Frankfurt Hauptfriedhof Mausoleum Reichenbach

Friedrich Maximilian Hessemer (24 February 1800 in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

– 1 December 1860 in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

) was a German architect and author.

Life

His father was Bernhard Hessemer, the Baurat (building commissioner) of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. He spent several years at the local Gymnasium, but did not graduate, following instead his father's wishes that he join the Grand Ducal Artillery. In military school, he showed a special interest in mathematics. He later spent two years at the

University of Gießen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...

, studying science and philosophy. In 1817, he was a participant in the " Wartburg Festival". His cousins Adolf Ludwig,

Karl Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austria ...

and

Paul Follen Paul Follenius (May 5, 1799 – October 3, 1844) was a German-American attorney and farmer, who had founded the Gießener Auswanderungsgesellschaft (''Gießen Emigration Society''). Early life He was born at Gießen, in Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger ...

were among the movement's leaders. He began writing while at Geißen, producing mostly poems at first. When he returned to Darmstadt, he took up the study of architecture. After completing his training in 1827, he embarked on a two-year study trip to Italy. While in Rome, he learned that he had been accepted as a teacher at the

Städelschule The Städelschule (), Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, is a tertiary school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It accepts about 20 students each year from 500 applicants, and has a total of approximately 150 students of visual a ...

in Frankfurt, but was allowed to extend his study trip with a visit to Egypt. He returned with hundreds of drawings of Arabic art and architecture and took up his duties in August 1830. A year later, he became a member of the

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

. In 1838, he refused an offer from the

Dresden University of Technology TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...

and remained at the Städelschule for the rest of his life. His grave in the Frankfurter Hauptfriedhof is next to one of his best-known works, the Mausoleum of Countess Emilie von Reichenbach-Lessonitz.

Selected writings

Architecture

* ''Historic Designs and Patterns in Color from Arabic and Italian Sources'', Dover (1990) * ''Das Fahrtor'' (an old city gate in Frankfurt; demolished in 1840), in: ''Archiv für Frankfurter Geschichte und Kunst'' (AFGK) No.1, 1839 * ''Der Pfarrthurm in Bezug auf seinen ästhetischen Charakter und in Berücksichtigung seines weiteren Ausbaues'' (The Parish Tower of Frankfurt Cathedral, its aesthetic character in light of its extensions), in: AFGK No.3, 1844

Poetry

* ''Jussuf und Nafisse'', a narrative poem in oriental style (1847). Reissued by the Nabu Press (2012) * ''Lieder der unbekannten Gemeinde'' (Songs of the Unknown Congregation), Leipzig, F.A.Brockhaus (1854), reissued by the Nabu Press (2012) * ''Ring und Pfeil'' (Ring and Arrow) (1859), a novel in verse

Travel letters

* ''Briefe seiner Reise nach Italien, Malta und Ägypten, 1827-1830'', 5 vols., Maximilian Gesellschaft, Hamburg, (2002–03)

References

External links

* * University of Gießen. Rolf Haaser's Homepage. Includes a short biography of Hessemer with commentary on ''Jussuf und Nafisse'' and Hessemer's interest in Arabic design

* The Milton S. Eisenhower Library of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

: F. W. Hessemer documents collectio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hessemer, Friedrich Maximilian 1800 births 1860 deaths 19th-century German architects 19th-century German poets Architects from Darmstadt Burials at Frankfurt Main Cemetery German male poets 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni Writers from Darmstadt