Carl Johann Wilhelm Neumann ( lv, Kārlis Johans Vilhelms Neimanis; russian: Карл Иоганн Вильгельм Нейман; born 5 October 1849 in

Grevesmühlen Grevesmühlen () is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northern Germany. It was the seat of the Nordwestmecklenburg district until 2011, when Wismar became the seat. It is situated 33 km east of Lübeck, and ...

– died 6 March 1919 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

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 ...

and

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. Neumann's family moved to Kreutzburg (then in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

) during Wilhelm's childhood. When he was 15 years old, he worked as an apprentice at Paul Max Bertschy's engineering office during the construction of the Riga–Dünaburg Railway. After this he studied at the

Riga Polytechnicum Riga Technical University (RTU) ( lv, Rīgas Tehniskā universitāte) is the oldest technical university in the Baltic countries established on October 14, 1862. It is located in Riga, Latvia and was previously known as 'Riga Polytechnical Inst ...

, and beginning 1875 at the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...

in Saint Petersburg. Beginning 1873 Neumann worked as an architect in

Dünaburg Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see #Names, other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts ...

(Daugavpils), and 1878 he was promoted to be chief architect of Dünaburg. In 1887 he began to publish art historical publications. In 1895 he moved to

, where numerous prominent buildings in the style of

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...

was created, amongst these the

Peitav Synagogue The Peitav Synagogue or Peitav-Shul ( lv, Peitavas ielas sinagoga; yi, פאייטאוו שול) is the only synagogue in Riga to have survived the Holocaust and to be currently active. It is a center of the Latvian Jewish community and recogni ...

. Furthermore, Neumann was the planner of many manor buildings in the

Baltic governorates The Baltic governorates (russian: Прибалтийские губернии), originally the Ostsee governorates (german: Ostseegouvernements, russian: Остзейские губернии), was a collective name for the administrative units ...

and public buildings such as

Kurland Provincial Museum and Athenaeum Kurland Provincial Museum and Athenaeum () was Kurzeme Society of Literature and Art museum with library. It was founded in 1818 in Mitau (since 1917 Jelgava), at that time the capital of Courland Governorate of Russian Empire. History The mu ...

. Between 1899 and 1901 Neumann taught at the polytechnicum. In 1905 he became director of the Riga Art Museum, a building that was designed by himself. After 1906 Neumann focused on his art historical works. Neumann died on 6 March 1919, 69 years old.

Gallery

Riga 14 (31511514541).jpg, Building of the Latvian National Museum of Arts (1905) 2015 03 Pelci (5).jpg, Pelči Palace (1903-1904) 5-Riga Syna-DSC04895.JPG,

in Riga (1903-1905) Daugavpils Mārtiņa Lutera evaņģēliski luteriskā baznīca 3.jpg, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Martin Luther in

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

(1893) Daugavpils Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church.jpg, Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary in Daugavpils (1903–1905) RigaMatisa16.jpg, Residential building on the Matīsa street 16, Riga. (1902).

Literature

* E. Grosmane. Vilhelms Neimanis Latvijas mākslas vēsturē., Rīga, 1991, 7.-21. lpp. * Jānis Krastiņš. Rīgas arhitektūras meistari 1850–1940, Jumava, 2002 * Peter Wörster: „Der Vater der baltischen Kunstgeschichte“. Wilhelm Neumann – Architekt, Kunsthistoriker und Denkmalpfleger. In: Jahrbuch des baltischen Deutschtums, Bd. 55 (2008), Lüneburg 2007, S. 83-100. {{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Wilhelm 1849 births 1919 deaths Baltic-German people Architects from the Russian Empire Historians from the Russian Empire People from Grevesmühlen Riga Technical University faculty Latvian art historians Architects from Riga German art historians 20th-century Latvian historians 19th-century Latvian historians