Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff

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Officer, architect and painter Georg Wenzeslaus Baron von Knobelsdorff in a portrait by Adam Manycki, a court painter from Dresden

Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (Born 17 February 1699 at Kuckädel in Crossen an der Oder, (Krosno Odrzańskie); Died 16 September 1753 in Berlin) was a painter and architect in Prussia.

First he was a soldier in the service of Prussia and resigned his commission in 1729 as captain so that he could dedicate himself to his interest in architecture. In 1740 he travelled to Paris and Italy at the expense of the new king, Frederick II of Prussia, to study.

He was influenced as an architect by the French Baroque Classicism and by Palladian architecture. With his interior design and the equipment of the king, he created the basis for the Frederickian Rococo style at Rheinsberg, which was the seat of the monarch at that time.

He was the head custodian of all of the royal buildings and a secret council on financial matters. In 1746 he was fired by the king and Johann Boumann finished all his projects, including Sanssouci.

Karl Begas the younger created a statue of Knobelsdorff in 1886. This used to stand in the entrance hall of the Altes Museum (in Berlin) and is now in a depot of the state museum.

[edit] Works

Rheinsberg palace, extension (see also Rheinsberg)
1743 - Berlin State Opera (his main work in the Classical style)
1740-1742 - Charlottenburg Palace, new wing (in his time the so called New Palace)
1744 - 1752 reconstruction of the early Rococo Potsdam City Palace into the second Prussian winter residence (next to Berlin) with its richly furnished interior
Since 1745 - Sanssouci in Potsdam (effecting the King's plans)
Palace at Zerbst (see also Zerbst)
Parks Tiergarten in Berlin