The Augusteum was a building on the

Augustusplatz The Augustusplatz is a square located at the east end of the city centre of Leipzig, borough Leipzig-Mitte. It is the city's largest square and one of the largest squares in Europe. It is also part of the city's inner-city ring-road and a centra ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, to the left of the Paulinerkirche. It was built on the 1543 site of the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

and served as its main building.

History

The Augusteum was built between 1831 and 1836 to plans by Albert Geutebrück, though its façade referred back to a

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

design by

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 ...

. The building had, however, already reached its full capacity by the 1870s since the university had grown due to major urban expansion in this period. The building was generously rebuilt and expanded from 1892 to 1897 by the architect Arwed Rossbach. The Augusteum had originally only had a front onto the Augustusplatz, but, due to the demolition of the old Paulinum (i.e. the building of the medieval St. Paul's monastery and St. Paul's college), could now receive a south wing known as the Johanneum (1895), a middle wing known as the Albertinum (1896) and a west wing known as the Paulinum (1896). The renovation also altered the building's style to fit in better with other buildings on the Augustusplatz, with Neo-Renaissance and Neo Gothic façades being added to the Paulinerkirche and Augusteum to plans by Rossbach. The Augusteum was heavily damaged by bombing in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The painting '' The Prime of Greece'' by

Max Klinger Max Klinger (18 February 1857 – 5 July 1920) was a German artist who produced significant work in painting, sculpture, prints and graphics, as well as writing a treatise articulating his ideas on art and the role of graphic arts and printmakin ...

in the

assembly hall An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the s ...

was lost by burning. The

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

government decided it was beyond repair and (like the fully intact Paulinerkirche) ill-fitting for their concept of a university. Thus the two buildings were dynamited on 30 May 1968. This cleared an area on which a new university complex in functional and sober DDR architectural style was built in 1975. Until 1971 a rectory building was on the site of the Augusteum's main wing. After

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, a citizens' initiative for the reconstruction of the university church and Augusteum of Leipzig gathered, but after years of litigation, demands for reconstruction were waived in favour of the university's need for modern teaching and research facilities. A plan was drawn up by Erick van Egeraat for a campus building recalling parts of the Augusteum's façade, and an auditorium designed to appear like the Paulinerkirche, but the historic main building of the university would not rise again.

Reconstruction

In 2006, the

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

at Augustusplatz, consisting of the main building (''Hauptgebäude'') at the place of the former Augusteum and Paulinerkirche, the lecture hall building (''Hörsaalgebäude''), seminar building (''Seminargebäude'') and dining hall building (''Mensagebäude''), began reconstruction. The new building for the faculty of economic sciences and parts of the renovated seminar building, the long-overdue new dining hall building, and other parts, including the new Augusteum and Paulinum have all been completed.

Gallery

File:Baustelle paulinum augusteum 2010.jpg, The building under construction File:PaulinumAugusteum72012.JPG, The complex of buildings in 2012 File:Schinkeltor, Neues Augusteum, Universität Leipzig, 2013.JPG, The Schinkel Gate, back entrance of the Augusteum File:Universität Leipzig - Neues Augusteum (Innen, Februar 2013) 02.JPG, Inside the Augusteum

References

{{authority control 1831 establishments in the German Confederation School buildings completed in 1836 Buildings and structures in Leipzig Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II Leipzig University Neoclassical architecture in Germany