began for him that even a leading private architect in this competitive field could hardly achieve on such a scale.

Even if it was still necessary to carry out mostly small-scale projects, this task turned out to be far more diverse. Above all, Adler succeeded in increasingly freeing himself from the modest "stencil construction method", which was often reduced to a single purpose, by finding a way of expressing himself that corresponded to the modern endeavors for more individual solutions.

He had to adopt a Gothic and Romanesque formal language that was gaining more and more space, although his endeavor was evident to strive for monumentality, at least not to lapse into a picturesque architecture that overestimated the detail.

In this context, mention should be made of the double tower facade of the Nikolai Church in Frankfurt an der Oder (1891–1893, Friedenskirche since 1929 ), the church in Schwetz, West Prussia, or the Reformed Church in Insterburg (1886–1890), a notable anticipation of the emperors Wilhelm Memorial Church of his pupil Franz Schwechten in Berlin . Of the smaller town and village churches, only the Jakobikirche in Luckenwalde or the church in Atzendorf near Magdeburg should be referred to as representative of around 300 places of worship that were built under his direction .

The church completions or restorations were just as extensive as new buildings. The west bar of the Nikolai Church in Pritzwalk in Brandenburg, built from coarse granite blocks around 1260, was to receive an upper tower end, designed by Adler.

Adler designed an attachment with a brick helmet in free Gothic forms, which created a clear contrast between old and new structural elements. The completion of the Schleswig Cathedral (1888-1894) with its towering, less North German than Adler monument tower, which in a sense bridged the project of the Wittenberg Castle Church (1885-1892), was comparable - but had a far-reaching effect .

The Wittenberg Castle Church

But even as the executive architect, Adler had to experience during these years how difficult and time-consuming it was to deal with commissions and high-ranking clients. The best example of this was the reconstruction of the Wittenberg Castle Church, which, after many unsuccessful attempts , received the decisive impetus on the occasion of Martin Luther's 400th birthday in 1883. The fact that the restoration attempts by Schinkel, von Quasts and less high-ranking architects had failed for financial reasons was ultimately described as a stroke of luck after the work was completed in 1894, because the final realization of the restoration plans came at a time which in every respect had the right strength for a dignified one Could provide solution to the peculiar task.

In addition to the numerous town and country churches that are now being built across the entire Prussian state, it was the restoration projects of some very prominent churches in which Adler played a decisive role, with the high level of personal contribution already mentioned. These include the reconstructions of the Merseburg Cathedral (1883–1886), the Willibrordi Cathedral in Wesel (1883–1896), the Cathedral in Havelberg (1885–1890, together with Reinhold Persius ), the Marienkirche in Jüterbog (1890) and the Marienkirche in Mühlhausen (after 1893).

Of his publications from the mid-1880s, the extensive preface to “Tiryns” by his friend Heinrich Schliemann received the greatest attention. Adler, who was extensively informed of all excavation undertakings and results by his son-in-law Wilhelm Dörpfeld , who was in the service of Schliemann, not only presented his views on the early days of Greek architecture, which at the time were still very much in the dark, but also contributed significantly to the dating of the Mycenaean monuments at.

On October 10, 1895, Adler was confirmed as the conductor for structural engineering at the Academy of Civil Engineering. A series of high awards followed, of which the honorary memberships of the German Archaeological Institute (1895) and the Architects' Association in Berlin (1897) were certainly among the most outstanding. Equally honorable was his participation in Emperor Wilhelm II's trip to Jerusalem, viewed with suspicion by European states, in autumn 1898, the ceremonial climax of which was the pompous inauguration of Adler's Church of the Redeemer on Reformation Day.

Retirement and death

In April 1900, Adler resigned from his posts in the Ministry of Public Works and the Academy of Civil Engineering. He kept teaching for another three years. During this time, the theological faculty of the Friedrich Wilhelm University in 1902 and the architecture department of the Technical University of Charlottenburg awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1903 . Health reasons prompted him to give up his teaching post in the summer semester of 1903 and to retire completely.

However, he continued to publish. In 1906 he published a collection of smaller essays that had been written over the course of 40 years under the title On Art History . After some examinations of ancient contents and reconstructions of outstanding buildings such as the Pharos of Alexandria and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus , the collegiate church of St. Peter in Wimpfen (1908) concluded his research .

Friedrich Adler died shortly before the age of 81 in Berlin. His burial on September 18, 1908 in the Friedrichswerder cemetery on Bergmannstrasse was attended by numerous leading representatives of the architectural and academic life in Berlin. Adler found his final resting place in a hereditary funeral - between the remains of his previously deceased two wives. The tomb has not been preserved.

An extensive exhibition of Adler's work, combined with a memorial service on the occasion of the installation of his bust in the courtyard of the Technical University of Charlottenburg, opened on March 23, 1909.

Fonts

  • The building history of Berlin. Berlin 1861.
  • The Berlin City Hall. Berlin 1861.
  • Medieval brick buildings of the Prussian state. (12 deliveries from the Zeitschrift für Bauwesen ) Berlin 1859–1898. Digitized
  • A. Schlueter. Berlin 1862/1863.
  • Schinkel. 1864.
  • The world cities in architecture. Berlin 1868.
  • The building school in Berlin by CF Schinkel. Berlin 1869.
  • Research on building history in Germany. (2 volumes) 1870–1879.
  • The Pantheon in Rome. Berlin 1871.
  • The Dome of the Rock and the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Berlin 1873.
  • The Stoa of King Attalus II in Athens. Berlin 1874.
  • E. Curtius, F. Adler (Ed.): Olympia and surroundings. 2 maps and 1 situation plan, drawn by Kaupert and W. Dörpfeld. Berlin 1882.
  • Preface to H. Schliemann, Tiryns , 1886.
  • E. Curtius, F. Adler (Ed.): Olympia. The results of the excavations. (I – V) Berlin 1890–1897. (individual sections on architectural history problems)
  • The castle church in Wittenberg, its building history and restoration. Berlin 1895.
  • Spiritual Germany. 1898. ( autobiography )
  • The Evangelical Church of the Savior in Jerusalem. Berlin 1898.
  • The mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Berlin 1900.
  • The Pharos of Alexandria. Berlin 1901.
  • To art history. Berlin 1906. (Speeches and essays, see also Zeitschrift für Bauwesen, register volume from the year 1851–1900)

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Adler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ House Dorotheenstrasse 51, Berlin. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 19, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List Haus Sommer
  3. ↑ Herrenhaus, Ozorkow. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 19, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Parish Church, Groben. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  5. ^ House at Bauhofstrasse 7, Berlin-Mitte, Berlin. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Christ Church, Berlin. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  7. ↑ St. Paulskirche, Bromberg. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  8. ^ Museum, Olympia. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  9. ↑ St. Nicolaus Church, Pritzwalk. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  10. ^ Cathedral of St. Peter, Schleswig. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Castle Church, Wittenberg. Restoration. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  12. ↑ St. Willibrord, Wesel. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  13. ^ Berliner Volks-Zeitung , September 18, 1908, evening edition.
  14. ^ Hans-Jürgen Mende: Lexicon of Berlin tombs . Haude & Spener, Berlin 2006. p. 97.
personal data
SURNAME Adler, Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Adler, Johann Heinrich Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect, construction clerk and building researcher
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH September 15, 1908
Place of death Berlin