Peter Joseph Krahe (8 April 1758, in
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 ...
– 7 October 1840, in
Braunschweig
Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...
) was a German architect. He was instrumental in converting the old city walls and fortifications of Braunschweig into a series of parks and other public spaces.
Life
He was the son of the well-known historical painter
Lambert Krahe
Wilhelm Lambert Krahe (15 March 1712, Düsseldorf – 2 November 1790, Düsseldorf) was a German history painter and art collector.
Life
He was the son of a government clerk. Nothing is known of his early education. He found a patron in Ferdi ...
. In 1775, he became a student at the
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Magdalena Jetelová, ...
, which his father had helped to create. At the age of twenty-two, he became the Academy's youngest professor.
Thanks to a grant from
Elector Karl Theodor in 1782, he was able to spend a year studying in Rome. Upon returning, he set himself up as an architect. The years 1785 and 1786 were also spent in Italy, where he became an honorary professor at the
Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze
The Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze ("academy of fine arts of Florence") is an instructional art academy in Florence, in Tuscany, in central Italy.
It was founded by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1563, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. ...
. He first architectural project was a theater in
Koblenz
Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...
, commissioned by
Elector Clemens Wenzeslaus of Saxony and completed in 1787. He was appointed Director of the City Planning Board there in 1790, but the post was abolished in 1795 when the area was occupied by the French Army. He then applied for a position as Court Architect in
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, but that area was also taken by French troops. As a result, he was forced to work at odd jobs, including tax collection.
Work in Braunschweig
On a recommendation by
Friedrich Vieweg (founder of a publishing company that now specializes in books on science and engineering),
Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand of Braunschweig personally negotiated with Krahe to settle there. In 1803, he became the Chief Civil Engineer, succeeding
Christian Gottlob Langwagen. Shortly thereafter, he began razing the old fortifications, preserving some of the ramparts near the city center and using parts of the wall for
causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
s. The hills where the
bastion
A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...
s were located became parks. In 1806, the French Army once again displaced him from his position, but he was able to find sporadic employment expanding a Baroque-era castle for the use of
King Jérôme.
After the area's liberation in 1814, he took over management of the construction industry for the
Duchy of Brunswick
The Duchy of Brunswick (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick ().
It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...
. In 1830, the Duchy created a Construction Authority, based on Prussian models, and Krahe had to yield to the lawyers who became the new managers. Nevertheless, he continued to work for the Authority until his forced retirement in 1837.
He was succeeded by
Carl Theodor Ottmer.
The Peter Joseph Krahe Prize
The Peter Joseph Krahe prize is awarded by the city of Braunschweig "in recognition and promotion of architectural work...and to commemorate the architect Peter Joseph Krahe". The award was presented twelve times between 1954 and 2009. It consists of a certificate and a bronze plaque, designed by local artists.
References
Further reading
*
Reinhard Dorn: ''Peter Joseph Krahe.'':
** Vol. 1 ''Studienjahre in Düsseldorf und Rom 1178–1786.'' Braunschweig 1969.
** Vol. 2 ''Bauten und Projekte in Düsseldorf, Koblenz, Hannover und Braunschweig 1787–1806.'' Braunschweig 1971.
** Vol 3 ''Bauten und Projekte im Königreich Westfalen und im Herzogtum Braunschweig 1808–1837.'' Edited by Elisabeth Spitzbart.
Deutscher Kunstverlag
The Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV) is an educational publishing house with offices in Berlin and Munich. The publisher specializes in books about art, cultural history, architecture, and historic preservation.
History
Deutscher Kunstverlag was fo ...
, Munich, Berlin, 1999.
* Jürgen Hodemacher: ''Braunschweigs Straßen – ihre Namen und ihre Geschichten.'' Vol. 2: ''Zwischen Okergraben und Stadtring.'' Cremlingen 1996.
* Ulrich Knufinke, Simon Paulus: ''Peter Joseph Krahe. Wegweiser zum Klassizismus in Braunschweig und Umgebung.'' Braunschweig 2008.
External links
City of BraunschweigSearch results for Krahe. Includes descriptions of his work on the old city wall.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krahe, Peter Joseph
1758 births
1840 deaths
18th-century German architects
Engineers from Mannheim
19th-century German architects
Architects from Mannheim