Melchior Rasp (8 January 1715 – 19 March 1785) was an Austrian

master mason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. He built several notable buildings in the Moravian community in today's

Old Salem Old Salem is a historic district of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, which was originally settled by the Moravian community in 1766. It features a living-history museum which interprets the restored Moravian community. The non- ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. These buildings are some of the few that have survived. Rasp is described as having played an important role in the early Moravian architecture in Old Salem over three decades. His most notable work is the Single Brothers' House, built in the ''fachwerk'' (or half-timbered) style in 1769.

Early life

Rasp was born in the Austrian capital of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

early in the new year of 1715.''The Town Builders''
– Adelaide L. Fries, December 1915 He worked in the

salt works A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The salt pans are shallow and expansive, allowing sunlight to penetrate and reach the seawater. Natural salt pans are formed throu ...

as a child, before moving to the Netherlands at the age of fifteen. From there, he moved again, to

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, where he began to learn the trade of a mason. In the 1740s, he was living in the Moravian town of Herrnhag, where he joined the local congregation.

Career

In 1750, Rasp emigrated to

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

in the

Pennsylvania Colony The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

. He remained there for five years, then moved to

Wachovia Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asset ...

Province of North Carolina The Province of North Carolina, originally known as the Albemarle Settlements, was a proprietary colony and later royal colony of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776.(p. 80) It was one of the five Southern col ...

, around the same time as carpenter Christian Triebel. Rasp was one of eight men selected to move to nearby

to begin constructing the settlement's buildings, with material brought in from

Bethabara Al-Maghtas (, al-Maġṭas, meaning or ), officially known as Baptism Site "Bethany Beyond the Jordan", is an archaeological World Heritage Site in Jordan, on the east bank of the Jordan River, reputed to be the location of the Baptism of Jesu ...

. Johann Gottlob Krause became Rasp's apprentice in March 1781. In October 1782, Krause became a journeyman under Rasp.

Selected works

Rasp was responsible for the construction of the following buildings: *

Nazareth Hall Nazareth Hall (1752–1929) was a school in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. It was built, by master mason Melchior Rasp, in 1754 in hopes that Count Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf would return from Europe and settle permanently in the community; he never ...

Nazareth, Pennsylvania Nazareth is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough's population was 6,053 at the 2020 census. Nazareth is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 a ...

(1752) * Single Brothers' House, Old Salem, North Carolina (1769)

Personal life

Rasp endured several ailments from his profession. During one of his journeys between Bethabara and Old Salem, he fell and drove a pipe stem through the roof his mouth, which made him unable to work for two months. In 1778, he lost an eye as a result of stone chip striking him. By early 1784, Rasp was unable to work. He was succeeded as

by Krause.

Death

Rasp died in 1785, aged 70. He is interred in

God's Acre Cemetery God's Acre Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery in front of Archerfield Airport, along Beatty Road, between Kerry & Mortimer Roads, Archerfield, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Grenier's Burial Ground, Coopers Plains Ce ...

in Old Salem.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasp, Melchior 1715 births 1785 deaths People from Salzburg People from Salem, North Carolina Stonemasons People from the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg