Robert Schmidt (architect)

Robert Schmidt, 1878

Robert Schmidt (born March 2, 1850 in Büchen , Duchy of Lauenburg; † July 28, 1928 in Wismar ; full name: Robert Louis Adolph Schmidt ) was a German architect and founder of various educational institutions.

Life

Schmidt saw the light of day on March 2nd, 1850 in Büchen-Pötrau in the Duchy of Saxony-Lauenburg as the son of the customs administrator Hermann Friedrich Adolph Schmidt and his wife Catharina Dorothea Friederike Schmidt, born Kähler. Robert Schmidt first probably attended the private school of the railway administration in Büchen-Bahnhof because his father's place of work was there. From 1860 he attended the grammar school in Ratzeburg , as his aunt Lotte lived in this town. Robert Schmidt continued his school education at the Realgymnasium in Perleberg . By successfully attending a nine-level secondary school for six years, Robert Schmidt acquired a "certificate of academic qualification for one-year voluntary military service ". This was followed by a visit to the Berlin Military Education Center.

After my school days I did an internship in a technical office. Robert Schmidt gained further practical experience from November 1871 to the end of September 1872 as a construction manager for the new construction of the district court and the prison in Harburg (Elbe) . From October 1872 he completed his military service as a one-year volunteer in the infantry regiment "Graf Bose" (1st Thuringian) No. 31 in Altona (Elbe) .

From October 1873 Robert Schmidt studied art and literary history, finance and geology at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich . Between 1874 and 1877 he studied at the Technical University of Darmstadt and at the Technical University of Munich . In 1877 he moved to the Vienna University of Technology . After studying subjects architecture , ancient architecture and civil engineering Robert Schmidt gained at the Technical University of Vienna be Absolutorium and could store its 1878 audit.

On April 11, 1877, Robert Schmidt married Emma Hülsen in Munich (born August 10, 1848 in Balje near Stade). The Schmidt couple moved to Bessungen in 1878 . The first of their four children, daughter Adelheid Anna Theodore Schmidt, was born there on October 4, 1878. The second child, the son Robert Karl Adolf Schmidt, was born on May 10, 1880, also in Bessungen. During this three-year phase of life, Robert Schmidt worked as an architect . In 1880/1881 he took over the construction management for state buildings in the Alsatian cities of Mulhouse (district prison), Altkirch and Colmar .

In 1881 Robert Schmidt moved to the municipal technical center in Rinteln . In the arts and crafts department there, he acted as a specialist teacher for arts and crafts , architecture and their auxiliary sciences. In 1882 he moved to the Herzoglich Braunschweigische Baugewerkschule Holzminden . In the department for carpenters and furniture makers , he taught as a specialist teacher in the subjects of form theory, building construction theory and construction drawing . In 1883 he worked as a specialist teacher at the Royal Building Trade School in Erfurt . There he taught subjects such as design and form theory. Between 1884 and 1886 he was the head of a technical office for urban civil engineering in Gotha . During this time, he attended lectures at the University of Leipzig , including in art history and archeology .

On January 18, 1886, Robert Schmidt's third child, the son Adolf Ludwig Ernst Georg Paul Schmidt, was born in Gotha. A few days later, on February 9th, 1886, Robert Schmidt became a member of the Johannisloge "Friedrich zur Constant" in Zerbst . In the course of 1886 Robert Schmidt inventoried and researched architectural and art monuments in Schleswig-Holstein on behalf of the Prussian government . From this work a number of essays arose that received attention in specialist circles. Other scientific publications by Robert Schmidt, such as B. "The town hall of Zerbst", as well as textbooks on architecturally relevant aspects, such. B. "Forms", appeared in the following years.

After leaving the Prussian civil service, Robert Schmidt worked at the technical center in Neustadt-Glewe in the spring of 1887 . In October 1887 Robert Schmidt founded the private "Anhaltische Bauschule" in Zerbst with the support of the government of the Duchy of Anhalt and the city of Zerbst . Initially, the building school comprised the structural engineering , civil engineering and stone cutting technology departments . Departments for railway construction and brickwork technology were added later. On December 20, 1892, Robert Schmidt's fourth child, Veronika Marie Luise Hermine Schmidt, was born in Zerbst. The "Academy for Trade, Agriculture and Industry", which opened in October 1891 in Köthen , gave up its agricultural orientation in 1893 and was renamed the "Higher Technical Institute". Because this educational institution enjoyed a higher reputation on the part of the Anhalt state government and received greater funding, Robert Schmidt sold his private technical school to the city of Zerbst in 1899. The “Anhaltische Bauschule” continued to exist until the end of the Second World War , despite competition from the nearby educational institution in Köthen (which was called “Städtisches Friedrichs Polytechnikum ” from 1905 ) .

