Nikolaus Eseler the Elder

Nikolaus Eseler the Elder (* 1410 in Alzey ; † 1483 in Frankfurt am Main ) is a late Gothic master builder from southern Germany .

He was born in 1410 as the son of the future Mainz cathedral builder Peter Eseler . He died in Frankfurt am Main in 1483 . The St. George's Church in Dinkelsbühl was built according to his design and is the most important testimony to his work. In addition, he worked on some important church buildings of the 15th century in Nördlingen , Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Schwäbisch Hall . In Nördlingen he has been recorded at St. George's Church from 1442 , but left the construction site in a dispute, so that he was dismissed there in 1461. In Dinkelsbühl he began the late Gothic hall church of St. Georg in 1448 , which his son Nikolaus Eseler the Younger completed. Eseler was not mentioned until 1456 in a Dinkelsbühler city bill, but the uniformity of the church and the exact planning suggest that Nikolaus Eseler the Elder. Ä. was involved from the first draft to the execution of this construction. His son, Nikolaus Eseler the Younger, worked in his building works and took over the management of the construction of the church from 1471 until it was completed in 1499. In the ambulatory of the Georgskirche there is a painting showing the two builders. The panel is considered a copy to replace two original portraits from the 15th century that are believed to be lost.

In 1453 Eseler officiated as a builder at St. Jakob in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, where he built the west choir. In the service of the Archbishop of Mainz, he worked on secular buildings such as Höchst Castle , and he was also a foreman at Mainz Cathedral . He spent the last years of his life in Frankfurt am Main, where in 1481 he took over the post of municipal works foreman from his dismissed son.

literature

Mayer: Niklas Eseler . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 373 f.
Roswitha Beyer: Eseler, Niklas the Elder. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , pp. 652-11653 ( digitized version ).

Individual evidence

↑ Dehio, Georg; Breuer, Tillman: Franconia: The administrative districts of Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia , 2nd through. and additional edition, Munich et al. 1999. p. 222.

personal data
SURNAME	Donkey, Nikolaus the Elder
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Late Gothic architect from the southern German area
DATE OF BIRTH	1410
PLACE OF BIRTH	Alzey
DATE OF DEATH	1483
Place of death	Frankfurt am Main

[1] Dehio, Georg; Breuer, Tillman: Franconia: The administrative districts of Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia , 2nd through. and additional edition, Munich et al. 1999. p. 222.