Thiersch, Friedrich von (ennobled 1897)

Architect

born: 18.04.1852 in Marburg

died: 23.12.1921 in Munich

The grandson of the Bavarian school reformer and classical philologist Friedrich Thiersch (1784-1860) studied architecture at the TH in Stuttgart from 1868-73 and then worked at the Frankfurt architectural firm Mylius & Bluntschli. He went freelance in 1878 and became an associate professor at the TH Munich in 1879 and a full professor in 1882.

The Rhine bridge between Mainz and Kastel, today's Theodor Heuss Bridge, was built according to his plans in 1882-85. In Munich, he created the Palace of Justice in 1891-97, which was to make him famous by combining neo-baroque elements with a modern glass dome. In 1897, he was made a knight and elevated to the nobility.

In the same year, Thiersch sat on the jury for the competition to design the new Wiesbaden Kurhaus. When this did not produce a satisfactory result, Thiersch was commissioned with the design himself in 1902. The building was completed in the extremely short time of two and a half years, but cost around 6 million gold marks instead of the planned 3.15 million. With the approval of the city council, Thiersch had planned to use precious materials and rejected all suggestions to reduce costs. His designs were realized by a large number of sculptors, painters, decorators and craftsmen, most of whom Thiersch brought to Wiesbaden from Munich. The opening took place on 11.05.1907.

In Munich, Thiersch built three Isar bridges in 1903-06 and the extension to the TH in 1906-16, and in Frankfurt the Festhalle in 1907-09, which is considered a technical masterpiece with its 65 m wide dome.

Since its reopening in 1987, the large Kurhaussaal has been known as the Friedrich-von-Thiersch-Saal.