View source for Gottfried Semper

{{Short description|German architect and theorist (1803–1879)}}
{{Infobox architect
|name= Gottfried Semper
|image= ETH-BIB-Semper, Gottfried (1803-1879)-Portrait-Portr 10869.tif (cropped).jpg
|caption= Semper in 1870
|nationality= German
|birth_date= {{birth date|1803|11|29|df=y}}
|birth_place= [[Hamburg]]
|death_date= {{death date and age|1879|5|15|1803|11|29|df=y}}
|death_place= [[Rome]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]
|practice=
|significant_buildings= [[Semper Opera House]]
|significant_projects=
|significant_design=
|awards=
}}
[[File:Monument to Gottfried Semper on Brühl's Terrace next to Albertinum.jpg|thumb|Monument to Gottfried Semper on [[Brühl's Terrace]] next to [[Albertinum]]]]

'''Gottfried Semper''' ({{IPA|de|ˈɡɔtfʁiːt ˈzɛmpɐ|lang}}; 29 November 1803 – 15 May 1879) was a German architect, [[art critic]], and professor of [[architecture]] who designed and built the [[Semperoper|Semper Oper]]a House in [[Dresden]] between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the [[May Uprising in Dresden]] and was put on the government's wanted list. He fled first to [[Zürich]] and later to London. He returned to Germany after the 1862 amnesty granted to the revolutionaries.

Semper wrote extensively on the origins of architecture, especially in his book ''[[The Four Elements of Architecture]]'' (1851), and was one of the major figures in the controversy surrounding the [[Polychrome|polychrome architectural style]] of [[ancient Greece]]. He designed works at all scales—from major urban interventions such as the redesign of the [[Ringstraße]] in [[Vienna]], to a baton for [[Richard Wagner]].<ref>[[Dorothea Schröder]]: "Nibelungenring und mystischer Knoten. Gottfried Sempers Entwurf zu einem Taktstock für Richard Wagner" Jahrbuch des Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg,1993, {{p.|120}}</ref> His unrealised design for an opera house in [[Munich]] was, without permission, adapted by Wagner for the [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus]].

== Life ==

=== Early life (to 1834) ===
Semper was born into a well-to-do industrialist family in [[Hamburg]] in 1803.<ref name=NDB>{{Cite web |last=Hölz |first=Christoph |date=2010 |title=Semper, Gottfried |url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd118613154.html |website=Neue Deutsche Biographie |language=de}}</ref> When French troops occupied the city in 1806 during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the family moved to nearby [[Altona, Hamburg|Altona]], at the time part of [[Denmark]].<ref name=NDB /> The fifth of eight children, he attended the [[Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums]] in Hamburg before starting his university education at [[University of Göttingen|Göttingen]] in 1823, where he studied [[historiography]] and [[mathematics]]. He subsequently studied architecture in 1825 at the [[University of Munich]] under [[Friedrich von Gärtner]]. In 1826, Semper travelled to Paris in order to work for the architect [[Franz Christian Gau]], and he was present when the [[July Revolution]] of 1830 broke out. Between 1830 and 1833 he travelled to [[Italy]] and [[Greece]] in order to study the architecture and designs of [[classical antiquity|antiquity]]. In 1832, he participated for four months in [[archaeology|archaeological]] research at the [[Acropolis]] in [[Athens]].
During this period he became very interested in the [[Biedermeier]]-inspired [[polychromy]] debate, which centered on the question whether buildings in [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] had been colorfully painted or not. The drawn reconstructions of the painterly decorations of ancient villas he created in Athens inspired his later designs for the painted decorations in Dresden and Vienna. His 1834 publication ''Vorläufige Bemerkungen über bemalte Architectur und Plastik bei den Alten'' (''Preliminary Remarks on Polychrome Architecture and Sculpture in Antiquity''), in which he took a strong position in favor of polychromy - supported by his investigation of pigments on the Trajan's column in Rome - brought him sudden recognition in architectural and aesthetic circles across Europe.[http://hdl.handle.net/10919/36755]

