August Friedrich Wilhelm Orth (25 July 1828,

Windhausen Windhausen is a village and a former municipality in the Göttingen (district), district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 March 2013, it is part of the municipality Bad Grund. Sights Protestant St. John's Church in the centre of ...

- 11 May 1901,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) was a German architect and designer.

Life and work

He was the son of a manor tenant. In 1834, his family relocated to

Korbach Korbach (), officially the Hanseatic City of Korbach (German language, German: Hansestadt Korbach), is the district seat of Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany. It is over a thousand years old and is located on the German Timber-Frame Ro ...

. After graduating from secondary school there, in 1848, he attended the

Technical University of Braunschweig TU Braunschweig (, unofficially ''University of Braunschweig – Institute of Technology'') is the oldest ' (comparable to an institute of technology in the American system) in Germany. It was founded in 1745 as Collegium Carolinum and is a membe ...

, where he studied architecture. He also studied painting at the local art school. In 1850, he transferred to the

Bauakademie The Bauakademie (Building Academy, also known as the ''Schinkelsche Bauakademie'') in Berlin, Germany, was a higher education institution for the art of building to train master builders. Founded on 18 March 1799 by King Frederick William II ...

in Berlin. His instructors there included

Friedrich August Stüler Friedrich August Stüler (28 January 1800 – 18 March 1865) was an influential Prussian architect and builder. His masterpiece is the Neues Museum in Berlin, as well as the dome of the triumphal arch of the main portal of the Berliner Schloss. ...

Heinrich Strack Johann Heinrich Strack (6 July 1805, Bückeburg – 13 June 1880, Berlin) was a German architect of the '' Schinkelschule''. His notable works include the Berlin Victory Column. Life and work His father, , was a painter of portraits and vedu ...

Karl Bötticher Karl Gottlieb Wilhelm Bötticher (29 May 1806, Nordhausen – 19 June 1889, Berlin) was a German archaeologist who specialized in architecture. Biography He was born in Nordhausen. He studied at the Academy of Architecture in Berlin, and was af ...

and

Wilhelm Stier Wilhelm Stier (born 8 May 1799 in Błonie near Warsaw, died 19 September 1856 in Schöneberg, full name: Friedrich Ludwig Wilhelm Stier) was a German architect and university teacher at the Berlin Bauakademie. Life and career Wilhelm Stier wa ...

, who introduced him to the newer trends. In 1854, he passed the examination for construction manager. Unable to find work immediately, he chose instead to pursue his artistic studies, at the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Kingdom of ...

He attempted to establish himself as an architect by entering competitions. In 1855, he submitted a design for a prince's palace then, in 1856, won the , for designing a Romanesque church. After a study trip throughout Germany, he performed some professional work for the

Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company The Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company (, BME), also referred to as the Berg-Mark Railway Company or, more rarely, as the Bergisch-Markische Railway Company, was a German railway company that together with the Cologne-Minden Railway (''Cöln-Min ...

, and passed his Master Builder examination at the Prussian Academy in 1858. More study trips followed; to France and Italy. From 1861 to 1862, he worked for Bergisch-Markisch again, then found employment with the Berlin–Görlitz Railway Company, becoming the head of their technical office in 1868. He then opened his own architectural firm. His most important client was the railway magnate,

Bethel Henry Strousberg Bethel Henry Strousberg (20 November 1823 – 31 May 1884) was a German Jewish industrialist and railway entrepreneur during Germany's rapid industrial expansion in the 19th century. He cemented his social standing with the construction of the ...

. He designed and built two of his homes: the Palais Strousberg on

Wilhelmstraße Wilhelmstraße, or Wilhelmstrasse (see ß; ; ) is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte and Kreuzberg districts of Berlin, Germany. Until 1945, it was recognised as the centre of the government, first of the Kingdom of Prussia, and lat ...

in Berlin, and his family estate, Schloss Zbirow, in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. He also designed buildings at the (slaughterhouse), for a company in which Strousberg had controlling interest. Since 1865, he had been interested in experimenting with

room acoustics Room acoustics is a subfield of acoustics dealing with the behaviour of sound in enclosed or partially-enclosed spaces. The architectural details of a room influences the behaviour of sound waves within it, with the effects varying by frequency ...

, and employed what he learned in the design of several churches; notably the , the Gethsemane Church, and the in Berlin, as well as the in

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

. From 1871 to 1873, he developed a proposal for a "Berliner Centralbahn", a four-track, circular,

light-rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features fr ...

system, but it was viewed as impractical. From 18772 to 1877, he served on the board of the "Architektenvereins zu Berlin" (Architects' Association). In 1877, he became a "Baurat" (Building Official), and was promoted to

Geheimrat was the title of the highest advising officials at the imperial, royal, or princely courts of the Holy Roman Empire, who jointly formed the ''Geheimer Rat'' reporting to the ruler. The term remained in use during subsequent monarchic reigns in Ge ...

in 1893. He was awarded the

Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle () was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, o ...

, 4th class, in 1884.''Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung'', 1884, #1, pg.8
Online
. He was also a member of the Prussian Academy, and an honorary member of the

Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

Berlin-kreuzberg emmauskirche 20050309 380

References

External links

*
Entry for August Orth
@ the Architecture Museum of the

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orth, August 1828 births 1901 deaths 19th-century German architects People from Osterode (district) People from the Duchy of Brunswick TU Braunschweig alumni Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni

Life and work

References

Further reading

External links