Robert Schmidt's gravestone in the Ostfriedhof in Wismar

On November 15, 1899, Robert Schmidt submitted a written proposal to the council of the Hanseatic City of Wismar to found a "higher polytechnic educational institution". He also presented this request to the mayors in Kulmbach and Friedberg (Hesse) . The council of the Hanseatic City of Wismar rejected Schmidt's proposal on the basis of an expert opinion by the construction officer Gustav Hamann from the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg . The reason for the rejection was the nationalization of the private and communal building trade schools in Prussia that had begun . In order not to be idle, Robert Schmidt took over the management and reorganization of the technical center in Limbach (Saxony) for a few months . On December 14, 1900, Robert Schmidt signed a contract with the city of Friedberg to set up a trade academy. Although he had been offered the position of director at the municipal technical center in Limbach, he stuck to his contractually fixed decision and moved to Friedberg in the summer of 1901.

On October 29, 1901, the "Friedberg Trade Academy", founded by Robert Schmidt with the support of the city of Friedberg, was ceremoniously opened as a private institution. The business academy found its spatial home in the old Augustinian school . When it was founded, the trade academy comprised the five departments of architecture, civil engineering, electrical engineering , mechanical engineering and automotive engineering. The latter two departments were later merged. The number of students rose from 68 in the winter semester 1901/1902 to 288 in the winter semester 1903/1904. Since only 152 students paid their tuition fees (120 marks per semester) in the summer semester of 1908 , Robert Schmidt lacked the profit-oriented entrepreneurial perspective. Because the number of students had not developed as hoped, the income remained low in relation to the costs. Robert Schmidt therefore entered into negotiations on October 10, 1907 with the city of Wismar regarding the creation of an engineering academy in the Hanseatic city. On May 9, 1908, the contract was signed to found the Wismar Engineering Academy as a private institute. The Friedberg Trade Academy was transferred to the city of Friedberg on August 15, 1908, and Director Schmidt received 42,000 marks from her as compensation. Today's " Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen , Campus Friedberg" emerged from the Friedberg Commercial Academy .

After the Friedberg trade academy was sold, the Schmidt family moved to Wismar. The Wismar educational institute opened on October 26, 1908. The engineering academy had the departments of architecture, civil engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. Robert Schmidt acted both as a director and as a subject teacher. In the following years, the city of Wismar promoted the continuation of teaching through grants. On September 1, 1922, Robert Schmidt sold the private engineering academy to the city of Wismar. After the sale, Robert Schmidt remained at the engineering academy as a director in the city's services. It was not until the end of 1923, when he was 73 years old, that Robert Schmidt retired. He died on July 28, 1928 in Wismar, his wife Emma Schmidt a few weeks later on October 5, 1928. Both found their final resting place in the family grave in the Wismar East Cemetery (grave field C).

Today's University of Wismar emerged from the Wismar Engineering Academy . On June 8, 2011, the ceremonial opening of the Robert Schmidt Institute took place at Wismar University.

Fonts

• Zerbst town hall. A contribution to the art history of the Duchy of Anhalt. Zerbst 1897. ( excerpt )
• The architectural and art monuments of the Askanian princely house in the former Duchy of Lauenburg. Anhaltische Buchdruckerei Gutenberg, Dessau 1899.

literature

• Horst Tillmanns (Hrsg.): Festschrift for the 75th anniversary of the Polytechnic Friedberg / Hessen. Friedberg 1976.
• Thomas Petrasch, Klaus-Dieter Rack: From the commercial academy to the technical university. Friedberg University History (1901−2011). In: Wetterauer Geschichtsblätter ISSN  0508-6213 , Volume 62. Verlag der Buchhandlung Bindernagel, Friedberg (Hessen) 2013.

Web links

• Mention of Robert Schmidt in the chronicle of the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen , last accessed on July 31, 2018
• Founding father Robert Schmidt at the University of Wismar , last accessed on July 31, 2018
• Robert Schmidt Institute at the University of Wismar