=== Dresden period (1834–1849) ===
[[File:Dresden Hoftheater J C A Richter.jpg|thumb|200px|Dresden, Interior of the first Hoftheater (Semper Oper)]]
On September 30, 1834, Semper obtained a post as Professor of Architecture at the [[Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden|Königlichen Akademie der bildenden Künste]] (today called the Hochschule) in Dresden thanks largely to the efforts and support of his former teacher Franz Christian Gau and swore an oath of allegiance to the King (formerly Elector) of Saxony, [[Anthony Clement of Saxony|Anthony Clement]]. The flourishing growth of Dresden during this period provided the young architect with considerable creative opportunities. In 1838–1840 a synagogue was built in Dresden to Semper's design, it was ever afterward called the [[Semper Synagogue]] and is noted for its [[Moorish Revival]] interior style.<ref>H.A. Meek, The Synagogue, Phaidon, 1995, p. 188</ref> The Synagogue's exterior was built in romanesque style so as not to call attention to itself. The interior design included not only the Moorish inspired wall decorations but furnishings: specifically, a silver lamp of eternal light, which caught Richard Wagner and his wife Cosima's fancy. They gave a great deal of effort to have a copy of this lamp.<ref>Colin Eisler "Wagner's Three Synagogues", Artibus et Historiae 2004, Vol. 25/Nr. 50</ref><ref>Eytan Pessen, Zusammenhängende Reliquien, eine Geschichte über Richard Wagner und Gottfried Semper, pp. 1–22, Semperoper Dresden, Erchien in Wagnerjahr 2013, Spielzeit 2012–2013 & 2013–2014</ref> Semper's student, [[Otto Simonson]] would construct the magnificent [[Moorish Revival]] [[Leipzig synagogue]] in 1855.

[[File:Denkmal für Gottfried Semper 1887 Ki 00042-02.tif|thumb|left|150px|Monument for Gottfried Semper in Zürich (1887)]]
Certain civic structures remain today, such as the Elbe-facing [[Semper Gallery|gallery]] of the [[Zwinger Palace]] complex. He designed the Dresden Hoftheater in 1841, which burned down in 1869. It was rebuilt in 1878 by his son to Semper's plans and today is called the [[Semperoper]]. Other buildings also remain indelibly attached to his name, such as the Maternity Hospital, the Synagogue (destroyed during the Third Reich), the Oppenheim Palace, and the ''[[Villa Rosa (Dresden)|Villa Rosa]]'' built for the banker Martin Wilhelm Oppenheim. This last construction stands as a prototype of German villa architecture.

On September 1, 1835, Semper married [[Bertha Thimmig]]. The marriage ultimately produced six children.

A convinced Republican, Semper took a leading role, along with his friend [[Richard Wagner]], in the [[May Uprising in Dresden|May 1849 uprising]] which swept over the city. He was a member of the Civic Guard (Kommunalgarde) and helped to erect barricades in the streets. When the rebellion collapsed, Semper was considered a leading agitator for democratic change and a ringleader against government authority and he was forced to flee the city.

He was destined never to return to the city that would, ironically, become most associated with his architectural (and political) legacy. The Saxon government maintained a warrant for his arrest until 1863. When the Semper-designed Hoftheater burnt down in 1869, King [[John I of Saxony|John]], on the urging of the citizenry, commissioned Semper to build a new one. Semper produced the plans but left the actual construction to his son, Manfred.

"What must I have done in 48, that one persecutes me forever? One single barricade did I construct - it held, because it was practical, and as it was practical, it was beautiful", wrote Semper in dismay.<ref>Letter to Heinrich Hübsch, January 1852</ref>

=== Post-revolutionary period (1849–1855) ===
After stays in [[Zwickau]], [[Hof, Germany|Hof]], [[Karlsruhe]] and [[Strasbourg]], Semper eventually ended up back in Paris, like many other disillusioned Republicans from the 1848 Revolutions (such as [[Heinrich Heine]] and [[Ludwig Börne]]). In the fall of 1850, he travelled to London, England. But while he was able to pick up occasional contracts — including participation in the design of the funeral carriage for the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] and the designs of the Canadian, Danish, Swedish, and Ottoman sections of the 1851 [[The Great Exhibition|Great Exhibition]] in the [[The Crystal Palace|Crystal Palace]] — he found no steady employment. If his stay in London was disappointing professionally, however, it proved a fertile period for Semper's theoretical, creative and academic development. He published ''Die vier Elemente der Baukunst'' (''[[The Four Elements of Architecture]]'') in 1851 and ''Wissenschaft, Industrie und Kunst'' (''Science, Industry and Art'') in 1852. These works would ultimately provide the groundwork for his most widely regarded publication, ''Der Stil in den technischen und tektonischen Künsten oder Praktische Ästhetik,'' which was published in two volumes in 1861 and 1863.<ref name="archdic">{{cite book|last = Curl|first = James Stevens|title = A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|year = 2006|url =https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch00curl_0|url-access = registration|type = Paperback|edition =2nd|publisher = Oxford University Press|isbn = 0-19-860678-8|pages = [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch00curl_0/page/880 880]}}</ref>

