Johann Wilhelm Krause

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Johann Wilhelm (von) Krause

Johann Wilhelm Krause (* 1. July 1757 in Dittmannsdorf , Lower Silesia ; † August 10 jul. / 22. August  1828 greg. In Tartu ) was a German steward, architect of the University of Tartu , Estonia, and a professor of agronomy, technology and civil architecture.

Life

Johann Wilhelm Krause came from a Protestant landowner family originally in Bohemia and Moravia, whose well-known family line begins with Sigismund Krause (* 1727; † 1773) forester from Fürstenstein near Waldenburg . He attended the village school in Dittmannsdorf, then high schools in Brieg and Zittau (1777). From 1778 to 1781 he studied theology in Leipzig. From 1781 to 1783 he was in princely Anhalt-zerbst. Military service and took part in the North American War of Independence on the English side . In 1784 he moved to Livonia, where he was court master until 1796 , for example with Baron Peter Delwig in Adsel-Neuhof, with District Marshal Gottfried Chr. Von Kahlen in Seltinghof and with Count August von Mellin in Kolzen. In 1791 he traveled to St. Petersburg, 1797–1797 with his friend Karl Gotthard Grass (* 1767; † 1814) through Germany and Switzerland. On October 23, 1797 he married in Kolzen, Livonia, Juliane von Hausenberg (* May 22, 1771 in Wolmarshof; † July 12, 1843 in Dorpat; ∞ I. 1786 NN. Steingötter, councilor in Riga; † April 1794) daughter of Imperial Russian court councilor Valentin Gottlieb von Hausenberg, Arrendators von Neu-Ottenhof, and Helene Wendel. From 1797 to 1805 he managed his own Kipsal estate near Cremon (today Krimulda , near Sigulda , Latvia). In 1803 he was promoted to Dr. phil. hc and professor of agronomy, technology and civil architecture and construction director at the re-established University of Dorpat / University of Tartu , followed in 1809 by the Russian hereditary nobility, the Order of St. Vladimir 4th class and the Imperial Russian State Council (1823).

Life's work

Main building plan drawings

In the years 1803 to 1823 the most important buildings of the University of Dorpat were built according to the plans of Johann Wilhelm Krause: the library in the cathedral ruins , the clinic in the former barracks, the classicistic main building of the university , the observatory , the Anatomicum (pointing the way for several later anatomical theater in Europe) and the palm house in the botanical garden . With the exception of the latter, these still exist today, the Anatomicum was used in regular university operations until the 1990s.

Other civil buildings: Mausoleum of the von Vietinghoff family in the park of the Marienburg complex in Latvia, 1832;

Design for a pavilion with an ice cellar

Throughout his life, drew and painted Krause: 1797 created the illustrations for Atlas of Livonia, the LA Count Mellin (1798 appeared); As study material, he created a large number of architectural drawings and sketches, which are kept in the archive of the Tartu University Library along with over 1,000 other landscape drawings in sepia, ink and pen .

Publications:

  • English reader in prose and poetry for beginners: With a complete dictionary and a short English grammar / edited by Johann Wilhelm Krause. - Dresden; Leipzig: Richter, 1792.
  • Livonia after the division of Henry the Latvian and at the time of the bishops and Master of the Order until 1562 [Kaart] / designed by WC Friebe - drawn by JW Krause - engraved by F. Ramberg; Riga, Leipzig; 1798; with Johann Friedrich Hartknoch.
  • Economics and Architecture. A sketch about the mutual influence of the same on the common good, given as an inaugural address on June 13th, 1803 by Johann Wilhelm Krause, full professor of economics, technology, forestry and civil architecture, at the Kayserliche Universität zu Dorpat. Dorpat, printed by Michael Gerhard Grenzius, university printer
  • Overview of bourgeois architecture in tables for the purpose of academic lectures / designed by Johann Wilhelm Krause; Dorpat, 1806; Printing: Michael Gerhard Grenzius, Dorpat.
  • Overview of agriculture in tables for the purpose of academic lectures / designed by Johann Wilhelm Krause; Dorpat, 1806; Printing: Michael Gerhard Grenzius, Dorpat.
  • Handwritten memoirs: 10 volumes, with sketches, preserved in the Tartu University Library. A copy of this and other pictures are kept in the Riga State Archives.

A literary biography

The career of an architecture professor or university master builder was by no means made for him. Born on July 1, 1757 in Dittmannsdorf near Schweidnitz, Lower Silesia, he was a war child who was badly affected by the Seven Years' War and its consequences. Before he could finish high school in Brzeg, he lost both parents. His father was a forester, previously wealthy, but his orphaned only son had to fend for himself. Reluctantly, he became an apprentice scribe in his brother-in-law's office. Relatives whom he perceived as malevolent monitored his living behavior.

