Heinrich Hübsch

Pretty Heinrich ( born February 9, 1795 in Weinheim, † April 3, 1863 in Karlsruhe) was an architect and Grand Ducal Director of Building in Karlsruhe.

Curriculum vitae

Pretty Heinrich grew up in Weinheim on the mountain road to the son of the princely Thurn and Taxis postal manager Karl Samuel Pretty. After attending high school in Darmstadt, under the direction of the teacher stood IG carpenter at that time, Henry Pretty wrote in the spring of 1813 at the University of Heidelberg, where he studied philosophy and mathematics. The scientific training did not satisfy the student, rather awakened by the employment of works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schlegel and the German Renaissance painting collection of the brothers Sulpiz Boisserée and Melchior Boisserée (1786-1851) his interest in art.

After entering the building school Friedrich Weinbrenner in Karlsruhe 1815 Pretty had initially Reset his own artistic ambitions. In 1817 he undertook a journey to Italy, where he lived during his three -year stay preferably in Rome, the center of German art life. Pretty studied the ancient architecture and was after a trip in 1819 to Athens and Constantinople Opel ( with Joseph and Franz Heger Thürmer ) 1822 in Heidelberg two books on Greek architecture out. Important for its development, however, was dealing with the living artists in Rome.

Pretty learned in Rome also know the early Christian basilicas, in which he recognized role models for his own work. The Gothic upper and central Italy, which had appeared to him on the journey imperfect in comparison with the German Gothic, won for him on the return of vital importance.

1820 Pretty laid at Friedrich Weinbrenner the state exam and returned, because in Karlsruhe not a suitable activity for him was, in 1822 to complete his studies back to Rome. On the recommendation of the historian Johann Friedrich Böhmer he received in the spring of 1824 a position as a teacher at the vocational school of the newly founded Städel Institute in Frankfurt, in 1827 he moved after he himself as the architect of protestant main church in Barmen ( 1825-1829 ) and the orphanage in Frankfurt (1826-1829) had made ​​a name in the Baden government service. 1832 Pretty was put in charge of the Karlsruhe Building School, where he taught until 1854. This school of architecture, which was conducted as a private institution of Weinbrenner since 1800, was since 1825 part of the newly founded Polytechnic School of Karlsruhe, later the University of Karlsruhe and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology today emerged from the. As Weinbrenner successor in the leadership of the Baden Baudirektion he was until his death in 1863, the leading architect of the Grand Duchy of Baden.

During his teaching career was followed by four more trips to Rome in 1838, in the fall of 1849, when he converted to Catholicism, 1853/54 and 1859 / 60th

Works

Among the major works of Heinrich Pretty include the following buildings

• University of Karlsruhe (main building of the former Polytechnic School, 1833-1835 ),
• Kunsthalle (1837-1846)
• Orangerie (1853-1857)
• Theatre (1851-1853, destroyed 1944)
• Drinking Hall Baden -Baden (1837-1840)
• Men penitentiary Bruchsal (1841-1848)
• Under Barmer main church in Wuppertal ( 1828-32 )
• Karlstor (1828-1830)
• St. Louis in Ludwigshafen am Rhein
• Botanical Garden of Karlsruhe (1853-1857)

The tower nobility of Constance Cathedral (1851-1853) was created under Hübsch approval, but it is not known whether he also delivered the draft to do so. Also of him came the draft Westbau of Speyer Cathedral ( 1848-1853 ).

In 1829 the foundation stone for the church Ludwig Freiburg was laid, which was built as a church of the monastery Tennenbach in the Middle Ages in the Romanesque style. Pretty planned the church in Freiburg, which was built from 1829 to 1839, in "free style " according to his ideas by. Overall, he built 30 churches for both denominations in the Baden region, thus making the transition from classicism to historicism in this region, he preferred doing the round arch style of early Christian basilicas.

Architectural theorist

In his architectural theory, writing "In what style should we build? " He expects in 1828 with the classical architecture of the early 19th century from. Pretty As the question "In what style should we build? " Stated that he was aware of his response sure. The modern round arch style, which represented his program, hardly had a free choice between equivalent alternatives. Nevertheless, his question sums up the problem clearly in words, the first occurred with the 19th century in art history. In the moment when the question was asked, she received an ever more content, and it became increasingly difficult to answer clearly. The era of historicism, who considered the classicism of the early 19th century as cold and poor, bond made ​​at all periods of Western art and helped himself to so older the century, an ever more luxuriant design.

Monument

For the castle garden in Karlsruhe, the sculptor Karl Friedrich Moest created a monument to the architect.