Jacques Rosenbaum

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Jacques Rosenbaum (born July 1, 1878 in Haapsalu ; † January 6, 1944 in Berlin ) was a German-Baltic architect, and from 1921 Estonian. He is best known for his Art Nouveau buildings in Tallinn.

Life

Rosenbaum was born as Jacques Gustav-Adolf Rosenbaum-Ehrenbush into a wealthy family of Baltic Germans . His father was a lawyer, whose father was also an architect. Jacques Rosenbaum grew up in Haapsalu and Tallinn and began studying chemistry and architecture at the Riga Polytechnic in 1896 . He became active in the Corps Rubonia and graduated in 1904. He then became a city architect in Dorpat before moving to Reval in 1907. The first projects in Reval were still in the neo -renaissance style . Rosenbaum was married to Adrienne Kerkovius since 1897. The couple had five children.

Art Nouveau architecture in Reval

Man with lorgnette, facade of the Pikk 23/25 building
Dragon on the facade of the Pikk 18 building

Rosenbaum's work in Reval produced a number of buildings in the period from 1907 to 1919 that were built in the Art Nouveau or Art Nouveau-like forms.

In 1908 Rosenbaum built his first building on Pikk-Gasse in Tallinn's old town at number 23/25, where Rosenbaum's penchant for decorating the facades can be seen. Due to the various elements, the building cannot be clearly assigned to a style, but combines elements of Art Nouveau, Neo-Renaissance and Neo- Mannerism . A sculpture on the facade depicts an old man staring through his lorgnette at the street that served as the basis for some of the townspeople's stories and speculations about this figure. These and other figures were created by the Riga sculptor August Volz . Similarities with the theoretical designs by Camillo Sitte indicate that Rosenbaum was inspired by Sitte's concepts for his extravagant facades.

In 1909 Rosenbaum completed another project for a bank on Harju Street at number 9. The original design provided for a much more unusual facade in the Art Nouveau style, which, however, was revised before completion and opened with a much more traditional facade with elements of historicism. During the Second World War , the building was badly damaged and many elements of the facade were lost during the later renovation, which is why it can now be assigned to the Neo-Renaissance style.

The Pikk 18 building was completed by Rosenbaum in 1910, directly opposite Pikk 23/25, and is one of the most famous Art Nouveau buildings in Tallinn. Two dragons, again created by August Volz, adorn the façade and frame a single, curved window on the ground floor - above that are two statues of stern-looking Egyptian women. The facade is thematically closed by two herms . As is customary in Art Nouveau, these facade elements should convey a certain message about the function or meaning of the building, but there is no consensus in this building about what the intended symbolism should be.

Another project was the apartment building at Roosikrantsi 15, which Rosenbaum built for Gustav Leppenberg from 1911 to 1912 . The symmetrical facade combines elements of Art Nouveau and Baroque . In this building, Rosenbaum's biographer Karin Hallas-Murula sees influences from the much livelier Art Nouveau scene in Riga, as well as influences from the architects Michail Ossipowitsch Eisenstein and Otto Wagner . In addition to residential buildings, he also designed factory buildings (Fahle cellulose factory; Grünewaldt leather factory); Hospitals (building in Seewald psychiatric clinic) and a Jewish mausoleum.

Later career

Rosenbaum moved to Greifswald in 1919 , but returned to Tallinn a year later, where he took Estonian citizenship in 1921 and became a partner in an architecture firm. However, his architectural style was out of fashion and for the young Estonian nation other ideals were being sought in architecture, which is why the later buildings were more modest.

In 1928 Rosenbaum moved back to Germany, where he and his wife became a member of the NSDAP in 1932 . In the 1930s he worked as a technician for the Air Force , in 1942 he moved to the Reich Ministry for Armaments and Ammunition , and in 1943 he became a consultant for the Todt Organization in occupied Riga . Because of his poor health, he returned to Berlin in the same year, where he died on January 6, 1944.

Works

building address Manufacturing time photo
Reichmann's building Pikk 23/25, Tallinn 1908-1909
House on Pikk 23-25.jpg
Levinovich's Mausoleum (destroyed) Siselinna Cemetery, Tallinn 1910
Schaje Levinovichi cable-mausoleum.jpg
Laupa mansion Järvamaa, Estonia 1910-1913
Laupa mõisa peahoone 2012.jpg
Leppenberg's apartment house Roosikrantsi 15, Tallinn 1912
Tallinn, Elamu Roosikrantsi 15, 1912 (1) .jpg
Mariners house Uus-Sadama 14 / Tuukri 13, Tallinn 1924-1926
Tallinna Meremeeste Kodu, 1926.jpg
Ferdinand Treublut's house (Drakonigalerie) Pikk 18, Tallinn 1909-1910
Jacques rosenbaum - pikk 18 - pilt 1.jpg
Höppener & Co Bank Harju 9, Tallinn 1908-1909
Jacques rosenbaum - harju 9 - pilt 1.jpg
Own houses Pirita Str. 10 (destroyed) and 12, Tallinn
Pirita tee 10 2011-05-07.JPG
Seewald Psychiatric Clinic
  • 4 hospitals (with Erich Jacoby and Ernst Boustedt)
  • Doctor's House (converted)
Paldiski Str. 52, Tallinn 1908-1910
TLA 1465 1 4436 Seewald.  Damenhaus architect Jacques Rosenbaum 1910.jpg
Buildings in Pale Cellulose Factory
  • Fire department depot
  • Administration building
  • Building next to Tartu St.
Masina 20; 22, Tallinn 1911-1914
Masina 20.jpg

Web links

Commons : Jacques Rosenbaum  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f Karin Hallas-Murula: Tallinna Juugendarhitektuur: Jacques Rosenbaum (1878–1944) . Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum, 2010, ISBN 978-9985-9828-7-7 (Estonian).