Martin Gropius
Encyclopedia
Martin Carl Philipp Gropius (August 11, 1824, Berlin
- December 13, 1880) was a German architect
.
in Berlin and after graduation worked as a private architect. He received artistic direction from Karl Friedrich Schinkel
and Karl Bötticher and continued his studies with prolonged trips through Greece
and Italy
.
In 1856 Gropius was appointed to a professorship at the Academy of Applied Art and was later a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
as well as the Austrian Academy of Sciences
. Until his death he worked with Heino Schmieden
to develop Fa. Gropius & Schmieden, one of the largest architecture firms in Berlin.
Martin Gropius was the great-uncle of architect and Bauhaus
founder Walter Gropius
.
The present-day Martin Gropius Bau
in Berlin was built in 1881 based on plans by Martin Gropius and Heino Schmieden as an applied art museum. It was constructed in the style of the Italian Renaissance
and has a central atrium. Mosaic
s with allegories from various ages and the coats of arms
of German states decorate the spaces between windows.
After World War I
the Bau housed the Museum of Pre- and Early History as well as the oriental art collection. In the last weeks of the Second World War the building was bombed. Reconstruction of the building began in 1978 after it was placed under protection for historic preservation in 1966. Another restoration took place in 1999/2000. Today the Martin Gropius Bau is an important space for special exhibits of all kinds.
Martin Gropius is buried at Dreifaltigkeitsfriedhof 2 in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin.
Many houses and villas in Berlin and its environs were built based on Gropius's designs. For example:
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- December 13, 1880) was a German architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
.
Life
Gropius studied at the BauakademieBauakademie
The Bauakademie in Berlin, Germany, built between 1832 and 1836, is considered one of the forerunners of modern architecture due to its theretofore uncommon use of red brick and the relatively streamlined facade of the building.Designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the Bauakademie was built near...
in Berlin and after graduation worked as a private architect. He received artistic direction from Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a Prussian architect, city planner, and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassical and neogothic buildings.-Biography:Schinkel was born in Neuruppin, Margraviate of...
and Karl Bötticher and continued his studies with prolonged trips through Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
In 1856 Gropius was appointed to a professorship at the Academy of Applied Art and was later a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften is the academy of sciences of the German states Berlin and Brandenburg. As the word "Wissenschaft", in German includes both the natural sciences and the humanities, the academy's title is best translated as Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of...
as well as the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Austrian Academy of Sciences
The Austrian Academy of Sciences is a legal entity under the special protection of the Federal Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every field, particularly in fundamental research...
. Until his death he worked with Heino Schmieden
Heino Schmieden
Heino Schmieden was a German architect.-Biography:Schmieden was born in Soldin, New March In 1866 Schmieden graduated from the renowned Bauakademie in Berlin with a diploma in architecture...
to develop Fa. Gropius & Schmieden, one of the largest architecture firms in Berlin.
Martin Gropius was the great-uncle of architect and Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
founder Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
.
Martin Gropius Bau
Martin-Gropius-Bau, originally a museum of applied arts and a listed historical monument since 1966, is a well-known Berlin exhibition hall located at Niederkirchnerstraße 7 in Berlin-Kreuzberg.- History and architecture :...
in Berlin was built in 1881 based on plans by Martin Gropius and Heino Schmieden as an applied art museum. It was constructed in the style of the Italian Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
and has a central atrium. Mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
s with allegories from various ages and the coats of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of German states decorate the spaces between windows.
After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the Bau housed the Museum of Pre- and Early History as well as the oriental art collection. In the last weeks of the Second World War the building was bombed. Reconstruction of the building began in 1978 after it was placed under protection for historic preservation in 1966. Another restoration took place in 1999/2000. Today the Martin Gropius Bau is an important space for special exhibits of all kinds.
Martin Gropius is buried at Dreifaltigkeitsfriedhof 2 in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin.
Works
Along with representative buildings (e.g. the University in Kiel and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig), many clinics and hospitals where built in Berlin and Brandenburg based on Gropius's designs.- Martin Gropius KrankenhausMartin Gropius KrankenhausThe Martin Gropius Krankenhaus is a neuro-psychiatric hospital in Eberswalde, Germany. It was built from 1862–1865 by architect Martin Gropius from Berlin. It was commissioned by the Estates of the then-Prussian Province of Brandenburg as an insane asylum....
(Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital) in Neustadt-EberswaldeEberswaldeEberswalde is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German Federal State of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42144 , geographical location . The town is often called Waldstadt , because of the large forests around it, including the... - Ungern-Sternberg palace in TallinnTallinnTallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, nowadays the main building of Estonian Academy of SciencesEstonian Academy of SciencesFounded in 1938, the Estonian Academy of Sciences is Estonia's national academy of science. As with other national academies, it is an independent group of well-known scientists whose stated aim is to promote research and development, encourage international scientific cooperation, and...
(1865–1868) - FriedrichshainFriedrichshainFriedrichshain is a part of Berlin's borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, and like Kreuzberg across the river it has its own distinct character, with the result that the new double name is hardly ever used outside government administration. From its creation in 1920 until Berlin's 2001...
Hospital in Berlin (1868–74), with Heino SchmiedenHeino SchmiedenHeino Schmieden was a German architect.-Biography:Schmieden was born in Soldin, New March In 1866 Schmieden graduated from the renowned Bauakademie in Berlin with a diploma in architecture... - Hospital in WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
- University Building in KielKielKiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
(1873–76) - Military Hospital in TempelhofTempelhofTempelhof is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. It is now deserted and shows as a blank spot on maps of Berlin. Attempts are being made to save the still-existing...
, Berlin (1875–77) - Manor House in NeuruppinNeuruppinNeuruppin is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. Located on the shore of Ruppiner See , it is the capital of the district of Ostprignitz-Ruppin. Population: 32,800 .-Overview:...
-Gentzrode (1876–1877) - Applied Art Museum (Martin Gropius Bau) in KreuzbergKreuzbergKreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
, Berlin (1877–81), with Heino Schmieden - Second GewandhausGewandhausGewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, Germany. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. The first Gewandhaus was built in 1781 by architect Johann Carl Friedrich Dauthe. The second opened on 11 December 1884, and was destroyed in the...
in LeipzigLeipzigLeipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
(1882–84), completed by Heino Schmieden after Gropius's death. - Old Library at the University of Greifswald
- Bureau of Mines in SaarbrückenSaarbrückenSaarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
(1877–1880)
Many houses and villas in Berlin and its environs were built based on Gropius's designs. For example:
- the Heesesche Villa at Lützow-Ufer
- the Bleichrödersche Villa in CharlottenburgCharlottenburgCharlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after Queen consort Sophia Charlotte...
- the MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
House (with Heino Schmieden) - the Gruner-Haus
- the Lessing-Haus
- the Schloss Biesdorf
- the Manor House Schloss Calberwisch bei Osterburg/Altmark (gemeinsam mit Heino Schmieden)
Own Writings
- Martin Gropius: Die Provinzial-Irren-Anstalt zu Neustadt-Eberswalde. Ernst & Korn, Berlin 1869.
- Karl Friedrich Schinkel: Dekorationen innerer Räume. Acht Blatt, hrsg. von Martin Gropius. Ernst & Korn, Berlin 1874.
- Martin Gropius: Das Städtische Allgemeine Krankenhaus im Friedrichshain zu Berlin. Ernst & Korn, Berlin 1876.
- Martin Gropius, Heino Schmieden: Dekorationen innerer Räume. Ernst & Korn, Berlin 1877,1-3.
- Martin Gropius (Hrsg.): Archiv für ornamentale Kunst. Red. durch Martin Gropius, hrsg. v. Deutsches Gewerbe-Museum Berlin. Mit erl. Text von L. Lohde. Winkelmann-Springer, Berlin 1870-71.
Further reading
- V. von Weltzien (Hrsg.): Das zweite Garnison-Lazareth für Berlin bei Tempelhof. Nach dem vom Königlichen Kriegs-Ministerium aufgestellten Bauprogramm entworfen und ausgeführt von Gropius & Schmieden. Ernst & Korn, Berlin 1879.
- Gropius in Eberswalde. Gropius-Bau der Landesklinik Eberswalde. be-bra, Berlin 2002. ISBN 3-89809-036-1
- Barbara Happe, Martin S. Fischer: Haus Auerbach von Walter Gropius mit Adolf Meyer. Wasmuth, Tübingen-Berlin 2003. ISBN 3-8030-0635-X