=== Zürich period (1855–1871) ===
[[File:Gottfried Semper Wien.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Gottfried Semper]]
[[File:Hundert Jahre Bilder aus der Stadt Zürich - Das Polytechnikum 1865.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[ETH Zurich|Polytechnikum]]'' in 1865]]
[[File:ETH Zurich from Polyterrace.jpg|thumb|upright|[[ETH Zurich]] ''Hauptgebäude'' (main building)]]
[[File:Winterthur Stadthaus.jpg|thumb|upright|''Stadthaus'' (city hall) [[Winterthur]]]]
Concurrently with the onset of the industrial revolution, the [[Swiss Federation]] planned to establish a [[Institute of technology|polytechnical]] school. As the principal judge for the [[architectural design competition|competition]] held to select a design for the new building, Semper deemed the submitted entries unsatisfactory and, ultimately, designed the building himself. Proudly situated (where fortified walls once stood), visible from all sides on a terrace overlooking the core of [[Zürich]], the new school became a symbol of a new epoch. The building (1853–1864), which despite frequent remodeling continues to evoke Semper's concept, was initially required to accommodate not only the new school (known today as the [[ETH Zurich]]), but the existing [[University of Zurich]], as well.

In 1855, Semper became a professor of architecture at the new school and the success of many of his students who attained success and renown served to ensure his legacy. The Swiss architect [[Emil Schmid]] was one such student. With his income as a professor, Semper was able to reunite his family, bringing them to Zürich from Saxony. The City Hall in [[Winterthur]] is among other buildings designed by Semper in Switzerland.

In 1861, Semper and his family were awarded Swiss citizenship by the Swiss municipality of [[Affoltern am Albis]] in return for the planning and construction of their main church's bell-tower.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bussmann |first1=Monica |title=Wie Gottfried Semper Schweizer wurde |url=https://etheritage.ethz.ch/2016/09/02/wie-gottfried-semper-schweizer-wurde/ |website=In: ETHeritage. Highlights aus den Archiven und Sammlungen der ETH Zürich. |date=2 September 2016 |publisher=ETH Library |access-date=October 3, 2022}}</ref> This citizenship was later confirmed by the Zürich cantonal government in December 1861 and with these new Swiss passports in hand, Semper was once again able to travel and finally also visit Germany, after the warrant for his arrest had been cancelled in May 1863.

Semper provided [[Bavaria]]'s [[King Ludwig II]] with a conceptual design for a theatre dedicated to the work of [[Richard Wagner]] to be built in Munich. The project, developed from 1864 to 1866, was never realized, although Wagner 'borrowed' many of its features for his own later theatre at [[Bayreuth]].

=== Later life (from 1871) ===
[[File:Friedhof Piramide - Grab Semper.jpg|thumb|left|Semper's grave in the [[Protestant Cemetery, Rome]]]]
[[File:Gottfried Semper 1879.jpg|thumb|[[Franz von Lenbach]]'s portrait of Gottfried Semper shortly before his death]]

Already in 1833, there were first plans in Vienna for the public presentation of the Imperial Art Collections. With the planning of the [[Vienna Ring Road]], the museum question became pressing again. Works forming the imperial art collection were scattered among several buildings. Semper was assigned to submit a proposal for locating new buildings in conjunction with redevelopment of the Ring Road. In 1869, he designed a gigantic 'Imperial Forum' which was not realized. The National Museum of Art History and the National Museum of Natural History were erected, however, opposite the Palace according to his plan, as was the Burgtheater. In 1871, Semper moved to Vienna to undertake the projects.
During construction, repeated disagreements with his appointed associate architect ([[Baron Karl von Hasenauer|Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer]]), led Semper to resign from the project in 1876. In the following year, his health began to deteriorate. He died two years later while on a visit to Italy and is buried in the [[Protestant Cemetery, Rome]].
<ref>[http://www.protestantcemetery.it/graves/databases.html Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome databases Semper Goffredo] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207015655/http://www.protestantcemetery.it/graves/databases.html |date=2013-02-07 }}</ref>

[[File:semperopera.jpg|center|thumb|590px|Semper's (second) [[Semper Opera House|Dresden Opera House]] as it is today]]

