Martin Emil Ferdinand Haller (1835–1925) 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 ...

, who designed the

Hamburg Rathaus Hamburg City Hall (, ) is the seat of local government of Hamburg, Germany. It is the seat of the government of Hamburg and as such, the seat of one of Germany's 16 state parliaments. The Rathaus is located in the Altstadt quarter in the city ...

and the building of the Consulate General of the United States in Hamburg, and a member of the

Hamburg Parliament The Hamburg Parliament (; literally “Hamburgish Citizenry” or, more poetically, “Hamburgish Burgess (title), Burgessry”) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. ...

Early life and family

Haller was born on 1 December 1835 in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. His father was the jurist

Nicolaus Ferdinand Haller Nicolaus Ferdinand Haller (21 January 1805 in Hamburg – 10 October 1876 in Hamburg) was a jurist, a senator and the First Mayor of Hamburg, and the head of state from 1863 to 1864; 1866 to 1867; 1870 to 1873. Family The Haller family was one ...

(1805–1876), a

Mayor of Hamburg The government of Hamburg is divided into Executive (government), executive, Legislature, legislative and judiciary, judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and ...

. Haller's mother Adele was a Jewish-born daughter of Amschel Oppenheimer. Haller attended the Gymnasium ''

Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums The ''Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums'' ( ''Academic School of the Johanneum'', short: Johanneum) is a '' Gymnasium'', or grammar school, in Hamburg, Germany. It is Hamburg's oldest school and was founded in 1529 by Johannes Bugenhagen. The sch ...

'' until 1855. Haller studied architecture in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In 1865, Haller married Antonie (née Schramm, 1846–1925) and had a son, Ferdinand (1871–1963), who was deputy director of the HAPAG, and 3 daughters, Antonie and Marie-Ellen. Haller died on 26 May 1925 in Hamburg.

Hamburg career

In 1861 Haller returned to Hamburg and opened an office. He was 10 years long chairperson of the professional organisation of architects and member of the

for 14 years. In 1880 Haller and 8 other architects founded a syndicate and presented the

Senate of Hamburg The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and local community politics. It takes place in two ...

a new draft for the

. In 1886 the construction started. Haller planned more than 562 building projects.

Influenced

Haller was influenced by Charles Garnier; the architect of the

Paris opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

;

Gottfried Semper Gottfried Semper (; 29 November 1803 – 15 May 1879) was a German architect, art critic, and professor of architecture who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in ...

, and the Italian

High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...

. He disliked the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

movement.

Selected works

* Alsterufer # 27 (now Consulate General of the United States in Hamburg and modified) * Office building (bank) for M.M.Warburg & CO * Concert hall

Laeiszhalle The Laeiszhalle (), formerly Musikhalle, is a concert hall in the Neustadt, Hamburg, Neustadt of Hamburg, Germany, and home to the Hamburger Symphoniker and the Philharmoniker Hamburg. The hall is named after the German shipowning company F. ...

* Office building for the ''Reederei Woermann'', coll. ''Afrikahaus'' * Office building for Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG) *

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg is one of the larger College or university school of music, universities of music in Germany. It was founded in 1950 as ''Staatliche Hochschule für Musik'' (Public college of music) on the base of t ...

Honors

The city of Hamburg honored Haller with a street called ''Hallerstraße''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haller, Martin 1835 births 1925 deaths 19th-century German architects Members of the Hamburg Parliament Architects from Hamburg People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums