Monument to Matthaus Poppelmann, Dresden Castle

Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann (1662–1736) was a German master builder and architect who helped to rebuild

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

after the fire of 1685. His most famous work is the Zwinger Palace.

Life

Pöppelmann was born in

Herford Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford. Geography Geographic locat ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

on 3 May 1662 the son of a shopkeeper. In 1680 he began working on an unpaid basis as a building designer in the court of Dresden Castle. As court architect for the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony,

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as K ...

, he designed the grandiose

Zwinger "" () is a German word for outer ward or outer bailey. It represents an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the post-classical and early modern periods to improve the defence ...

palace in Dresden. He was also in charge of major works at Dresden Castle,

Pillnitz Castle Pillnitz Palace (german: Schloss Pillnitz) is a restored Baroque schloss at the eastern end of the city of Dresden in the German state of Saxony. It is located on the bank of the River Elbe in the former village of Pillnitz. It was the summer r ...

and he designed the Vineyard Church (''Weinbergkirche'') in Pillnitz. Pöppelmann, together with

Johann Christoph Naumann Johann Christoph von Naumann was the urban designer who, with Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, designed portions of the city of Warsaw, Poland, including the Saxon Axis and other important streetscapes. 1729-30 he modernized the town hall at Bautzen ...

, developed an urban plan for a portion of the city of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, which was only partially realized, including the

Saxon Axis The Saxon Axis ( pl, Oś Saska) is a feature of the historical city centre of Warsaw. It is a line running from the Vistula through the Presidential Palace, the Krakowskie Przedmieście, Saxon Square, Saxon Palace, Saxon Garden, Lubomirski Palac ...

and other important streetscapes. He died in

on 17 January 1736. He is buried in the Matthauskirche in Dresden. He was the grandfather of the famous actress

Friederike Sophie Seyler Friederike Sophie Seyler (1738, Dresden – 22 November 1789, Schleswig; née Sparmann, formerly married Hensel) was a German actress, playwright and librettist. Alongside Friederike Caroline Neuber, she was widely considered Germany's greatest ac ...

.Mertens, Klaus,
Pöppelmann, Matthaeus Daniel
in: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' 20 (2001), pp. 570–572

References

External links

1662 births 1737 deaths People from Herford German urban planners 17th-century German architects 18th-century German architects Rococo architects Architects from Dresden {{Germany-architect-stub