SONNIN, Ernst Georg - b. 1713 Quitzow, d. 1794 Hamburg - WGA

SONNIN, Ernst Georg

(b. 1713 Quitzow, d. 1794 Hamburg)

German architect and engineer. He studied in Altona (then Danish), Halle, and Jena, initially theology, then mathematics. After completing his studies, he came to Hamburg, was a private tutor for Latin and mathematics, and founded a workshop for fine mechanics. Due to his engineering skills he was mainly responsible for the repair and maintenance of churches, especially church towers. He was one of the first engineers to install the new Franklin lightning rods on church spires (St. Jakobi) and simply ‘straighten’ the then skewed Hamburg church towers.

From 1750 to 1762, Sonnin, together with Johann Leonhard Prey (1700-1757), built the second great Michaeliskirche in Hamburg in the Baroque style. From 1777 to 1786 he constructed the tower in wood with the copper cladding. In 1754 he built the Herrenhaus at Gut Kaden and the pastorate of Westensee. Afterwards, he appeared mainly with maintenance, in 1759-60 at the Hamburger Dom, in 1762 at St. Nikolai and in 1770 at St. Katharinen. In 1763 he worked at Kiel Castle. Between 1775 and 1781 he erected the late Baroque St. Bartholomäus-Kirche in Wilster. In 1785 Sonnin was called to Lüneburg, where he worked as a town and salt mine architect.

Sonnin also worked as an astronomer and tried to determine from the roof of the Michaeliskirche the exact geographic position of Hamburg, as this was reproduced on the maps with large deviations in the middle of the 18th century.

Exterior view

St. Michael’s Church is one of Hamburg’s five Lutheran main churches and the most famous church in the city. St. Michael’s is a landmark of the city and it is considered to be one of the finest Hanseatic Protestant Baroque churches. The church was purposely built Protestant unlike many other Hamburg churches which were originally built by Roman Catholics and were converted to Protestantism during the Reformation. It is dedicated to the Archangel Michael.

The reconstruction of St. Michael’s, which had succumbed to fire in 1750, was the main work and masterpiece of Ernst Georg Sonnin. In 1750 he, and the Thuringian-born Johann Leonard Prey (1700-1757) submitted proposals for the reconstruction of the church. The foundation stone was laid a year later, and the finishing ceremony was carried out in December 1757, although with a tower base barely covered over. It was only twenty years later that funds were made available for the construction of the tower.

It was the tower where Sonnin displayed his genius as a technician and structural engineer - he actually had the tower erected without scaffolding, to the immense astonishment of the public. This structure, which soon became a symbol of Hanseatic Hamburg, was finally opened with great solemnity in 1786.

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Interior view

Along with the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Sankt Michaelis is considered the most splendid example of a Protestant Baroque church. Protestant in conception but Catholic in execution might be a reasonable description of a first impression on entering the building. The spatial proportions and dimensions of the centralized hall are remarkable, especially when viewed from the gallery. The four piers that mark out the cruciform ground plan support broad coffered transverse arches bearing a lofty trough-shaped vault lined with a broad projecting ledge and an encircling balustrade.

The composer Johannes Brahms was baptized on May 26, 1833 in this church and confirmed at the age of fifteen.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 22 minutes):

Johannes Brahms: Sonata for cello and piano No. 1 E minor op. 38

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