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LEO VON KLENZE
Leo von Klenze (1784-1864)
Born February 24, 1784, Bockenem, Hanover, Germany,
deceased January 27, 1864 in Munich. He turned from the study of law to architecture after
meeting Friedrich Gilly in 1800. German architect who was one of the most important
figures associated with Neoclassicism in Germany. Trained in Berlin and Paris. In 1808,
appointed to court architect of king Jérôme Bonaparte of Kassel where he was active
until 1813. Klenze's career after 1816 was centered in Munich, where he was the court
architect to Maximilian I and Ludwig I, kings of Bavaria. He was especially enamoured of
ancient Greek and Hellenistic architecture, and many of his buildings are masterpieces of
the Greek Revival style--e.g., the Glyptothek (1816-30, Munich), the Propylaeon (1846-63,
Munich), the Walhalla temple (1831-42, near Regensberg, Germany), and the new Hermitage
Museum (1839-49, St. Petersburg, Russia).
Stylistically eclectic like 19th-century architects, he
also worked in the Renaissance style--e.g., the Königsbau (1826-35) and Festsaalbau
(1833) of the royal palace Munich--and designed the Neo-Byzantine
Allerheiligen-Hofkirche (1827) in Munich. In the mid-19th century Munich was transformed
for King Ludwig I of Bavaria by Leo von Klenze into a major cultural capital with the
addition of Königs- and LudwigStraße.
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