Carl Ludwig Wimmel (23 January 1786 – 16 February 1845) was a German

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and Hamburg's first building director. His

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 ...

buildings had a decisive influence on the cityscape of Hamburg in the 19th century; his best-known surviving buildings include the

Hamburg Stock Exchange The Hamburg Stock Exchange () is the oldest stock exchange in Germany. It was founded in 1558 in the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany ...

and the hospital in

St. Georg St. Georg (Sankt Georg; ) is a central quarter in the borough Hamburg-Mitte of Hamburg, Germany. In 2020 the population was 11,349. History In 1410 the articles 17 and 18 of a contract (''Rezeß'') between the Senate and the citizens were regula ...

Biography

Wimmel was born the son of a

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...

. Early on he came into contact with architects and sculptors such as

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 ...

Christian Daniel Rauch Christian Daniel Rauch (2 January 1777 – 3 December 1857) was a German sculptor. He founded the Berlin school of sculpture, and was the foremost German sculptor of the 19th century. Life Rauch was born at Arolsen in the Principality of ...

and

Johann Gottfried Schadow Johann Gottfried Schadow (20 May 1764 – 27 January 1850) was a German Prussian sculptor. His most iconic work is the chariot on top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Biography Schadow was born in Berlin, where his father was a poor tailor. ...

. Wimmel initially trained as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

. From 1807 he took part in free courses of the ''Patriotic Society'' to further his education. He received a scholarship which enabled him to study at the

École polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. After completing his studies in 1810, he travelled through

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

for four years. There he studied the architecture of antiquity and the Renaissance and made numerous sketches and studies. In 1815 he won the tender for the construction of a hospital in the district of St. Georg, Hamburg. In 1816 he joined the civil service and realised numerous public buildings, which still characterise the cityscape today. After he was financially secured by the public office, he soon acquired Hamburg citizenship. He married Johanna Juliana Sophie Frercks, the daughter of a Hamburg notary. The couple had seven children. After a reform of the municipal building administration, he was appointed Hamburg's first building director. Wimmel died in 1845. Many of his buildings fell victim to the Great Fire of 1842, were demolished, or destroyed 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 ...

. A collective tombstone in the area of the ''Old Hamburg Memorial Cemetery'' on the

Ohlsdorf Cemetery Ohlsdorf Cemetery ( or (former) ) in the Ohlsdorf, Hamburg, Ohlsdorf quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany, is the biggest rural cemetery in the world and the fourth-largest cemetery in the world. Most of the people buried at the cemetery are c ...

commemorates important architects, including Wimmel.

Notable works

* 1815: Monument of the expelled Hamburgers * 1817:

Dammtor Dammtor is a zone (''Ort'') of the German city of Hamburg, situated between the quarters of Rotherbaum (in the borough of Eimsbüttel) and Neustadt (in the borough of Mitte). History Originally, the ''Dammthor'' was a city gate between the ''A ...

* 1818: Steintor and Alte Wache in St. Georg * 1819: Guardhouse at Millerntor * 1819–1820: St. Pauli Church * 1820–1823: General hospital St. Georg * 1826–1827: City theatre on Dammtorstraße (today

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...

) * 1827: Lombard Bridge * 1834–1837: St. Johannis Monastery * 1837–1840: Johanneum at the Domplatz * 1837–1841: Hamburg Stock Exchange (with Franz Gustav Forsmann) * 1840–1841: Schlachthof Hamburg

Gallery

File:Hamburg.Denkstein.Opfer der Franzosenzeit.wmt.jpg, Monument in the park

Planten un Blomen Planten un Blomen () is an urban park with a size of in the inner-city of Hamburg, Germany. The name ''Planten un Blomen'' is Low German for "Plants and Flowers". History After the destruction of Hamburg's old city fortifications in the early 1 ...

File:St. Pauli Kirche Hamburg 1818.jpg, St. Pauli Church File:Krankenhaus St. Georg 06.jpg, Hospital in St. Georg File:Hamburg Stadttheater um 1890.jpg, City theatre File:The Bourse, Hamburg, Germany-LCCN2002713679.jpg, Hamburg Stock Exchange File:St.Georg.Alte Wache.Adenauer Allee.wmt.JPG, Alte Wache near Steintor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wimmel, Carl 19th-century German architects German urban planners 1786 births 1845 deaths