| Frederick William Von Erdmannsdorff |
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Information AboutFrederick William Von Erdmannsdorff |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT FREDERICK WILLIAM VON ERDMANNSDORFF | |
| 1736 births | |
| erdmannsdorff, frederick william von | |
| 1800 deaths | |
| people from dresden | |
| german architects | |
| neoclassical architects | |
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LIFE Frederick William was born in Dresden to the Saxon court architect Baron Ernst Ferdinand von Erdmannsdorff and his wife Henriette Margarethe von Heßler. After his education at the Knight's Academy in Dresden from 1750-1754 he attended the University Of Halle-Wittenberg from 1754-1758, where he encountered Franz Von Anhalt-Dessau , whose service he entered in 1758. His later fame cannot be seen in the same context as the Anhalt prince and the grounds of Wörlitz, created around this time. In accordance with the educational ideals of the Enlightenment Prince Franz had the aim of reorganising his lands into a cohesive 'garden realm' (''Gartenreich''). In addition to the beautification of the landscape, cottages of various architectural styles, antique temples, bridges and memorials were to be built and to be accessible to everyone. He employed his friend and architect Erdmannsdorf to oversee the architectural arrangement of the grounds. On educational trips between 1761 and 1775 to Italy, Holland, England, France and Switzerland, Erdmannsdorf gathered ideas for the architectural arrangement of the Wörlitz grounds. Accompanied part of the way by the Prince, he got to know the style of the Scottish architects Robert and James Adam (the ''Adams Style''). At the same time he was impressed by the architect William Chambers . In Rome Erdmannsdorff made the acquaintance of the archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann and the architect Charles Louis Clérisseau , and contacted the master builder Giovanni Battista Piranesi and painter Jakob Philipp Hackert . The contemporary art and culture of England made a particular impression on him. The architecture of English classicalism, with the stark façade structures of Andrea Palladio as its exemplar, can be seen replicated in Erdmannsdorff's later creations and was the strongest influence on his work next to the architecture and interior design of the ancient Italians. In this artistic context he built, amongst others, the Wörlitz Castle. Although Erdmannsdorff favoured this particular architectural style, he also created buildings in the Neo-gothic style preferred by Prince Franz. Among others, he converted the influences he had received on his trip to England into the building of the ''Gothic House'' in the Wörlitz Grounds. During his time in Anhalt-Dessau he married Wilhelmine von Ahlimb in 1781 , with whom he had two daughters. In 1786 he was appointed by the Prussia n king Frederick William II to his residence, whom he served intermittently until 1789 in Berlin and Potsdam . Already in his first year he became an honorary member of the 'Royal Academy of Arts and Mechanical Sciences' in Berlin. At the same time he received a contract to convert the abandoned bedroom and study of the dead Prussian king Frederick The Great in Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam . Consequently the first consistently classical interior of the Potsdam and Berlin palaces was built to Erdmannsdorffs' specifications. Further interior work in the Berlin City Palace followed in 1787-1789. Apart from this work he was above all active as a consultant in the areas of art, culture and education in Brandenburg. Between 1789 and 1790 he stayed again in Italy. In Rome he made the acquaintance of the painters Angelika Kauffman and Jakob Phillipp Hackert , as well as the sculptors Alexander Trippel , Antonio Canova and Bartolomeo Cavaceppi . After a trip to Weimar in 1791 with Prince Franz, he resided at the courts of Gotha , Kassel and Karlsruhe . In 1796 he took over the artistic direction of the ''Chalkographische Gesellschaft'' in Dessau, founded in 1795, whose goal was to popularise artistic works through etchings. At this time he also worked as a lecturer at the Berlin School of Architecture, where he taught Friedrich Gilly among others. Baron Frederick William von Erdmannsdorff died in Dessau on 9th March, 1800 at the age of 64. His grave can be found at the New Graveyard (today known as Historical Cemetary I) in Dessau. WORKS Buldings in Wörlitz and the Wörlitz Grounds
Various other garden pavillions and architecture. Dessau
Potsdam
Berlin
REFERENCES This article is based on a translation of the .
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