Christian Zais (4 March 1770 – 26 April 1820) was a German architect and

city planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

. Zai was born in

Cannstatt Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's ...

, studied at the

Karlsschule Stuttgart Hohe Karlsschule (''Karl's High School'') was the strict military academy founded by Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart, Germany. It was first founded in 1770 as a military orphanage, but then converted into a military academy in 1773 ...

, and was taught by Karl August Friedrich von Duttenhofer and Johann Jakob Atzel. He designed several buildings in the spa city of Wiesbaden.

Work

Christian Zais' work characterizes the inner city of

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

with his lasting urban design. Zais designed a number of important buildings in the spa town, including the construction (1808-1811) of the Old Kurhaus Wiesbaden, the Erbprinzenpalais at

Wilhelmstrasse Wilhelmstrasse (german: Wilhelmstraße, see ß) is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte and Kreuzberg districts of Berlin, Germany. Until 1945, it was recognised as the centre of the government, first of the Kingdom of Prussia, later of t ...

(used today as the Chamber of Commerce) in 1813, and the Four Seasons hotel which was destroyed during Allied bombings in 1945. He promoted the use of cheaper materials at the time, including extensive use of

rammed earth Rammed earth is a technique for constructing foundations, floors, and walls using compacted natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently as a sustainable building method. ...

; some of these constructions remain to this day. 1818 saw Zais develop a city master plan for the "enlargement and beautification of the city"; the plan included surrounding the city's historic district with new streets in a pentagonal arrangement. Zais faced strong opposition from the city's inhabitants while implementing his ideas, which were backed by

William, Duke of Nassau Wilhelm (Given names: ''Georg Wilhelm August Heinrich Belgicus''; 14 June 1792, Kirchheimbolanden – 20/30 August 1839, Bad Kissingen) was joint sovereign Duke of Nassau, along with his father's cousin Frederick Augustus, reigning from 1816 unt ...

, operating from his Biebrich Palace residence. Given this opposition, Zais deliberately placed the Kurhaus outside the city bounds. Using private funds, 1821 saw the culmination of the Four Seasons hotel and bath house construction, containing 140 rooms. This single building almost bankrupt the Zais family. Facing brisk opposition again from the local community, which sabotaged the spa's water sources, Zais died in

before the project's completion. Initially buried at Heidenmauer, in 1832 his remains were moved to the cemetery on Platter street. His grave was replaced by a plaque.H. Bremme: Later Triumph. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 27 May 1995, p. 46.

Gallery

File:Kelkheim Münster katholische Kirche.JPG, St. Dionysius church in Kelkheim-Münster File:Wiesbaden Kurhaus.jpg, Kurhaus, 1820 File:Wiesbaden Kurhaus Zeis-Saal.JPG, Christian Zeis room in Kurhaus Wiesbaden File:Schenksches haus.jpg, Schenksche Haus in Wiesbaden File:St-Bartholomaeus-Zeilsheim-1.jpg, St. Bartholomäus Zeilsheim

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zais, Christian Architects from Stuttgart 1770 births 1820 deaths People educated at the Karlsschule Stuttgart