Carl von Gontard

He married Sophia von Erckert and had numerous children, including Carl Friedrich Ludwig von Gontard, a Prussian army officer who was granted hereditary nobility by the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. • Illustration — Gontard's self-designed house in Bayreuth, now a parsonage After two years of study in Paris under Jacques-François Blondel and a lengthy sojourn in Italy he gained a reputation as a valued court architect to Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. In Bayreuth he designed an extension to the Bayreuth Palace and numerous palaces for the nobility and residences for prosperous citizens, buildings recognized as being of high artistic quality and giving the townscape a distinctive accent. Gontard also taught architecture at the Bayreuth Academy of Arts. When her husband, reigning prince Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, died in 1763, Gontard no long received regular commissions because of the policy of austerity of Frederick's successor, Frederick Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. • Illustration — The Communs designed by Gontard for the New Palace • Illustration — The location of the Communs facing the formal entrance court (cour d’honneur) of the New Palace In 1764 Gontard was employed by Wilhelmine's brother, Frederick the Great of Prussia, who soon put him in charge of all royal construction projects in Potsdam and Berlin. From 1765 to 1769 he was the artistic director of the New Palace in Potsdam, whose construction had started in 1763. Gontard had a major role in the arrangement and design of the palace interior, as well as the architecture of the formal auxiliary buildings (Communs) facing the palace forecourt and several structures in Sanssouci Park, such as the Temple of Friendship, Frederick the Great's tribute to his sister, Wilhelmine, and the Antique Temple. His next major work in Potsdam, the Military Orphanage, was undertaken 1771-1778 and contained a distinctive central block and a spiraling stairwell. Major royal assignments followed. Between 1787 and 1790 he furnished nine of the Royal Chambers in the Berlin City Palace. At the same time he created the Marble Palace in Potsdam, one of his most outstanding achievements. His last work was the Holländische Etablissement, an ensemble of so-called "Dutch Houses" in the New Garden, Potsdam. He had significant followers in G. Titel, and H. Gentz, but no long-lasting successors as his style did not survive the change in architectural taste that came with the end of Frederick the Great's era.

Georg Christian Unger and Friedrich Becherer are recorded as having studied under Carl von Gontard. The recorded working language is German. Works named in the authority record are Brandenburg Gate. Work by Carl von Gontard is recorded in the collections of Nationalmuseum.

• Illustration — The Brandenburg Gate in Potsdam • Illustration — Temple of Friendship in Sanssouci Park • Illustration — Am Bassin in Potsdam (2011) • Illustration — The Military Orphanage (Potsdam) • Illustration — The Marble Palace in the New Gardens, Potsdam (This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia)