Heinrich Ernst (architect)
Heinrich Ernst (born April 1, 1846 in Neftenbach , Zurich ; † December 23, 1916 in Pegli , Liguria ) was a Swiss architect . With its structural, but also economic innovations, he was a pioneer and one of the outstanding builder and real estate - speculators his time in Zurich.
Ernst was the son of an earthworker. After an apprenticeship as a draftsman with master builder Wilhelm Waser and the Zurich city architect Caspar Conrad Ulrich , he studied architecture at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich from 1867 to 1870 . He then worked for Gottfried Semper , including at his Dresden Court Theater ( Semperoper ). From 1871 to 1874 he ran an architecture office in Zurich together with the architect Alexander Koch , after which he founded his own office.
In order to generate the highest possible return from his buildings, Heinrich Ernst took on various British innovations in the building process . During the construction of the Metropol office building (1892–1895), he first used standardized, prefabricated parts in building construction in Zurich . This enabled an early form of skeleton construction and thus a free floor plan without load-bearing walls inside.
On behalf of the Rheinische Immobiliengesellschaft “Hansa” he built the Hansahaus in Düsseldorf from 1900 to 1902 . Ernst realized many of his buildings on his own land: Heinrich Ernst financed the house at Bahnhofstrasse 64, the northern row houses on Rämistrasse , the Red Castle , the Metropol house (1893) and bought the Papierwerdinsel in the Limmat near the main station . In this venture, however, he took over financially, had to file for bankruptcy and close his office; it was taken over by his former colleague Otto Pflegehard . He retired to the Italian Riviera and died impoverished in Pegli . Ernst was buried in the Wannsee cemetery in Berlin.
Heinrich Ernst was married twice: in 1874 with his first wife Fanny Sophie Grässle and in 1890 with Helena Löwen.
literature
- Isabelle Rucki and Dorothee Huber (eds): Architectural Lexicon of Switzerland - 19./20. Century Basel: Birkhäuser 1998. ISBN 3-7643-5261-2
Web links
- Jan Capol: Ernst, Heinrich. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ernst, Heinrich |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss architect and builder |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 1, 1846 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Neftenbach , Zurich |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 23, 1916 |
| Place of death | Pegli , Liguria |