'''Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff''' (18_May 1736 - 9_March 1800) was a German architect and architectural theoretician, and one of the most significant representatives of early German Neoclassicism. His work included Wörlitz House in Wörlitzer_Park near Dessau, one of the earliest classical houses on the European continent. His most well-known student was Friedrich_Gilly, the teacher of Karl_Friedrich_Schinkel.
==Life==
Image:Friedrich_Wilhelm_von_Erdmannsdorff.jpg
Frederick William was born in Dresden to the Saxon courtier Baron Ernst Ferdinand von Erdmannsdorff and his wife Henriette Margarethe von Heßler.
After his education at the Cavalier's Academy in Dresden from 1750-1754 he attended the University of Halle-Wittenberg from 1754-1758, where he encountered Prince Franz von Anhalt-Dessau, whose service he entered in 1758. His later fame is due his works for this prince in Dessau and Wörlitz. In accordance with the educational ideals of the Enlightenment Prince Franz had the aim of reorganising his lands into a cohesive 'garden realm' (''Gartenreich''). In addition to the beautification of the landscape, cottages of various architectural styles, antique temples, bridges and memorials were to be built and to be accessible to everyone. He employed his friend and architect Erdmannsdorff to design the architectural arrangement of the grounds.
Between 1761 and 1775 on his Grand_tour to Italy, Holland, England, France and Switzerland, Erdmannsdorf gathered ideas for the architectural arrangement of the Wörlitz grounds. Accompaniing the Prince, he got to know the style of the Scottish architects Robert and James_Adam (the ''Adams Style''). At the same time he was impressed by the architect William Chambers. In Rome Erdmannsdorff made the acquaintance of the archaeologist Johann_Joachim_Winckelmann and the painter Charles_Louis_Clérisseau, and contacted the master builder Giovanni_Battista_Piranesi and painter Jakob_Philipp_Hackert.
The contemporary art and culture of England made a particular impression on Erdmannsdorff as well as
Prince Franz. The Palladian_architecture of England, inspired by the Palladian_Villas of the 16th century, can be seen replicated in Erdmannsdorff's later creations and was the strongest influence on his work next to the architecture and interior design of ancient Rome. In this artistic context he built, amongst others, the Country House at Wörlitz.
Although Erdmannsdorff favoured this particular architectural style, he also created buildings in the Neo-gothic style preferred by Prince Franz. Among others, he converted the influences he had received on his trip to England into the building of the ''Gothic House'' in the Wörlitz Grounds.
During his time in Anhalt-Dessau he married Wilhelmine von Ahlimb in 1781, with whom he had two daughters.
In 1786 the Prussian king Frederick William II called on his services to redecorate the bedroom and study of the late Prussian king Frederick The Great in Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam as well a number of rooms in the Berliner_Stadtschloss (Berlin City Palace). Consequently the first consistently classical interior of the Potsdam and Berlin palaces was built to Erdmannsdorffs' specifications. During his stay in Berlin and Potsdam which lasted until 1789 he became an honorary member of the 'Royal Academy of Arts and Mechanical Sciences' in Berlin. Apart from this work he was above all active as a consultant in the areas of art, culture and education in Brandenburg.
Between 1789 and 1790 he stayed again in Italy. In Rome he made the acquaintance of the painters Angelika_Kauffmann and Jakob_Phillipp_Hackert, as well as the sculptors Alexander_Trippel, Antonio_Canova and Bartolomeo_Cavaceppi. After a trip to Weimar in 1791 with Prince Franz, he visited the courts of Gotha, Kassel and Karlsruhe. In 1796 he took over the artistic direction of the ''Chalkographische Gesellschaft'' in Dessau, founded in 1795, whose goal was to popularise artistic works through etchings. At this time he also worked as a lecturer at the Berlin School of Architecture, where he taught Friedrich_Gilly among others.
Baron Frederick William von Erdmannsdorff died in Dessau on 9th March, 1800 at the age of 64. His grave can be found at the New Graveyard (today known as Historical Cemetery I) in Dessau.
==Works==
===Buildings in Wörlitz and the Wörlitz Grounds===
* 1767-1768 Nymphaeum
* 1769-1773 Wörlitz House
* 1770-1772 Kitchen Building with Summer Hall
* 1769 Watchkeeper's house "the Horse" on the Elbe dyke
* 1772 Red Watchkeeper's house on the Elbe dyke
* 1773+1813 Gothic House
* 1785-1787 Inn "The Oak Wreath"
* 1787-1790 Synagogue
* 1788 Frederike's Bridge
* 1791-1794 Villa Hamilton (Rock island "Stone")
* 1792-1795 Townhall
* 1794 Temple of Venus
* 1795-1797 Pantheon
* 1796 Probstei
* 1797-1798 Temple of Flora
as well as a number of other garden follies.
===Dessau===
* 1767 Princess' Cabinet and Grand Ballroom in Dessau Palace
* 1774-1778 Luisium Country House
* 1780 Georgium Country House
* 1775 Pavillions in the Palace Gardens
* 1777 Palace Theatre
* nach 1780 Stranger's House and various small details in the Georgium Park
* nach 1780 House at 11/12 Poststraße
* nach 1780 House at 3 Schlossstraße
* nach 1780 52 Zerbster Straße
* 1787 New Graveyard and Graveyard Porch
* 1790-1791 Hippodrome
* 1792 Stables and Court Equerry Residence
* 1793 Orangery and Main Guards
* 1796 Houses on the Mulde Bridge
* 1798 House at 69 Zerbster Straße
* 1798 Court Theatre
* 1798 House at 10 Wallstraße
===Potsdam===
* 1786 Conversion of the bedroom and study of Frederick The Great in the classical style in Sanssouci Palace
===Berlin===
* 1787-1789 Conversion of a few rooms in the Berliner Stadtschloss (Rally Hall, Grand Column Hall, Blue French Chambers, Green French Chambers, Banquet Hall)
==References==
:''This article is based on a translation of the German Wikipedia article Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff.''
*{{cite book|last=Riesenfeld|first=Erich Paul|title=F.W. von Erdmannsdorff, der Baumeister des Herzogs Leopold Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau|location=Berlin|year=1913}}
*{{cite book|last=Alex|first=Reinhard (ed.)|title=Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff 1736-1800|location=Wörlitz|year=1986}}
*{{cite book|last=Kadatz|first=Hans-Joachim|title=Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff. Der Wegbereiter des deutschen Frühklassizismus in Anhalt-Dessau. Verl. für Bauwesen|location=Berlin |year=1986|ide=ISBN 3-345-00024-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Rode|first=August|title=Leben des Herrn Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff|publisher=Kettmann|location=Wörlitz|year=1994}}
*{{cite book|last=Pfeifer|first=Ingo|title=Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff. Der Architekt des Gartenreichs|publisher=DKV-Kunstführer Nr. 562/4|location=München / Berlin|year=2004}}
== External links ==
*The Royal Chambers of Frederick William II (German)
* {{PND|118826352}}
Erdmannsdorff, Frederick William von
Erdmannsdorff, Frederick William von
Erdmannsdorff, Frederick William von
Erdmannsdorff, Frederick William von
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