When he was 16, the situation seemed unbearable to him. He left home with light luggage and the resolution “to become everything he becomes only through his own strength”. He made it a habit to record his experiences in short daily notes. In the last decade of his life, these “papers” served him as a starting point for writing down the ten-volume memoirs , in the second volume of which he meticulously described the wanderings through Silesia and Saxony.

He reached Dresden , where he first came into direct contact with great architecture. He was deeply impressed. Because he had run out of money, he tried to get on a ship to Hamburg in the harbor to get closer to the dream of America. However, none of the captains was interested in the slender lad's cooperation. Even later it did not grow in length, it remained "the Knurps". A topic that continues to sound like a negative. The other two topics that appeared here: “Architecture” and “America” remained with him.

Again and again people took care of the inexperienced youth. In many families the son who had died in the war was missing, so the parentless met benevolence and willingness to help, also on advice and direction. The master potter Reichel in Zittau, influenced by the Moravian community, took him into his house for three years in 1774 to enable him to graduate from grammar school. His cash income resulted from numerous lessons that he gave in houses with children of preschool age, as was customary there. The children of the city architect Christian Ephraim Eschke were not paid in money; Krause, for his part, was instructed in drawing "cracks". The St. John's Church, which was destroyed in the war, was being rebuilt, which Krause followed with ardent interest. The Johanniskirche was later completed by Eschke's son, Karl Christian. Similarities in the architectural style show that this and the somewhat older Krause learned the art of architectural drawing from "Father Eschke".

In the city library he was soon a “child in the house” as a helper and avid user. Geography, history, architecture, natural sciences attracted him. A Prussian regiment temporarily stationed in Zittau resulted in contacts between high school students and the officers. He worked through the military science literature that he was able to borrow from them. He also tried several times in drafting and delivering sermons after the pupils took turns reading exegeses at the morning school devotion. The level of education in the houses to which he had access was considerable, starting with the house of his foster father, who ran a large and traditional craft business.

After a short excursion to the military - he could not choose between the military and theology - he moved to Leipzig three years later as a theology student. He proudly declined further support from the Zittau friends. But giving lessons here turned out to be of little profit, and the family in Silesia also refused to provide any further support. He endured three years of hunger in Leipzig, then he decided to become a soldier. The Zerbst Regiment marched from Zerbst to Jever in East Friesland, which was supposed to be part of the American War of Independence for England. In Jever he found patrons again who made it possible for him to receive special training. It was about land surveying, map sketches and fortification problems. At the first opportunity, however, he embarked overseas.

The 82-day drive to Halifax was sobering and tough, with many not surviving. Then they went to Long Island. Krause was an artilleryman and a fireworker. Due to his level of education, he was promised promotion to the rank of officer. Krause, who did not offer himself or take advantage of relationships, was passed over several times. He was repeatedly entrusted with special assignments and enjoyed the trust of competent superiors.

The war was nearing its end, but fighting was still going on on Long Island. In a flashback as a report from a German comrade, Krause built the course of the entire campaign into his memories. The young freedom fanatic and enlightener began to realize that his sympathies belonged to the Americans. The promotion to lieutenant didn't change that. After the armistice he was still on the road for weeks in the northern war zone with the task of drawing (mapping) the course of the battles fought on site. From 1782 to 1784 Krause stayed in North America, the war ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Versailles. Shipped back to Jever, the 27-year-old said goodbye. In Amsterdam he worked briefly as an assistant to the chief builder.

He was advised to start a new military career in Russia. The spirit of adventure had not yet died out and he embarked for Libau and Riga. There he learned that military services require a personal application in St. Petersburg. He lacked the means for this difficult journey at the time. However, what the newcomer soon found was court master positions. Livonia had recovered from the Northern War, and there was a need to catch up in terms of education. Krause allowed himself to be recruited with many reservations, both internal and external. A trip to Petersburg did not work until 1791, but where he came to the conclusion that a military career without connections was hopeless. On this trip he stayed overnight in Dorpat for the first time without receiving particularly favorable impressions. The city had not yet recovered from the devastation of the war and a fire ten years ago. He would have liked to stay in Petersburg, he walked through it in every direction. “A world from the most miserable Loche to the most sublime masterpieces of art ... but I was full of love for all the excellent, burning desire to be able to do something too,” he wrote in his memoir.

The twelve years of being a court master did not offer him such opportunities. He became increasingly frustrated by being dependent on the family. In the house of Count Mellin, his third and last position, it turned out, however, that he was involved in a work that has lasted for centuries. In Mellin's Atlas of Estonia and Livonia , the first of its kind, there are map sketches by Krause. Title page and vignettes are also his work. However, its publication was fatal for the publisher Johann Friedrich Hartknoch in Riga. The Russian censors raised objections (Mellin was an enlightener and reformer), Hartknoch transferred the printing to Germany, but was subsequently expelled from the country.

In his free time, too, drawing was Krause's favorite activity. The upbringing and education of the children entrusted to him was carried out carefully and conscientiously, often without real support from their parents. His friends were colleagues from the neighboring estates. It is known that this generation of Imperial German court masters helped German culture to flourish again after its decline in the Northern War.

The course of the year mostly brought a family trip to Riga. Then Krause took the time to stop at Hartknoch's bookstore, who let him browse through his warehouse. Reading to the women was often one of his duties. Because of his strong voice and clear pronunciation, he was advised to consider a pastor's career. But his interest went more towards agriculture. For years he had critically observed the processes on the property and wanted to try to cultivate a piece of land himself. In 1796 he first made a trip to Germany, via Leipzig to Zurich. He could not fulfill his dream of seeing Italy, although Palladio's buildings particularly interested him. On his return home he acquired the Kipsal estate near Kremon from Count Mellin, and married Juliane Steingötter, née. Hausenberg and became a practical farmer.

University of Dorpat

The re-establishment of the university in Dorpat in 1802 under the rectorate of his brother-in-law Georg Friedrich Parrot gave Krause the opportunity to prove his knowledge of architecture: He was appointed architect to create the necessary premises for the university. The most important buildings of the new German university were built.

As a result, Krause became a full professor for agronomy, technology and civil architecture at the university and also had the opportunity to build some manor houses in what was then Livonia. Drafts for farm buildings have also been preserved. The Russian tsar raised him to hereditary nobility, he became a knight of the Order of Vladimir 4th class (1809) and a councilor of state (1823).

Krause had two passions throughout his life: his diaries and his drawings. Ten volumes of handwritten memoirs were created from the diaries, the originals of which are kept in the library of the University of Dorpat. There are also well over 1000 drawings and engravings, which are increasingly being included in the online catalog of the university library. In the necrology, which was written in 1828 for the academic funeral service, it says about Krause:

"If one needs a reputation, often ambiguous because it is widespread, not as the only measure of respect we pay to those who have passed, but rather thoroughness and knowledge, restless useful activity, ingenuity and greatness of character: Livonia will mourn the loss of a man who lost it these days, and read the following biographical notes with true sympathy ... "

literature

  • Johann Wilhelm von Krause: From the notes of a Livonian court master from the end of the 18th century. Century. Rigaer Tagblatt; 1894/95
  • Johann Wilhelm von Krause: The first decade of the former University of Dorpat. From the memoirs of Professor Johann Wilhelm Krause. Baltic Monthly , 53, 238–241; (1902)
  • Johann Wilhelm Krause 1757-1828. Catalog 1: Kunstnikust arhitektiks; Hilkka Hiiop, Juhan Maiste, Kadi Polli, Mariann Raisma; Tallinn, 1999.
  • Johann Wilhelm Krause 1757–1828 Catalog 2: Arhitektina Liivimaal; Maiste, Juhan; Polli, Kadi; Raisma, Mariann; Kopa, Jana; Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus; 2002.
  • Tartu Ülikool ja topic arhitekt Johann Wilhelm Krause - University of Tartu and its Architect Johann Wilhelm Krause; Juhan Maiste, Kadi Polli, Mariann Raisma; Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2003
  • Alma Mater Tartuensis: The Anatomical Theater and its architect Johann Wilhelm Krause; Maiste, Juhan; Polli, Kadi; Raisma, Mariann; Tartu: Estonian Language Foundation; 2006.

swell

  • Allgemeine Literaturzeitung ... (1785) \ Volume 1793 \ Volume 2 \ Number 130, Page 297/298
  • Memoirs, 10 volumes, Dorpat University Library, transcribed by Valentine von Krause († 2003)

Web links

Commons : Johann Wilhelm Krause  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Krause, Johann Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Krause, Johann Wilhelm von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH July 1, 1757
PLACE OF BIRTH Dittmannsdorf , Lower Silesia
DATE OF DEATH August 22, 1828
Place of death Dorpat