Johann August Karl Soller (14 March 1805 – 6 November 1853) was a Prussian, and later, German architect."Soller, August."
''Deutsche Biographie'' (in German). Retrieved 19 Jan 2017. He was one of the most important of

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, urban planning, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed b ...

's pupils and is regarded as a representative of the Schinkel school. Soller became an influential proponent of , a Romanesque revival architectural style that became popular in German-speaking lands and among German diaspora during the 19th century.

Life and work

August Soller was born in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

, Principality of Erfurt, in 1805. He worked as a land surveyor from 1820–1822 and completed his surveyor's examination on June 22, 1822 at the ''E. S. Unger Mathematical Institute''. Soller then completed two and a half years of practical experience as a building inspector. To prepare for his master builder's examination, he moved to

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 ...

and lived with the family of his nephew Richard Lucae. In 1829 Soller was licensed as a Prussian state architect. He then served in the provinces, particularly in the

Province of Silesia The Province of Silesia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1742 and established as an official province in 1815, then became part of the German Empire in 1871. In 1919, as ...

. From 1830 to 1833 he worked as a royal construction foreman for the District Government in

Liegnitz Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. L ...

and for a time served as a construction inspector in Posen. His focus became the design of churches and the supervision of their construction. On June 1, 1833, he became a master builder for the Prussian Higher Council of Architecture () in Berlin and also became a member of the Berlin Academy of Architecture, known as the . During this period Soller was assistant to

, one of the most prominent architects in Germany. Soller took over the Department of Churches in the Construction Commission in 1841, and in 1843 was made Senior Privy Councillor () for Infrastructure. From 1851 onwards he served as Lead Councillor for construction in the Prussian Ministry of Trade. His first completely independent work was the nearly three meter high tomb of General

Ernst Ludwig von Tippelskirch Lieutenant general Ernst Ludwig von Tippelskirch (26 July 1774 in Gut Görken, Prussia – 23 January 1840 in Berlin) was a Prussian Army officer during the Napoleonic wars. Later he was commandant of Berlin and commander of the Royal Prussian Sta ...

in the ) in Berlin (1844). Soller also designed Berlin's second oldest Catholic Church constructed after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the almost forgotten church St. Marien am Behnitz in

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...

(1848). In 2002 that church was transferred into private ownership and completely renovated. He led construction of the war monument in Berlin's (1851–1853) and designed the tower of the Luisenstädtische Kirche. As a curator of monuments, Soller was also involved in the construction of

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archd ...

and the restoration of Erfurt Cathedral and the Cathedral of Trier. St Michael Berlin 1880

Soller's most important work is St. Michael's Church, Berlin (), the parish church of St. Michael and the city's third oldest Catholic church built after the

. It was constructed between 1851–1861 to plans Soller had already completed in 1845 and occupies a dramatic position on the Luisenstadt Canal. After his early death in 1853, church financial difficulties then caused a break in construction in 1855."Geschichte der St. Michael Kirche"
(in German). ''Der Förderverein zur Erhaltung der Katholischen Kirche St. Michael'' (Foundation for the Preservation of the Catholic Church of St. Michael's). Retrieved 19 Jan 2017. Soller was buried there in 1856 and the building was finally completed in 1861 by Andreas Simons,

Martin Gropius Martin Carl Philipp Gropius (11 August 1824, Berlin – 13 December 1880) was a German architect.Wirth, Irmgard (1966).Gropius, Martin Carl Philipp. In: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie''. Band 7. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. . p. 132-133 retriev ...

and particularly Soller's nephew, Richard Lucae. The church was consecrated on the 28 October 1861, by the Bishop of Breslau in the presence of the King of Prussia, William I, the future Emperor of Germany.

Legacy

Since his health was poor and he died at only 48 years old, Soller's oeuvre is not as extensive as it might have been. His designs for the spire of the (1837) and the (1844), for instance, were never carried out. However, he is regarded as the best among the state architects of the period. He sought neither fame nor honors, instead dedicating himself to principles of sound architectural design. As Soller's work became known through publications, it influenced American architects Richard M. Upjohn and

James Renwick Jr. James Renwick Jr. (November 11, 1818 – June 23, 1895) was an American architect known for designing churches and museums. He designed the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C., and St. Patrick's Cathedral (Manhattan), St. Patric ...

in the mid-1840s, effectively initiating a

Romanesque revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

in the United States. Soller's work also influenced

Miklós Ybl Miklós Ybl (6 April 1814 in Székesfehérvár – 22 January 1891 in Budapest) was one of Europe's leading architects in the mid to late nineteenth century as well as Hungary's most influential architect during his career. His most well-known w ...

, one of Europe's leading architects and Hungary's most influential during the mid to late 19th century. A number of Soller's significant works were damaged in World War II and demolished in its aftermath. St. Michael's was heavily damaged on the night of Feb 3, 1945 during the bombing of Berlin. It was stabilized and partially restored between 1948 and 1953, with the installation of a worship space in the transept. More repair and restoration work continued between 1976 and 1998, although the front façade and

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

remain a ruin. The survived the war without significant damage, but it became overshadowed by more pressing events surrounding the

Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...

. It was demolished by the city on August 19, 1948. The Luisenstädtische Kirche burnt during the bombings of February 3, 1945, with Soller's west tower still standing. However, by 1961 the church's ruins were located in the boundary strip of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

and it too was demolished in 1964. The foundations still remain in the former cemetery, which is now a park."Luisenstädtische Church"
Berlin Lexicon, Edition Luisenstadt 2002 (in German). Retrieved 20 Jan 2017.

Gallery

File:Behnitz2.jpg, Church of St. Marien am Behnitz, Berlin-Spandau (1848) File:Behnitz8a.jpg, Church of St. Marien am Behnitz as restored in 2006 File:Relief Alte Jakobstr 56 (Mitte) Luisenstadt-Kirche.jpg, Luisenstädtische Kirche (1845), memorial plaque at the site File:Berlin Invalidensaeule ZfB.jpg, (1853), front elevation File:Berlin, Germany (April 2016) - 035.JPG, St. Michael's Church, Berlin

Writings

* Soller, August: ''Entwürfe zu Kirchen, Pfarr- und Schul-Häusern'' zum amtl. Gebr. bearb. u. hrsg. von der Kgl. Preuss. Ober-Bau-Deputation. Potsdam: Riegel Lfg. 1 (1844) bis Lfg. 13 (1855)

References

External links