Johann Caspar von Völcker
Johann Caspar von Völcker (also Johann Kaspar von Völker ; born January 21, 1655 in Lüneburg , † September 10, 1730 in Braunschweig ) was a German engineer , architect , Braunschweig fortress construction director and major general .
Life
Little is known about Völcker's early years. He probably received lessons in mathematics and drawing in Frankfurt am Main . In 1676 he joined the Brunswick military service and in 1682 was appointed ensign in the battalion of major general and fortress builder Tobias Schmiedeberg († 1690).
Study trips
Between 1682 and 1684, with the permission of Duke Rudolf August , he traveled to France and the Netherlands to study fortress architecture . He visited the bastion construction sites in Calais , Dunkirk , Breda and Nijmegen , where he studied the fortification manner of Coehoorn . In Palatine Castle in Lorraine, he met the pioneering French fortress builder Vauban . During the trip he also made a detour to England. After returning to Braunschweig, Völcker was appointed captain of the artillery in April 1685, major in February 1690 and lieutenant colonel in October 1690. This year he was involved in the fortification planning for the city of Ratzeburg . Since 1691 he worked as Schmiedeberg's successor on the reconstruction plans for Seesen , which had been badly damaged in the fires in 1664 and 1673.
Braunschweig fortress builder
From 1692 until his death in 1730 he supervised the construction of the new Braunschweig bastionary fortifications , which were not completed until 1740. In 1694 Völcker was given the supervision of the building industry of the city of Braunschweig, which office was taken over by the master builder Hermann Korb (1656-1735) responsible for civil building in 1709 . Völcker became Schmiedeberg's successor as fortress builder on August 20, 1696. He was promoted to colonel in 1703, brigadier in 1714 and major general in 1726. In 1706 Völcker was raised to the nobility.
family
He was with Anna Catharina Schottelien, geb. Gieseler, married, for whom it was the second marriage. He had four children with her. Völcker initially lived in Braunschweig before he bought a farm in Dettum in 1701/1702 , where he lived with his family until his death in 1730. He was buried in Braunschweig Cathedral , where an epitaph attributed to Jenner in the south aisle still commemorates him and his wife, who died in 1772.
plant
Church and secular buildings
Völcker designed the castle church St. Andreas in Seesen (1695-1702), the parish church in Hohegeiß (1701-1705), the castle church St. Jakob in Stiege (1707-1711), the church in Groß Schwülper (1709-1711) and the Protestant court and palace church of St. Maria Magdalena in Salzgitter-Salder (1713–1717). The latter was created on behalf of the Protestant Duke August Wilhelm as an expression of the "Lutheran renewal", as it were as a counterpart to the Catholic St. Nicolai Church in Braunschweig, consecrated in 1712 , which August Wilhelm's father Anton Ulrich , who had converted to Catholicism , had donated.
Between 1687 and 1695 he was involved in the baroque renovations of Dankwarderode Castle (Mosthaus) in Braunschweig. He planned a domain building built from 1696 to 1704 in Greene near Kreiensen. The construction of the new riding house in Braunschweig was directed by Völcker in 1704.
The Braunschweig bastion fortification
Völcker's most comprehensive work is the construction of the baroque bastionary fortifications of the city of Braunschweig, which has been in Guelph hands since 1671. He planned the fortifications in the Dutch manner, whereby one spoke of a "Völcker manner" due to independent changes. Work began in 1692, but was not yet completed in 1730, the year Völcker died, although a medal was minted in 1731 to mark the alleged completion. Völcker's successor, Johann Georg Möring , continued construction until 1740, but recognized the fortification method as out of date. In the course of the 18th century, warfare changed from siege warfare to open field battle, so that the superfluous fortifications were razed as early as 1803 under the direction of Peter Joseph Krahe . The ramparts that still exist today were built in their place.
The construction measures cost the huge amount of 601,320 thalers up to 1741 and resulted in a land consumption of 1.73 km², which led to extensive resettlements.
literature
- Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 720-21 .
- Museum in Wolfenbüttel Castle and the Building History Department of the TU Braunschweig (ed.): Hermann Korb and his time - Baroque building in the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. Braunschweig 2006, p. 46f.
- Simon Paulus: German architect trips. Between renaissance and modernity. Petersberg 2010, pp. 50-53.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Schlosskirche Salder on the pages of Salzgitter.de , accessed on January 18, 2014.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Völcker, Johann Caspar von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Völcker, Johann Kaspar von; people |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German engineer, architect, Braunschweig fortress construction director and major general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 21, 1655 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Luneburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 10, 1730 |
| Place of death | Braunschweig |