Wilhelm Walter (16 June 1850, Rüdenhausen - 8 February 1914,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) was a German architect and construction manager who worked with the

Reichspost ''Reichspost'' (; "Imperial Mail") was the name of the postal service of Germany from 1866 to 1945. ''Deutsche Reichspost'' Upon the out break of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the break-up of the German Confederation in the Peace of ...

."Geheimer Baurat Wilhelm Walter", obituary, In: ''Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung.'', Vol. 34. #17 pg.148.

Life and work

Walter was the son of a pastor and attended the in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).

, from which he graduated in 1870. Shortly after, he joined the Army and fought with a field artillery regiment in the Franco-Prussian War. After returning from France, he served a brief apprenticeship as a construction worker, before enrolling at the Technical University of Hanover, where he studied with

Conrad Wilhelm Hase Conrad Wilhelm Hase (2 October 1818, Einbeck28 March 1902, Hanover) was a German architect and Professor. He was a prominent representative of the Neo-Gothic style and is known for his preservation work. Biography He was one of ten children b ...

. After graduating, he found work on several church projects, under the direction of Gotthilf Ludwig Möckel. His talent and preference for

Medieval architecture Medieval architecture is architecture common in the Middle Ages, and includes religious, civil, and military buildings. Styles include pre-Romanesque, Romanesque, and Gothic. While most of the surviving medieval architecture is to be seen in c ...

led him to a large number of commissions in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

and

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. Due to these numerous activities, he didn't pass the

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists, psychotherapists and jurists (i.e., lawyers, judges, public ...

until he was forty-two. He then received a certification as a Royal Prussian

Master Builder A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in the ...

. With these credentials, he was able to find employment as a Master Builder with the Reichspost in Berlin which, at that time, was being directed by

Heinrich von Stephan Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm von Stephan (born Heinrich Stephan, January 7, 1831 – April 8, 1897) was a general post director for the German Empire who reorganized the German postal service. He was integral in the founding of the Universal Postal Un ...

and undergoing a major reorganization.. Stephan recognized Walter's talent, giving him extra duties, as well as enabling him to make research trips to Italy and England. His first major, independent project involved designing, planning and managing construction of the in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

(1897-1900). When he returned to Berlin, he was appointed Chief Construction Inspector and, later, Imperial Building Officer. Over the next few years, several post offices were built according to his designs. In 1911, he was named a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

for construction-related matters, and became involved in projects throughout Germany. His last major project was a complex that included the

parcel post Parcel post is a postal service for mail that is too heavy for normal letter post. It is usually slower than letter post. The development of the parcel post is closely connected with the development of the railway network which enabled parcels to ...

center and the in Berlin. It was incomplete at the time of his death.

References

* "Walter, Wilhelm". In: Hans Vollmer (Ed.): ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', Vol.35: Waage–Wilhelmson. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1942, pg.121.

External links

Data on Wilhelm Walter
@ ''Architekten und Künstler mit direktem Bezug zu Conrad Wilhelm Hase'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Wilhelm 1850 births 1914 deaths 19th-century German architects Construction management Privy counsellors People from Kitzingen (district)