Johann Heinrich Strack (6 July 1805,

Bückeburg Bückeburg (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Bückeburg ha ...

– 13 June 1880,

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 of the '' Schinkelschule''. His notable works include the

Berlin Victory Column The Victory Column ( , from '' Sieg'' 'victory' + '' Säule'' 'column') is a monument in Berlin, Germany. Designed by Heinrich Strack after 1864 to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Second Schleswig War, by the time it was inaugura ...

Life and work

His father, , was a painter of portraits and

vedute A ''veduta'' (; : ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''. Origins This genre of landscape originated ...

. His mother's brother was

Johann Heinrich Tischbein Johann Heinrich Tischbein (3 October 1722 – 22 August 1789) was a German painter. He was one of the most respected European painters in the 18th century and an important member of the Tischbein family of German painters, which spanned three ge ...

, a famous portrait and

history painter History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek mythology, Greek and Roman my ...

. Between 1824 and 1838, he studied at both 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 ...

and 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 ...

. During that time, he passed the surveyor's examination (1825), the construction manager examination (1827) and the Master Builder's examination (1838), which qualified him to be an inspector. He also assisted

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 ...

, furnishing an apartment for Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm at the

Berliner Schloss The Berlin Palace (), formerly known as the Royal Palace (), is a large building adjacent to Berlin Cathedral and the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin. It was the main residence of the Electors of Brandenburg, Kings of Prussia and Germa ...

; and

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. ...

, in renovating the

Ordenspalais The Ordenspalais ("Palace of the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg), Order

f Saint John F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounce ...

) was a building on the northern corner of Wilhelmplatz with Wilhelmstraße in Berlin (now in Berlin-Mitte). History Erection of the building ...

. The latter resulted in a lifetime friendship. His first independent employment was as a construction manager, for renovating the

Prinz-Albrecht-Palais The Prinz-Albrecht-Palais was a Rococo city palace in the historic Friedrichstadt (Berlin), Friedrichstadt suburb of Berlin, Germany. It was located on Wilhelmstrasse 102 in the present-day Kreuzberg district, in the vicinity of Potsdamer Platz. ...

(1829–1830). He worked as an freelance manager and architect from 1832 to 1837. He began teaching at the Prussian Academy in 1839, and was appointed a Professor there in 1841. The following year, he became a building inspector for the Court, in service to then-Prince

Wilhelm Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Wilhe ...

. In 1850, he became a member of the new "Technical Building Deputation". He succeeded Stüler as a Professor at the Bauakademie in 1854. He also taught drawing to Wilhelm's son,

Friedrich Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

, and accompanied him on a trip to Italy. In 1862, during excavations in Athens, Strack,

Ernst Curtius Ernst Curtius (; 2 September 181411 July 1896) was a German archaeologist, historian and museum director. Biography He was born in Lübeck. On completing his university studies he was chosen by Christian August Brandis, C. A. Brandis to acco ...

and

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 ...

discovered the

Theatre of Dionysus The Theatre of Dionysus (or Theatre of Dionysos, ) is an ancient Greek theatre in Athens. It is built on the south slope of the Acropolis hill, originally part of the sanctuary of Dionysus Eleuthereus (Dionysus the Liberator). The first ''orches ...

, near the

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

. Three years later, he was accepted as a foreign member of the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

, and began writings texts on architectural subjects. When he retired in 1876, then-Emperor Wilhelm I appointed him "Architect to the Emperor". His tomb at Dorotheenstadt Cemetery was designed by two of his students; Reinhold Persius and .

Selected works

* 1845–1849:

Babelsberg Palace Babelsberg Palace () lies in the eponymous park and quarter of Potsdam, the capital of the German state of Brandenburg, near Berlin. For over 50 years it was the summer residence of Prince William, later German Emperor William I and King of Pruss ...

, completion after the death of

Ludwig Persius Friedrich Ludwig Persius (15 February 1803 in Potsdam – 12 July 1845 in Potsdam) was a Prussian architect and a student of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Persius assisted Schinkel with, among others, the building of the Charlottenhof Palace an ...

* 1854: Refurbishment of the Old Palace,

Unter den Linden Unter den Linden (, "under the Tilia, linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte (locality), Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. Running from the Berlin Palace to the Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the Tilia, linden trees (known ...

, Berlin * 1853–1856: St. Andrew's Church, formerly Stralauer Platz,

Friedrichshain Friedrichshain () is a quarter (''Ortsteil'') of the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany. From its creation in 1920 until 2001, it was a freestanding Boroughs of Berlin, city borough. Formerly part of East Berlin, it is adjace ...

* 1856–1858: Expansion of the Kronprinzenpalais,

, Berlin * 1867–1868: Gatehouses of the

Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate ( ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin. One of the best-known landmarks of Germany, it was erected on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin t ...

* 1869–1873:

, now in

Großer Stern Der Große Stern () is the central square of the Großer Tiergarten park in Berlin; the Berlin Victory Column is sited in it. It is crossed by the Straße des 17. Juni, at its half. The other 3 streets junctionning are: * Hofjägerallee ; ...

in the Tiergarten in Berlin * 1866–1875: Construction of the

Alte Nationalgalerie The Alte Nationalgalerie ( ''Old National Gallery'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin, Germany. The gallery was built from 1862 to 1876 by the order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia according to ...

, Berlin * 1853–1856: Flatow Tower in

Babelsberg Park Babelsberg Park () is a 114 hectare park in the northeast of the city of Potsdam, bordering on the ''Tiefen See'' lake on the River Havel. The park was first designed by the landscape artist Peter Joseph Lenné and, after him, by Prince Herma ...

* 1870/1871: Redesign of the Berlin Gerichtslaube in the park of Babelsberg Palace

Sources

* * Franz Jahn, Hans Vollmer; "Strack, Johann Heinrich", In: ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', Vol. 32: Stephens–Theodotos, E. A. Seemann, Leipzig, 1938 * ''Wochenschrift d. Architekten-Vereins zu Berlin'', Vol.2, 1907, Heymanns

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strack, Heinrich 1805 births 1880 deaths People from Bückeburg Academic staff of the Prussian Academy of Arts Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) 19th-century German architects