NEOCLASSICISM IN THE ARCHITECTURE OF RIGA (Klasicisms Rigas arhitektura)

• Authors: Zilgalvis Janis
• Languages of publication: LV

Abstracts

EN

In the 1770s Baroque and Rococo styles were replaced by Neoclassicism in Riga architecture. The first public building that embodied the new stylistic ideas was the Town Hall (1750-1765, arch. Johann Friedrich von Ettinger). In the 2nd half of the 18th century Old Riga started to change more rapidly. In 1785 Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church was erected, a new volume was added to the Riga Castle, creating a new facade (1783, arch. Johann Peter Bock), and a new square - the public centre of the town - was laid out in front of the castle. Adjacent buildings were supplemented with the Imperial Lyceum at Castle Square 2 (1785-1787, arch. Matthias Schons). In the Latvian architecture Neoclassicism has spilt in two trends. The first trend was influenced by the German and Russian Neoclassicism while the second was the so-called Civic Neoclassicism that had grown out of the local cultural-historical and social conditions. The main representative of the Civic Neoclassicism was Christoph Haberland (1750-1803). He designed dwelling houses at Miesnieku Street I (1779), Pils Street 6 (1795), Maza Pils Street 1 and 3, Teatra Street 6 (1785), Zirgu Street 28, merchant Morrison's house at Smilsu Street 5 (1787-1794), Johann Samuel Hollander's house at Skunu Street 17 (1787) and others. An important event in Riga was the library reconstruction at the Eastern wing of the Dome Cloister ( 1778-1787, arch. Christoph Haberland) that resulted in a spacious two-floored hall. Johann Hermann von Vietinghoff in his turn created the Musse House at Riharda Vagnera Street (I 78 I 1782, arch. Christoph Haberland). It was a kind of club for aristocracy where the first Riga theatre was housed. The development of Neoclassicist architecture in Riga influenced also sacred buildings, like St. Gertrud's Lutheran Church (1779-1781), St. Peter and St. Paul's Orthodox Church in the Citadel (1781-1785, arch. Sigismund Seege von Laurenberg) and Katlakalns Lutheran Church (1791-1792, arch. Christoph Haberland). As towns of the Russian Empire developed, there was a need to create a stylistically and compositionally unified environment. For this reason albums of exemplary facades were published in 1809 and 1812. They were used in Riga up to 1850.

Keywords

EN

ARCHITECTURE; CHRISTOPH HABERLAND; NEOCLASSICISM; RIGA

Discipline

• ARTS_&_ARCHITECTURE: ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

• Publisher: Publishing House 'Neputns', Terbatas iela 49/51-8, Riga LV-1011, Latvia; www.neputns.lv
• Journal: Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
• Year: 2004
• Volume: 4
• Pages: 57-72
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Zilgalvis Janis

• Janis Zilgalvis, State Inspection for Heritage Protection, Maza Pils iela 19, Riga LV-1050, Latvia

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

11LVAAAA090119