Main University Building (Greifswald)
The main university building of the University of Greifswald is located at Domstraße 11 in Greifswald south of Rubenow-Platz. The late baroque , classicist building from the middle of the 18th century is the seat of the rector and the administration of the university and an art-historical attraction of the city. The building is a historical monument.
Building history and equipment
A previous building, which the Pomeranian Duke Ernst Ludwig commissioned, was erected in 1591 as the first independent university building. The building was opened in 1597 and construction work continued for around 20 years. The three-story, so-called Ernst Ludwig Building, which in addition to lecture halls , library and council hall also contained apartments for professors, was one of the few large buildings in the Renaissance style in Pomerania . After the old main building had become dilapidated in the middle of the 18th century and no longer met academic needs, the Greifswald scientist and master builder Andreas Mayer was commissioned with a new building. Between 1747 and 1750, a new main building was built on the foundation walls based on Mayer's designs. The inauguration took place on April 28, 1750, on the birthday of the then sovereign Swedish Pomerania , King Frederick of Sweden. Mayer received less praise than blame for the magnificent building with its sculptural and stone carvings, gilding and paintings, because he was accused of acting unauthorized in redesigning the original plans, which had led to a significant increase in costs.
The main building is a three-storey rectangular building with 23 axes made of plastered brick . In the mansard roof there are dormers with segmental arches. The south side faces the courtyard and was originally the more splendidly designed main page. Its center is emphasized by a three-axis risalit , which is structured on the upper floors by pilasters with volute capitals. These carry an architrave and a cornice with a toothed cutting bar . The whole thing is crowned by the coat of arms of the Pomeranian dukes and two vases. Between 1886 and 188 the two protruding staircases were added. Through window surrounds the windows of the two upper floors of the seven central axes are connected. The windows on the first floor are semicircular and on the second floor segmental arches. In between there are framed plaster mirrors.
The north side is designed similarly, but more simple and flat. It was redesigned in the style of classicism in 1831 and 1832. In the gable above the three central axes, supported by two wild men , is the Prussian coat of arms . It was attached to Prussia in 1815 after the transition from Swedish Pomerania to the Swedish coat of arms.
According to the aesthetic principles of the Baroque, Andreas Mayer structured the floor plan of the elongated building with a strict central axis, to which all rooms connect on both sides. Between 1882 and 1888 the interior was extensively designed. In the middle part there are lecture halls and the baroque former library hall , which has been used as an auditorium since 1882 . Its plastic jewelry was created by the Stralsund sculptor Jakob Freese. A gallery, the parapet of which is crowned with putti and vases, is supported by 24 marbled Ionic wooden columns arranged in pairs. Between the twelve pairs of columns there are herms that represent the nine muses and the gods Apollo, Minerva and Mercury. On the ceiling, stucco is imitated by the painting.
The former Auditorium Maximum , moved to a separate lecture hall building in 1882, was restored as a council hall in 2006. There is a gallery with 32 portraits of Greifswald rectors and deans, which Wilhelm Titel made between 1831 and 1855. A memorial stone with a relief figure for Duke Ernst Ludwig from the period between 1580 and 1590 probably comes from the vicinity of Philipp Brandin's workshop . Heinrich Vogeler created the rector's chair in 1906 in baroque Art Nouveau forms. At the eastern end of the building there is a room with a groin vault, in which the university archive was located from 1754 to 1999. A coat of arms stone of Duke Philip I from Wolgast Castle , created in 1551 by Paul van Hove, is located in the stairwell to the rectorate, as is a plaque with an inscription for the inauguration of the building with a frame made of white marble and a cartouche with the Swedish royal coat of arms, the 1751 was made by Jakob Freese.
From 2003 onwards, the main university building was extensively refurbished, as a result of which a large part of the administration moved here. In addition to carrying out extensive restoration work, barrier-free access to all rooms was established. On the occasion of the 550th anniversary celebration, the restored auditorium was reopened in 2006 in the presence of the Swedish Queen Silvia .
literature
- State Office for Monument Preservation Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Hrsg.): The architectural and art monuments in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Western Pomerania coastal region. Henschel Verlag, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-89487-222-5 , pages 411-414.
- Hannelore Kuna: Brief University History Greifswald. Haff Verlag, 2011, ISBN 9783942916776 , pp. 14-18 ( Google books ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Academic Art Collection. In: Scientific Collections. Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, accessed on May 12, 2012 .
- ^ Heiko Wartenberg: Archive Guide to the History of Pomerania up to 1945 . Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-486-58540-7 , p. 179. ( Google books ).
- ↑ Constanze Steinke: Queen Silvia of Sweden and Federal President Horst Köhler visit the Jubilee University of Greifswald. September 19, 2006, accessed May 12, 2012 .
Coordinates: 54 ° 5 ′ 41.8 " N , 13 ° 22 ′ 28.8" E