Hieronymus Lotter
Illustration — Hieronymus Lotter in the costume of a Leipzig councilman (oil on canvas, 1569) Hieronymus Lotter (around 1497 in Nuremberg-22 July 1580 in Geyer / Ore Mountains) was a merchant and several times mayor of Leipzig, construction manager for important sovereign building projects in Saxony and the driving force behind extensive building measures by the municipal council in Leipzig. Lotter was the Master builder of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, under the direction of the principal toolmaster and master builder Caspar Vogt von Wierandt († 1560). According to earlier research, he was considered an important architect of the Renaissance; today its role is seen in a more differentiated way and above all its organizational function is emphasized.
Hieronymus Lotter
Hans Reinhart · CC0
- Born
- the 1490s. · Nuremberg.
- Died
- 1580. · Geyer.
- Nationality
- Germany.
- Occupation
- politician, architect, merchant, mayor and master builder.
- Languages
- German.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — Hieronymus Lotter in the costume of a Leipzig councilman (oil on canvas, 1569) Hieronymus Lotter (around 1497 in Nuremberg-22 July 1580 in Geyer / Ore Mountains) was a merchant and several times mayor of Leipzig, construction manager for important sovereign building projects in Saxony and the driving force behind extensive building measures by the municipal council in Leipzig. Lotter was the Master builder of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, under the direction of the principal toolmaster and master builder Caspar Vogt von Wierandt († 1560). According to earlier research, he was considered an important architect of the Renaissance; today its role is seen in a more differentiated way and above all its organizational function is emphasized.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Hieronymus Lotter (died 1580) was a German architect, master builder and mayor, among other activities. Born in Nuremberg, the architect died in Geyer. Hieronymus Lotter held the position of mayor and worked in Leipzig. Languages used include German.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Hieronymus Lotter. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
gnd · 1135285993 · wikidata · Q1617573 · wikipedia · Hieronymus Lotter
In this article
Life and work
Life and work
As mayor, he was probably one of the driving forces behind the conversion of the old town hall in Leipzig (1556–57) into one of the most important buildings of the German Renaissance, as well as other urban buildings, such as Alte Waage (Weigh house) (1555) in Leipzig and the town hall in Pegau (from 1559). He was also in sovereign service as a construction manager (master builder) on the Leipzig city fortifications (from 1551), of which only the Moritzbastei has survived to this day. And he was the first master builder of Augustusburg Castle near Chemnitz (from 1568 until January 1572). The building design and execution of the buildings created in connection with Lotter can be attributed to various important architects and master craftsmen; so the design of the Leipzig city fortifications by the Electoral Saxon armory master and fortification engineer Caspar Vogt von Wierandt and details by the master stonemason Paul Speck. The original design model for the Augustusburg was sent to Lotter from Dresden, which he modified with his own ideas. Erhard van der Meer also made a name for himself at the Augustusburg with designs for the palace chapel. After Lotter had enjoyed the favor of Elector Maurice of Saxony at a young age and acquired considerable wealth as a merchant (mining, loan, trade), he died in disgrace and in much simpler circumstances. At first he had also had the favor of Maurice's successor, Augustus, Elector of Saxony. Nevertheless, bad speculations led to his economic ruin and finally to his dismissal. • Illustration — Lotterhof from the east (2011) His death house in Geyer (Lotterhof, 1566) experienced various changes of ownership and has served as a factory since the 19th century, in which washboards and small pieces of furniture were manufactured. What is particularly noteworthy about the listed building is the colored wooden coffered ceiling from the 17th century. The building, which has been vacant since 1990, received a new roof after 1990, but was otherwise in danger of falling into ruin. A local association is taking care of the restoration and has set up a meeting place in the vaulted rooms. In 2020, the association has completed the exterior renovation of the listed building.