== Works (selected) ==
[[File:Louis Thümling nach Hermann Krone - Alte Synagoge in Dresden (1850-70).png|thumb|300px|The Semper Synagogue c. 1860]]
*[[Dresden]]
**Hoftheater – 1838–1841 (destroyed by fire in 1869)
**[[Villa Rosa (Dresden)|Villa Rosa]] – 1839 (destroyed in the Second World War)
**[[Semper Synagogue]] – 1839–1840 (destroyed on November 9, 1938 - [[Kristallnacht]])
**Oppenheim-Palace – 1845–1848
**[[Semper Gallery]] ([[Dresden Gemäldegalerie]]) – 1847–1855
**Neues Hoftheater ([[Semperoper]]) – 1871–1878
*[[Zürich]]
**City Hall – 1858 (only concept for competition; not built)
**Polytechnical School, ([[ETH Zurich]]) – 1858–1864
**Observatory - 1861–1864
*[[Winterthur]]
**City Hall – 1865–1869
*[[Vienna]]
**Municipal Theater ([[Burgtheater]]) – 1873–1888
**Museum of Art History ([[Kunsthistorisches Museum]]) (1872–1881, finished 1889)
**Natural History Museum ([[Naturhistorisches Museum]]) (1872–1881, finished 1891)
**Semperdepot, Lehargasse, Vienna

== See also ==
* [[Dresden school]]
* [[Architectural theory]]

==Notes==
{{refbegin}}
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Berry, J. Duncan. The Legacy of Gottfried Semper. Studies in ''Späthistorismus'' ([https://dl.lib.brown.edu/theses/theses.php?task=search&id=1029 Ph. D. Diss.], Brown University, 1989).
*Hvattum, Mari. ''Gottfried Semper and the Problem of Historicism'' (Cambridge, 2004). {{ISBN|0-521-82163-0}}
* {{cite book|first=Wolfgang|last=Herrmann|title=Gottfried Semper: In Search of Architecture|isbn=9780262367974 |publisher=[[MIT Press]]|year=1984|url=https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5069/Gottfried-SemperIn-Search-of-Architecture}}
*Mallgrave, Harry Francis. ''Gottfried Semper - Architect of the Nineteenth Century'' (New Haven/London, 1996). {{ISBN|0-300-06624-4}}
*Mallgrave, Harry Francis. ''Modern Architectural Theory: A Historical Survey, 1673-1968'' (Cambridge, 2005). {{ISBN|0-521-79306-8}}
*Mallgrave, Harry Francis. ''Architectural Theory: An Anthology from Vitruvius to 1870'' (Malden, MA/Oxford, 2006). {{ISBN|1-4051-0258-6}}
*Muecke, Mikesch W. ''Gottfried Semper in Zurich - An Intersection of Theory and Practice'' (Ames, IA, 2005). {{ISBN|978-1-4116-3391-9}}
*Nerdinger, Winfried and Werner Oechslin (eds.). ''Gottfried Semper 1803-1879'' (Munich/Zürich, 2003). {{ISBN|3-7913-2885-9}}
*Semper, Gottfried. ''The Four Elements of Architecture and Other Writings''. Trans. Harry F. Mallgrave and Wolfgang Herrmann (Cambridge, 1989). {{ISBN|0-521-35475-7}}
*Semper, Gottfried. ''Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts; or, Practical Aesthetics''. Trans. Harry F. Mallgrave (Santa Monica, 2004). {{ISBN|0-89236-597-8}}
* Herrman, Wolfgang ''Gottfried Semper im Exil'' (Basel ; Stuttgart : Birkhauser, 1978). {{ISBN|3-7643-0992-X}}

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Gottfried Semper}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Semper, Gottfried}}
*[http://www.danda.be/gallery/villa_garbald/ Villa Garbald] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319085346/http://www.danda.be/gallery/villa_garbald/ |date=2014-03-19 }}
*[https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz80027.html Semper, Gottfried] at Deutsche Biographie (in German)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051230055841/http://www.smerus.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/lamp1.htm Wagner and Semper]

{{Richard Wagner|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Semper, Gottfried}}
[[Category:1803 births]]
[[Category:1879 deaths]]
[[Category:Academic staff of ETH Zurich]]
[[Category:19th-century German architects]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts]]
[[Category:Architecture educators]]
[[Category:German architecture writers]]
[[Category:Architectural theoreticians]]
[[Category:People from Hamburg]]
[[Category:People of the Revolutions of 1848]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:University of Göttingen alumni]]
[[Category:Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni]]
[[Category:Burials in the Protestant Cemetery, Rome]]
[[Category:German expatriates in Switzerland]]
[[Category:German male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Richard Wagner]]
[[Category:People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums]]
[[Category:Semperoper]]