Gustav Friedrich (von) Hetsch (28 September 1788 – 7 September 1864) was a Danish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Biography

Hetsch was born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, he was the son of Philipp Friedrich von Hetsch (1758–1838). He studied at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

and in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where his teacher was

Charles Percier Charles Percier (; 22 August 1764 – 5 September 1838) was a neoclassical French architect, interior decorator and designer, who worked in a close partnership with Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, originally his friend from student days. For ...

. After finishing his studies, he worked for

Jean-Baptiste Rondelet Jean-Baptiste Rondelet (4 June 1743 – 25 September 1829) was an architectural theorist of the late Enlightenment era and chief architect of the church of Sainte-Geneviève after the death of Jacques Germain Soufflot of cancer in 1780. Rond ...

on the Church of Sainte-Geneviève. In 1812 he was recalled to Stuttgart, but soon left for Italy, where he continued his studies and met the Danish architect (1781–1865). It was Malling who in 1815 inspired Hetsch to come to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, where he taught at the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dani ...

. In 1820 he became a member of the academy, 1822 professor of perspective, 1829 professor extraordinarily, 1835 professor of architecture. One of Hetsch's first major projects was the interior decoration of the rebuilt

Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...

, where

Christian Frederik Hansen Christian Frederik Hansen (29 February 1756 – 10 July 1845), known as C. F. Hansen, was the leading Danish architect between the late 18th century and the mid 19th century, and on account of his position at the Royal Danish Academy of Art (''De ...

was the principal architect. Though most of his accomplishments were in the area of decorative art, Hetsch also designed the Great Synagogue (1833) and St. Ansgar's Church (1842) in Copenhagen. In parallel with his duties at the academy he held several other positions, including that of artistic director of the

Royal Porcelain Factory Royal Copenhagen, officially the Royal Porcelain Factory ( da, Den Kongelige Porcelænsfabrik), is a Danish manufacturer of porcelain products and was founded in Copenhagen in 1775 under the protection of Danish Dowager Queen Juliane Marie. It is ...

(1828–1857).

Gallery

File:Synagogen Krystalgade 1899.png, The Great Synagogue in Copenhagen, 1899. File:SanktAnsgar01.jpg,

St. Ansgar's Cathedral Saint Ansgar's Cathedral () in Copenhagen, Denmark is the principal church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen, which encompasses all of Denmark, including the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It was consecrated in 1842 and became a cathed ...

in Copenhagen, 2007.

References

Other sources

* * Danish neoclassical architects German emigrants to Denmark Architects from Stuttgart 1788 births 1864 deaths Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts faculty University of Tübingen alumni {{Denmark-architect-stub