Johann Christian Schuch (or Jan Chrystian Szuch; 1752 – 28 June 1813) was a

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

-born garden designer and architect, active in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Life

Schuch learned gardening from his father, a

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...

court gardener. Later he studied painting and civil engineering at the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institution is the product o ...

, and to complete his education he traveled extensively, visiting gardens at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

, the

Grand Trianon The Grand Trianon () is a French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of King Louis XIV of France as a retreat for himself and his ''maîtresse-en ...

and the

Schönbrunn Palace Schönbrunn Palace (german: Schloss Schönbrunn ; Central Bavarian: ''Schloss Scheenbrunn'') was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning “beautiful spring”) has its root ...

. In 1775 Schuch came to Poland, where he worked for Princess

Izabela Lubomirska Izabela is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Mrocza, within Nakło County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as Cuiavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship or simply Kujawsko-Pomorskie, or Kujawy-P ...

and Count

Michał Jerzy Mniszech Count Michał Jerzy Wandalin Mniszech (1742–1806) was a Polish nobleman. Michal became Colonel in 1757, Cześnik of the Crown in 1777, Great Secretary of Lithuania in 1778, Chief of the Royal Chancellery in 1780. He served also as Marshal ...

. From 1781 he was superintendent of royal gardens at the

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

court of King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch ...

, for whom he, together with

Domenico Merlini Domenico Merlini () (22 February 1730 – 20 February 1797) was an Italian-Polish architect whose work was mostly in the classical style. Life and Style From 1750 till his death, Merlini lived in Poland. In 1768, he became a nobleman and later ...

and

Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer Johann Christian Kammsetzer or Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer ( Dresden, 1753 – 25 November 1795, Warsaw) was a Dresden-born architect who was active primarily in Poland. Life There is a record of Kammsetzer having attended the Dresden Academy of F ...

, redesigned

Łazienki Park Łazienki Park or Royal Baths Park ( pl, Park Łazienkowski, Łazienki Królewskie) is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center. The park-and-palace complex lies in Warsaw's central district ('' Śródmieście ...

. The King gave him a large estate bordering Łazienki Park, thus securing his prosperity. There Schuch established Poland's first fruit-tree nursery, experimenting with novel methods of protecting the trees from excessive sun and frost, until the abnormally harsh winter of 1802–3 caused a substantial financial loss. After the king's abdication in 1795, Schuch worked for many Polish aristocratic families. In 1811 he became a member of the

Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning The Warsaw Society of Friends of Science ( pl, Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, ''TPN'') was one of the earliest Polish scientific societies, active in Warsaw from 1800 to 1832. Name The Society was also known as ''Warszawskie Królewskie Towarzyst ...

, before which he presented a number of papers on diverse subjects. He married Ludwika Wolska, and they had many children. Only one son, Adolf Grzegorz, is known by name. Schuch died in Warsaw and is buried there in the

Evangelical Cemetery of the Augsburg Confession in Warsaw ( pl, Cmentarz ewangelicko-augsburski w Warszawie), The Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery of the Augsburg Confession in Warsaw is a historic Lutheran Protestant cemetery located in the Wola district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. Details The Evang ...

Legacy

After his death, his name was given to ''Aleja Szucha'' (Szuch Avenue), west of the

Royal Baths Park Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

, where his estate was once located. Here, at no. 25, in 1939–45, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, were the infamous headquarters of

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

security services for the Warsaw district. The building's basement housed a

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

jail where Polish resistance fighters were tortured and killed. During the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

of August – October 1944, mass executions of Poles took place here.''Szucha Aleja''," ''Encyklopedia powszechna PWN'', vol. 4, p. 362. The site is now preserved as a museum, known as the

Mausoleum of Struggle and Martyrdom Mausoleum of Struggle and Martyrdom ( pl, Mauzoleum Walki i Męczeństwa) is a museum in Warsaw, Poland. It is a branch of the Museum of Independence. The museum presents the conditions in which Polish patriots and resistance fighters were jailed ...

Notes

References

*''

Polski Słownik Biograficzny ''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'' (''PSB''; Polish Biographical Dictionary) is a Polish-language biographical dictionary, comprising an alphabetically arranged compilation of authoritative biographies of some 25,000 notable Poles and of foreigner ...

'', vol. 36, 1995–6, Warsaw, Kraków, pp. 16–17. *''Encyklopedia powszechna PWN'', vol. 4, Warsaw,

Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe'' - ''National Scientific Publishers PWN'', PWN) is a Polish book publisher, founded in 1951, when it split from the Wydawnictwa Szkolne i P ...

, 1976. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schuch, Johann Christian 1752 births 1813 deaths Architects from Warsaw Polish Lutherans German emigrants to Poland Date of birth missing Architects from Dresden

Life

Legacy

See also

Notes

References