Alexander Saeltzer

Back in Europe, his father, Wilhelm Sältzer, was a brickyard owner, also an architect, and a member of the Grand Duke council of the grand duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in the former Holy Roman Empire (c. 962-1806), then later the German Confederation of Central Europe to 1867. He also worked as the construction manager in the reconstruction / restoration of the famous Wartburg medieval castle, where Protestant / Evangelical Lutheranism reformer priest / theologian Martin Luther (1483-1546), was temporarily exiled and hidden during 1521-1522 in the 16th century era of the Protestant Reformation religious movement. Alexander Saeltzer was born in Eisenach. He studied at the Berlin Bauakademie, in Berlin, then the royal capital city of the Kingdom of Prussia. And was a pupil of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. After graduating from the Bauakademie, moved to journey across the Atlantic to the U.S. from Berlin.

Saeltzer was engaged in February 1849 to design the synagogue at 172 Norfolk Street in an area of New York City on the Lower East Side of Manhattan island known as kleine Deutschland (Little Germany). The synagogue's Gothic Revival style was inspired by the famous medieval Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, and the Friedrichwerdesche Kirche in Berlin. According to a 1987 report by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, while Gothic architecture and its several variations is closely associated with Christianity (both the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant / Evangelical Lutheran / Reformed churches), it had also become popular with synagogues as Jewish temples / synagogues and congregations had taken over old Christian church buildings and become accustomed to the building style, and viewed it as just as appropriate for their religious worship and education with some minor modifications as any other architectural style. Debuted with great celebration, but the layout / arrangement of the list of the Ten Commandments and the use of stained glass in the synagogue later caused some controversy within the congregation.

• Illustration — Astor Library Building, including later additions by other architects Saeltzer won the competition to build the Astor Library Building and designed it in Rundbogenstil style, then the prevailing style for public building in Germany. Funding was provided by William B. Astor, son of the Astor Library's founder, John Jacob Astor. Astor funded two expansions of the building toward Astor Place by Griffith Thomas from 1856 to 1869 and Thomas Stent from 1879 to 1881. Both large expansions followed Saeltzer's original design making it difficult for an observer to detect that the edifice was built in three stages. In 1920, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society purchased the building. By 1965 it was in disuse and faced demolition. The Public Theater, then the New York Shakespeare Festival, persuaded the city to purchase it for use as a theater. It was converted for theater use by Giorgio Cavaglieri between 1967 and 1976. The building is a New York City Landmark, designated in 1965. It was one of the first buildings to be recognized as such by the newly formed Landmarks Preservation Commission of New York City, thanks to Joseph Papp's perseverance. In 2009, The Public began its “Going Public” campaign to raise funds for a major renovation of the historic building. Groundbreaking for the $35 million renovation occurred on March 9, 2010, with notables such as Liev Schreiber and Philip Seymour Hoffman in attendance. Plans include a renovation of Joe's Pub; the Pub went on a three-month hiatus during the summer of 2011 to allow for construction. • Illustration — Stereoscopic view of Lyceum Theatre (14th Street Theatre) c.1871 • Illustration — The Repertory Theatre (Fourteenth Street Theatre) in 1936 with added fire escapes, photographed by Berenice Abbott

The Fourteenth Street Theatre was a New York City theatre located at 107 West 14th Street just west of Sixth Avenue. as a home for French language dramas and opera. It opened in 1866 as the Theatre Francais and was renamed the Lyceum in 1871. When J.H. Haverly took it over in 1879, he had renamed it Haverly's 14th Street Theatre. By the mid-1880s, it had become simply the Fourteenth Street Theatre. By the mid-1910s it was being used as a movie theatre, until actress Eva Le Gallienne turned it into the Civic Repertory Theater in 1926. She mounted a number of successful productions, but the Great Depression ended that venture in 1934. The building was demolished in 1938 or 1948.

Saeltzer was contracted to design the synagogue in 1849. He later designed the Astor Library (now The Public Theater) (1851) and the Academy of Music on Astor Place in 1854. In 1866 he designed the Theatre Francais (New York). • Duncan, Sherman & Company building at 11 Pine Street on the corner of Nassau. Saeltzer used iron in the building and disguised it as stone using scagliola.