Carl Theodor Ottmer

Carl Theodor Ottmer (date unknown)

Carl Theodor Ottmer (19 January 1800, Braunschweig – 22 August 1843, Berlin) was a German architect.[1]

Life

He was the son of Johann Heinrich Gottfried Ottmer (1767–1814), a surgeon, and his second wife Elisabeth. He began his architectural training in 1816 at the Collegium Carolinum (now the Braunschweig University of Technology)[2] and served an apprenticeship in the building department of the Duchy of Brunswick. He was soon promoted and, from 1817 to 1821, received training from the Senior Architect, Peter Joseph Krahe.[3] In 1822, he went to Berlin for further studies at the Bauakademie, where he was under the direction of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. While there he became good friends with Carl Friedrich Zelter, leader of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. This friendship eventually led to the construction of a permanent building for that group.[1]

The old Braunschweig train station, now the Norddeutsche Landesbank

He later refused an appointment as Court Architect in Berlin and spent the years 1827 to 1829 travelling through France and Italy. Upon his return, he married Cäcilie Abich (1808-1866).[4]

After a major fire virtually destroyed the Brunswick Palace in 1830, he became the Court Architect for Braunschweig. In this capacity, he restored the palace and worked on many administrative, military and public projects.[1] His style varied from Classical to Gothic, depending on the task at hand.

His last project, the Braunschweiger Bahnhof (train station), could not be completed before his death. Suffering from a lingering illness, he went to Berlin seeking a cure and died there. The station was completed from his plans (now lost) in 1845.

Major projects

Berlin Singakademie. Painting by Eduard Gaertner (1843)
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References

  1. 1 2 3 Joseph Eduard Wessely (1887), "Ottmer, Karl Theodor", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), 24, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 570–571
  2. ↑ Carl Theodor Ottmer auf braunschweig.de
  3. ↑ Andrea Deutsch: Carl Theodor Ottmer und das Braunschweiger Schloss – Warum ein eigentlich klassizistischer Architekt ein Schloss mit so vielen barocken Elementen baut GRIN Verlag, 2003, ISBN 978-3638230568 S. 3. (E-Book)
  4. ↑ Abich, Cäcilie Charlotte Klementine. auf ora-web.swkk.de
  5. ↑ Claudia A. Gronen: Der erste Braunschweiger Hauptbahnhof von Carl Theodor Ottmer, p. 127, at Google Books

Further reading

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