Paul Francke (c. 1537,

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

- 10 November 1615,

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

) was a German

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

architect, most notable as director of works for the

Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig und Lüneburg), or more properly the Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was a historical duchy that existed from the late Middle Ages to the Late Modern era within the Holy Roman ...

from 1564 until his death in 1615. His works include the Juleum Novum in Helmstedt, the Marienkirche in Wolfenbüttel (where he is also buried) and the Burganlage in

Erichsburg The Ericsburg in the village of the same name in the borough of Dassel in Lower Saxony, Germany, is a castle that was built in the 16th century within the Principality of Calenberg. It is currently (2007) in a poor state of repair. Location The ...

Life

Inschriften des Epitaphs von Paul Francke

Since he was born in Weimar, he was influenced by 16th century castles and town halls in Thuringia and Saxony. He is first recorded as director of works in 1564, swearing an oath to

Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also known as Julius of Braunschweig; 29 June 1528 – 3 May 1589), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruling Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1568 until his death. From 1584, he ...

the following year after working for him on

Hesse Castle Schloss Hessen is a schloss or castle in Hessen, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It originated as medieval moated castle before being converted into a Renaissance princely palace in the 16th century. Its heyday was as the summer residence of the dukes of ...

. Elmar Arnhold: Francke, Paul. In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (ed.): ''Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon – 8. bis 18. Jahrhundert. Appelhans Verlag'', Braunschweig 2006, , pages 227–228. He is also recorded in 1573 as a 'Bauverwalter' or 'construction manager'. In 1575 he was put in charge of all the duke's building projects, including the fortifications for the new Heinrichstadt and

Wolfenbüttel Castle Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

, employing the Dutch engineer Wilhelm de Raet. Next he directed the construction of the college buildings (1577–78) and main 'Juleum' building (1593-1597) for the new

University of Helmstedt The University of Helmstedt (german: Universität Helmstedt; official Latin name: ''Academia Julia'', "Julius University"), was a university in Helmstedt in the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel that existed from 1576 until 1810. History Founded ...

. In 1606 he headed the reconstruction of the former abbey church at

Riddagshausen Abbey Riddagshausen Abbey (german: Kloster Riddagshausen) was a Cistercian monastery just outside the city of Brunswick in Germany. History It was founded as Marienzelle by Ludolf the Wend, a '' ministerialis'' of Henry the Lion and steward of Brun ...

. From 1608 he also designed and supervised the construction of the Marienkirche in Wolfenbüttel, commissioned by

Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Henry Julius (german: Heinrich Julius; 15 October 1564 – 30 July 1613), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruling Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1589 until his death. He also served as administrator of the ...

. The architects Christoph Tendler, Johann Bock, Philipp Müller, Hans Vredemann de Vries and the military engineer Rochus de Lynar all also worked under his supervision as director of works.

Buildings

His known works include: * 1564 and 1594: Schloss Hessen am Fallstein * 1577–1578: Kollegienflügel of the

* 1596: Kommisse in Halberstadt * 1593–1597: Juleum in

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage of ...

* c. 1600:

Stift Gandersheim Gandersheim Abbey (german: Stift Gandersheim) is a former house of secular canonesses ( Frauenstift) in the present town of Bad Gandersheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was founded in 852 by Duke Liudolf of Saxony, progenitor of the Liudolfing or ...

abbey building * 1604–1612: The surviving part of

* 1606: Restoration of the partially-destroyed Cistercian monastery of Riddagshausen near Brunswick * Begun in 1608: Marienkirche in Wolfenbüttel * Begun in 1609:

Schloss Salder Salder House (german: Schloss Salder) is a stately home in the Renaissance style in Salder, a village in the borough of Salzgitter in Lower Saxony. It was built in 1608 for the lords of Saldern by master builder, Paul Francke, by order of ''Krie ...

in Salzgitter-Salder * Begun in 1613: Zeughaus und Schlossturm in Wolfenbüttel * 1613: Design for a new version of the Liebfrauenkirche in Hornburg im Harz.

Bibliography (in German)

* Elmar Arnhold: Francke, Paul. In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (ed.): ''Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon – 8. bis 18. Jahrhundert. Appelhans Verlag'', Braunschweig 2006, , S. 227–228. * * Kurt Seeleke: ''Paul Francke, ein fürstlicher Baumeister zu Wolfenbüttel.'' In: ''Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch.'' (= Dissertation 1939) Dritte Folge 1, 1940, , S. 29–57. * Friedrich Thöne: ''Unter Heinrich Julius (Arbeiten vor 1600, Ausbau 1600–1612, Paul Francke und die Befestigung).'' In: ''Wolfenbüttel in der Spätrenaissance. Topographie und Baugeschichte unter den Herzögen Heinrich Julius und Friedrich Ulrich (1589 bis 1634).'' (= ''Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch.'' 35). Waisenhaus-Buchdruckerei, Braunschweig 1954,
digisrv-1.biblio.etc.tu-bs.de
(PDF, S. 13 ff). * Harmen Thies: ''Das Juleum novum – Paul Francke.'' Festvortrag in der Aula des Juleums, in der Reihe ''Beiträge zur Geschichte des Landkreises und der ehemaligen Universität Helmstedt.'' Heft 9, Landkreis Helmstedt, Helmstedt 1997, . * Falko Rost: ''Der Architekt Paul Francke und die Kirche Mariae Beatae Virginis (BMV) in Wolfenbüttel.'' In: Bernd Feicke, Harzverein für Geschichte und Altertumskunde e.V (Hrsg.): ''Harz-Zeitschrift'' 2013, 65. Jahrgang. Lukas Verlag, Berlin/ Wernigerode 2013, , S. 63 ff,
books.google.com
.

References

External links

* * https://web.archive.org/web/20090315133840/http://www.denkmalschutz.de/54.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Francke, Paul Renaissance architects 16th-century German architects 17th-century German architects 1615 deaths People from Weimar Year of birth uncertain