Everything about Carl Ludvig Engel totally explained
Carl Ludvig Engel, or
Johann Karl Ludwig Engel (
1778-
1840) was a
German architect known for his neoclassical (empire) style. He had a great impact on the architecture of
Finland in the first part of the 19th century.
His most noted work can be found in
Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include the
Senate Square and the buildings surrounding it. The buildings are
Helsinki Cathedral, The Senate (now the Palace of the Council of State), the library and the main building of
Helsinki University. The square is the monumental centre of Helsinki.
Biography
Carl Ludvig Engel was born in
1778 in
Charlottenburg,
Berlin, into a family of bricklayers. It was probably as a bricklayer apprentice that he first came in contact with his future profession as an architect. He trained at the Berlin Institute of Architecture after which he served in the
Prussian building administration. The stagnation caused by Napoleon's victory over Prussia in
1806 forced him and other architects to find work abroad. In
1808 he applied for the position as town architect of
Tallinn,
Estonia. He got the job and this way he came into the vicinity of
St. Petersburg and the
Russian Empire. Finland was also close by and was soon to experience a new governmental phase as a Grand Duchy under Russian rule.
Engel started working in Tallinn in
1809, but just after a few years he was forced to move on again because of a lack of assignments. From
1814 to
1815 he worked for a businessman in
Turku,
Finland, and this way he came in contact with
Johan Albrecht Ehrenström, who led the project of rebuilding Helsinki. The city had just been promoted to be the new capital of the new
Grand Duchy of Finland. Ehrenström was searching for a talented architect to work at his side and this meeting proved to be decisive for Carl Ludvig Engel's future career. At this stage Engel didn't however stay in Finland. In March
1815 he travelled to St. Petersburg where he got private employment.
In
1816 Engel was planning on returning to his city of birth, but at the same time Ehrenström got approval for his plan to get Engel to Helsinki. Engel's plans for Helsinki had been shown to
Czar Alexander I and in February Engel was appointed architect of the reconstruction committee for Helsinki. Engel probably thought that this would once again be a temporary job, but instead Helsinki came to be his life's work.
In
1819-
1820, when Engel's first creations were nearing completion, his status as a kind of head architect of the Grand Duchy was established when he got more and more building assignments, both private and public, in other parts of Finland. The final confirmation came when he in
1824 was appointed Director of Public Housing.
Engel worked as Director of Public Housing until his death. He died on
May 14,
1840 in Helsinki.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Carl Ludvig Engel'.
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