Cornelis Ryckwaert (c. 1635 - † 1693), master builder in Brandenburg

Export of Dutch architecture in the seventeenth century?

Abstract

Cornelis Ryckwaert is one of the few master builders who were active in Brandenburg in the seventeenth century and of whom more is known than just a name or a place of residence. This makes him especially suitable for a study of the export of Dutch influences in the architecture of Brandenburg.

An analysis of his activities should reveal the nature of any such influence, making for a more nuanced assessment of Ryckwaert’s work and contributing to the debate about what the concept of influence actually entails. This article begins with his origins and his arrival in Brandenburg in the retinue of Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, and then moves on to discuss several of his building projects.

There are indications that Ryckwaert was born in Leiden. From 1662 he was involved in the reconstruction of the Johannieter castle in Sonnenburg (present-day Słonsk). Once work on the castle was finished, Ryckwaert was appointed master of Electoral fortifications in Küstrin/Kostrzyn, where he lived until his death in 1693. From this base he was involved in other building projects, chiefly for the Electors of Brandenburg and of Sachsen-Anhalt. In Brandenburg his works included the castle in Schwedt, the Junkerhaus in Frankfurt an der Oder and smaller estates owned by minor nobility, such as Groß Rietz and Hohenfinow. In Sachsen-Anhalt he worked on the castle in Coswig, the castle and Lutheran church in Zerbst, and the Oranienbaum castle. He traded in wood and built a shipping bridge in Dessau where he also worked on other projects.

In the literature Cornelis Ryckwaert is regarded as an example of a travelling architect who introduced Dutch influences in Brandenburg. However, an analysis of his activities failed to uncover any persuasive evidence that he was in fact active as an architectural designer. Moreover, he was not appointed as ‘architect’, but as ‘master builder’. The conclusion must therefore be that Ryckwaert’s activities were of a civil engineering nature and that he cannot be regarded as an architectural designer.

Ryckwaert’s influence on the building industry in Brandenburg should consequently be sought in the specific civil engineering expertise he possessed and that was needed in Brandenburg. His close ties with the Electoral court and with members of the minor nobility who usually held administrative offices, meant that Ryckwaert’s know-how was employed in many different places. Based on the written sources, the nature of Ryckwaert’s influence on construction in Brandenburg in the seventeenth century is more likely to be found in his activities as a fortification engineer.

Very little remains of the work of Cornelis Ryckwaert, or of related source material. Only the Junkerhaus in Frankfurt an der Oder, and more especially Oranienbaum castle, are still in a reasonably authentic condition.