Justus Wehmer (ca.1690 - 1750) was a German master builder of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

era. He was the architect of the ( subsequently largely destroyed) eighteenth century

Hildesheim Cathedral Hildesheim Cathedral (German: '), officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary (German: ''Hohe Domkirche St. Mariä Himmelfahrt'') or simply St. Mary's Cathedral (German: ''Mariendom''), is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral in the city cent ...

and surrounding buildings. He was also responsible for the design of various town houses and manor houses in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

.Julius Seiters: Justus Wehmer – Baudirektor des Domkapitels und erster Landbaumeister im Fürstbistum Hildesheim. In: Verein für Geschichte und Kunst im Bistum Hildesheim e.V.: Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kunst im Bistum Hildesheim. 74. Jahrgang. Schnell und Steiner, Regensburg 2006, ISSN 1863-8139, pp. 275–299

Life

Aside from his work, little is known of Wehmer's life. He probably came originally from

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 ...

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

. He took his inspiration from architects such as

Hermann Korb Hermann Korb (1656, Niese (near Lügde) - 23 December 1735, Wolfenbüttel) was a German architect who worked mainly in the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Life Little is known of his early life. It is generally believed that he started ...

, Remy de la Fosse and Sudfeld Vick, and from the theoretician

Leonhard Christoph Sturm Leonhard may refer to: *Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), Swiss mathematician and physicist *Leonhard Hutter (1563–1616), German theologian *Karl Leonhard (1904–1988), German psychiatrist *Jim Leonhard (1982– ), American football safety *LEONHAR ...

. His first significant appearance comes in the

Bishopric of Hildesheim The Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim (german: Hochstift Hildesheim, Fürstbistum Hildesheim, Bistum Hildesheim) was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the Middle Ages until its dissolution in 1803. The Prince-Bis ...

, starting in 1708. In 1712 he was responsible for the west front of the Church of the Holy Cross in

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

itself. His first work covering a complete site was Schloss Körtlinghausen on which he started working in 1713. Almost at the same time he constructed Schloss Vinsebeck nearby. Both these chateaux-manor houses was inspired by French architectural fashions of the time, and used an "H-plan" footprint. Some of the original

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

interior decoration can still be seen at Vinsebeck. In 1717 or 1718 he was called back to

in order to assess the state of the cathedral and restore it appropriately. His recommendations included reconstructing the quadrangle in front of the building. On the inside he had also, by 1722, recreated the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

and the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, together with other artists. Unhappily, very little of this work survived allied bombing raids during the early months of 1945. The Prince-bishop of Hildesheim, Clemens August of Bavaria, sent

Johann Conrad Schlaun Johann Conrad Schlaun (June 5, 1695 in Nörde now Warburg – October 21, 1773 in Münster) was a German architect. He is an important architect of the Westphalian Baroque architectural style. His designs include the Erbdrostenhof and Schloss, ...

to reconstruct the episcopal chancelry building. The contract was delegated to Wehmer. He managed the reconfiguration of Auxiliary bishop's residence. Also in 1729 he built the curia chamber for the cathedral cantor, Johann Bernhard Joseph von Weichs. He had already worked for von Weichs' family on the Schloss Körtlinghausen. The curia building was later adapted for use as the episcopal college. It seems likely that Wehmer was responsible for the new provost's residence in 1730. There were also numerous other more minor contracts, including extension work on the Brabeck Palace (later the bishop's palace). A few years later Wehmer constructed Schloss Herringhausen and Schloss Vörden, applying a style noticeably different from that used for his earlier work. However, between 1734 and 1737, he built Schloss Welda, using a layout and design that closely echoed his design for Schloss Vinsebeck. The carriage house and the main portal at Corvey are also Wehmer's work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wehmer, Justus Architects from Mannheim People from Hildesheim German Baroque architects 18th-century German architects 1750 deaths Year of birth uncertain