Non-fiction
Non-fiction
• Entry Hieronymus Lotter in: • Wolfram Günther: Hieronymus Lotter – bedeutender Architekt der deutschen Renaissance oder Mythos der Kunstgeschichte? Hieronymus Lotter und der Bau des Alten Leipziger Rathauses. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2009, ISBN 978-3-8370-8012-4, in German - Translation of the title: Hieronymus Lotter – Important Architect of the German Renaissance or Myth of Art History? Hieronymus Lotter and the construction of the old Leipzig town hall • Wolfram Günther: Hieronymus Lotter. In: Arnold Bartetzky (Ed.): Die Baumeister der „deutschen Renaissance“. Ein Mythos der Kunstgeschichte? Sax-Verlag, Beucha 2004, ISBN 3-934544-52-5, pp. 73–110, in German - Translation of the title: The builders of the "German Renaissance". A myth of art history? * • Rudolf Skoda: Hieronymus Lotter. "Es hat mich Kurfürst Moritz zu einem Baumeister allhier gemacht", in: Vera Hauschild (Ed.), Die großen Leipziger, Insel Verlag Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 1996, ISBN 3-458-16780-3, pp. 35–46, in German - Translation of the title: "Hieronymus Lotter. Elector Maurice made me a master builder all here" • Lutz Unbehaun: Hieronymus Lotter. Kurfürstlich-sächsischer Baumeister und Bürgermeister zu Leipzig. Seemann, Leipzig 1989, ISBN 3-363-00416-8, in German - Translation of the title: Hieronymus Lotter. Electoral Saxon master builder and mayor of Leipzig *
Fiction
Fiction
• Johannes Arnold: Hieronymus Lotter. Historischer Roman, Halle/Leipzig 1979. (Historical novel in German)
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. Institutional cataloguing adds that three men read while a woman writes numerals; representing arithmetic. Cort, 1565, after F. Institutional cataloguing adds that a woman with a castle on her head traces a compass across a globe while two men crouch over it; representing geometry.
Coins and medals in the National Museum of Finland
Hans Reinhart
![21.06.2003 09573 Augustusburg, Kirchplatz 2 (GMP: 50.815263,13.098662): Der Lotterhof, einst Wohnhaus von Hieronymus Lotter, dem Baumeister von Schloß Augustusburg. [DSCN...JPG]20030621130DR.JPG(c)Blobelt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/20030621130DR_Augustusburg_Lotterhof_Kirchplatz_2.jpg/800px-20030621130DR_Augustusburg_Lotterhof_Kirchplatz_2.jpg)
21.06.2003 09573 Augustusburg, Kirchplatz 2 (GMP: 50.815263,13.098662): Der Lotterhof, einst Wohnhaus von Hieronymus Lotter, dem Baumeister von Schloß Augustusburg. [DSCN...JPG]20030621130DR.JPG(c)Blobelt
Jörg Blobelt
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Nuremberg.
Birth place
Geyer.
Death place
Posthumous honors
• Illustration — Lotterstraße in Leipzig The promotion company of Leipzig's City History Museum, Hieronymus-Lotter-Gesellschaft, named itself after the builder of the Old Town Hall because the museum has its headquarters there since 1909. The Hieronymus-Lotter-Preis für Denkmalschutz (Translation: Hieronymus Lotter Prize for Monument Protection) is an award named after Hieronymus Lotter, which the Kulturstiftung Leipzig awards for the exemplary repair or restoration of cultural monuments in the city of Leipzig. In Leipzig and Augustusburg streets are named after Hieronymus Lotter. Lotterstraße in Leipzig has borne this name since 1898 and is located between the new town hall and its later extension, the Stadthaus. The Pleissenburg, which stood on the plot of the new town hall before, was rebuilt as a fortification in 1549 by Hieronymus Lotter.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The Neue Deutsche Biographie divergently indicates 24 July 1580.
- 2.Bettina Vaupel: Lotters Erbe darf nicht verlottern. Im sächsischen Geyer soll ein Renaissancehaus gerettet werden. In: Monumente. . volume 23, issue 2, April 2013. pp. 21–26, in German - Translation of the title: Lotter's legacy must not go to waste. A Renaissance house is to be saved in Geyer, Saxony
- 3.Petrick, Romy. Lotterhof Geyer - Ein Renaissanceschloss erstrahlt in altem Glanze. Aufgeschlossen. Freundeskreis Schlösserland Sachsen e.V. 2020. 1. 22-24.
- 4.Entry Lotterstraße in the street name directory of the city of Leipzig (in German)
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Hieronymus Lotter, copy of the document in the tower hood of the old town hall (1573), in: Axel Frey / Bernd Weinkauf (ed.), Leipzig als ein Pleißathen. Eine geistesgeschichtliche Ortsbestimmung, Reclam Verlag, Leipzig 1995, ISBN 3-379-01526-1, p. 255f. (in German)
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Died at
1- GeyerPlace
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
This entry is compiled from 6 catalogued sources across 5 independent registers. The registers consulted are Crossref registry, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Wellcome Collection, Wikidata and Wikipedia. Every statement above is held against the register that stated it; where the registers are silent, the entry is silent.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Design
11,558 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Hidalgo MoyaDesigner
- Hideto HoriikeDesigner
- Hideto KishidaDesigner
- Hidetsugu AnehaDesigner
- Hijjas KasturiDesigner
- Hilary MajewskiDesigner
- Hilda HongellDesigner
- Hilda MasonDesigner
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Hieronymus Lotter?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.