Karl Wanschaff

Johann Karl Georg Wanschaff (* 1775 in Frellstedt near Braunschweig; † February 9, 1848 in Berlin ) was a Berlin master cabinet maker, promoted and preferred by Karl Friedrich Schinkel . On February 11, 1829 he was on the recommendation of Schinkel and Prince Carl of Prussia by King Friedrich Wilhelm III. Awarded the title of 'court carpenter' by Prussia.

Life

Wanschaff spent his apprenticeship and journeyman time in Hamburg and Berlin. In 1806 he finally settled in Berlin with his brother Bernhard. The house and workshop, in which, in addition to furniture, orders in the field of joinery were carried out, were located at Wilhelmstrasse 47 in Berlin at the time. During this time (1806 to 1808), the connection to Schinkel should have been established.

Wanschaff's first major commission was in 1816 for the execution of Schinkel's furniture designs for the apartment of Prince August of Prussia . Wanschaff carried out other early orders, brokered through Schinkel, for the Antonin hunting lodge near Posen and for Tegel Castle ( Wilhelm von Humboldt ). In 1825, Wanschaff's workshop received an extensive order for King Friedrich Wilhelm III. It was about furnishing his summer house in Charlottenburg Park, the so-called New Pavilion . In the following years there were many outstanding commissioned works by Wanschaff, all of which came about through Schinkel, to whom Wanschaff was also on friendly terms, e.g. B. for the apartment of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (later King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. ), For the palace of Prince Carl of Prussia and for the residences of Princes Albrecht, Friedrich and Wilhelm of Prussia (later King Wilhelm I). Via Schinkel, however, Wanschaff also received orders in other European countries, e.g. B. for the Duchess of Sutherland in London. After Schinkel's death on October 9, 1841, however, there is hardly any evidence of large commissioned works by Wanschaff for prominent personalities. The fact that there was still contact between the Wanschaff and Schinkel families for many years after Schinkel's death proves u. a. an address entry of the Wanschaffs in the diary of Schinkel's daughter Susanne from 1858. (private property)

Schinkel's letter of December 15, 1828 to an unknown art collector with the recommendation of Karl Wanschaff

Karl Wanschaff was married to Henriette Hasselmann (1781–1864). His son Julius, who was also awarded the title 'court carpenter' in 1844, took over the workshop after his death in 1848. He died in Berlin in 1864. The furniture workshop was not continued afterwards. A daughter of Karl Wanschaff, Friderike (1811–1864), married the decorative painter Georg Sievers (from 1853 royal court carpenter), who later worked closely with the architect August Stüler and the grandfather of the art historian and Schinkel researcher Johannes Sievers .

Schinkel's influence on the Berlin craft of the time cannot be overestimated. Schinkel exerted a strong aesthetic influence on the tradespeople of his time, in particular through the role models for manufacturers and craftsmen , published together with his long-time friend Christian Peter Wilhelm Beuth , who predominantly taught an ancient design language. A whole generation of craftsmen, such as In addition to the Wanschaff brothers, the master carpenter Sewening, the upholsterer Hiltl and the stove maker Tobias Feilner were shaped in the spirit of Schinkel's classicism.

literature

• Johannes Sievers : Palais of Prince Karl of Prussia - built by Schinkel, Berlin 1928
• else: Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The palace of Prince August of Prussia, Berlin 1936
• ders .: Buildings for Prince Karl of Prussia, Berlin 1942
• ders .: Die Möbel, Berlin 1950
• ders .: Buildings for the Princes August, Friedrich and Albrecht of Prussia, Berlin 1954
• ders .: Buildings for Prince Wilhelm, later King of Prussia, Berlin 1955
• ders .: From my life, Berlin 1966 (autobiography, published as typescript)