Carl Theodor Ottmer (19 January 1800,

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

– 22 August 1843, Berlin) was a German architect.

Life

Braunschweig Brunswick Alter Bahnhof Kopfgebaeude 2005

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 Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the No ...

) and served an apprenticeship in the building department of the

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...

. He was soon promoted and, from 1817 to 1821, received training from the Senior Architect,

Peter Joseph Krahe Peter Joseph Krahe (8 April 1758, in Mannheim – 7 October 1840, in Braunschweig) was a German architect. He was instrumental in converting the old city walls and fortifications of Braunschweig into a series of parks and other public spaces. L ...

. In 1822, he went to Berlin for further studies at the

Bauakademie The Bauakademie (''Building Academy'') in Berlin, Germany, was a higher education school for the art of building to train master builders. It originated from the construction department of the Academy of Fine Arts and Mechanical Sciences (from ...

, where he was under the direction of

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassica ...

. While there he became good friends with

Carl Friedrich Zelter Carl Friedrich Zelter (11 December 1758 15 May 1832)Grove/Fuller-Datei:Carl-Friedrich-Zelter.jpegMaitland, 1910. The Zelter entry takes up parts of pages 593-595 of Volume V. was a German composer, conductor and teacher of music. Working in his ...

, leader of the

Sing-Akademie zu Berlin The Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, also known as the Berliner Singakademie, is a musical (originally choral) society founded in Berlin in 1791 by Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, harpsichordist to the court of Prussia, on the model of the 18th-century ...

. This friendship eventually led to the construction of a permanent building for that group. 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). After a major fire virtually destroyed the

Brunswick Palace Brunswick Palace (german: Braunschweiger Schloss or ''Braunschweiger Residenzschloss'') on the ''Bohlweg'' in the centre of the city of Brunswick (german: Braunschweig), was the residence of the Brunswick dukes from 1753 to 8 November 1918. Hi ...

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. His style varied from Classical to

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, 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

*1823–1824: Berlin,

Königsstädtisches Theater Königsstädtisches Theater was the name of different theater buildings in Berlin in the 19th and 20th century. The first Königsstädtisches Theater was built by Carl Theodor Ottmer in , a former settlement neighboring Berlin that is today par ...

on the

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...

. (Demolished in 1932) *1825–1827: Berlin, Berliner Singakademie, in consultation with Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Since 1952, it has been known as the

Maxim Gorki Theatre The Maxim Gorki Theatre (german: Maxim Gorki Theater) is a theatre in Berlin- Mitte named after the Soviet writer, Maxim Gorky. In 2012, the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit named Şermin Langhoff as the artist director of the theatre. History I ...

. *1829–1831:

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).

, Herzogliches Hoftheater. (Destroyed by fire in 1908) *1830–1838: Braunschweig,

. (Severely damaged in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Demolished and partially rebuilt in 1960. Façade reconstructed in 2006/2007 using salvaged parts) *1835: Wolfenbüttel, Theater in the Schloß Wolfenbüttel. (Closed in 1903, later converted into classrooms) *1838–1841:

Fallersleben Fallersleben is a part (''Ortsteil'') of the City of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population of 11,269 (as of 2010). The village of Fallersleben was first mentioned in 942 under the name of ''Valareslebo''. Fallersleben became a city ...

infantry barracks. (in Florentine style)Claudia A. Gronen: *1839: Braunschweig: Villa von Bülow, now home to the Georg-Eckert-Institut für internationale Schulbuchforschung ( Institute for International Textbook Research)

References

External links

Memory Network: Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ottmer, Carl Theodor 1800 births 1843 deaths People from Braunschweig People from the Duchy of Brunswick Technical University of Braunschweig alumni 19th-century German architects

Life

Major projects

References

Further reading

External links