Karl Friedrich Schinkel

Karl Friedrich Schinkel was born on 13 March 1781 in Prussia and trained as an architect, painter, and designer across disciplines - furniture, stage sets, city plans. He rose to lead both the Neoclassical and Gothic Revival movements in nineteenth-century Germany, shaping Berlin's streets and skyline with a precision that made him one of the greatest architects his country produced. His Altes Museum stands as one of Europe's most important classical buildings, a prototype that national art museums worldwide would follow. The Bauakademie, another of his Berlin works, is considered a forerunner of modern architecture itself. Schinkel died on 9 October 1841, leaving a city remade in his image.