Georg August Lerch (11 August 1792,

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 ...

- 20 March 1857, Darmstadt) was a German architect and politician; a member of the Second Chamber of the .

Biography

He was the son of the Master

bricklayer A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsman and tradesman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. ...

, Johann Philipp Lerch (1762–1800), and his wife, Maria Magdalena, née Schneider. From 1801 to 1806, he attended the gymnasium in Darmstadt. He became the building manager and mathematics teacher at the School of Architecture in 1812. He moved to Karlsruhe in 1815, to join the Architectural Institute, directed by Friedrich Weinbrenner. After spending some time in Italy, he returned to Darmstadt in 1818 and became a

Master builder A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in ...

. Two years later, he married Anna Elisabeth Fersenfeld (1792–1847). In 1821, he was appointed a teacher of mathematics and architecture at the newly created Realschule. The following year, he was named the official Master Builder for the city of Darmstadt. In 1832, he was promoted to Master Builder for . After 1836, he served as a Master Builder for the court and the military and, only one year later, became the Oberbaurat (Senior Building Officer) and Oberbaudirektor (Head of Construction). In 1844, Grand Duke Louis II awarded him the Knight's Cross of the

Order of Philip the Magnanimous The Order of Merit of Philip the Magnanimous (german: Verdienstorden Philipps des Großmütigen) was an order of chivalry established by Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse on 1 May 1840, the name day of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, in his honour to ...

. Finally, in 1854, he was named an honorary Geheimrat (Privy Councilor). He retired two years later. From 1841 to 1849, he served as an elected member of the Land Estates; representing Darmstadt. During the revolutions of 1848, he was a member of the

Vorparlament The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...

in Frankfurt. Among his most familiar designs are the hall of the casino in Giessen, and St. Paul's Parish Church in

Offenbach am Main Offenbach am Main () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main (river), Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Aut ...

. Together with Georg Moller, he converted Prince Christian's Palace, on the , into the seat of the legislature. He entered a contest to design the , but his entry was not selected.

Sources

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Biography
@ the Stadtlexikon Darmstadt {{DEFAULTSORT:Lerch, Georg August 1792 births 1857 deaths Architects from Darmstadt German builders Politicians from Darmstadt