Elie Saraber was born August 4, 1808 in The Hague and baptized August 7, 1808 in the Grote Kerk in The Hague. He died unmarried at the age of 69 in The Hague on January 19, 1878. Family He was the youngest of 9 children from the marriage of Elie Saraber (The Hague, 7.3.1765 The Hague, 28.11.1832) and Maria van Castel (The Hague, 22.4.1767 The Hague, 22.12.1853) His father was a shoemaker and button maker by profession and lived with his wife and children at the Lang Achterom 255.Elie had three brothers and two sisters. Two other sisters and one brother died very young. His oldest brother Machiel Saraber (The Hague, 25.10.1789-) was an innkeeper in The Hague and married Cornelia van der Spek (baptized 9.2.1790-24.2.1847) Even before the birth of his second child in 1825, Machiel disappeared abroad. Then came his sister Maria Anna Saraber (The Hague, 27.7.1791-Den Haag, 23.12.1876) She was married to Johannes Gerardus Rudolf Helge, a carpenter born in Laren, Gelderland and died sometime before 1855. Their eldest daughter Maria Elisabeth Helge (1826-) did not marry until she was 44 in 1870 and before then, along with her niece Anna Cornelia Helge, lived with Elie at 11 Herengracht. His brother Pieter Saraber (The Hague, 25.1.1793-Den Haag, 2.1.1876) was a head teacher and had his own institute where he taught drawing, among other things. His eldest son Elias Pieter Paulus Saraber (The Hague, 30.4.1821-) studied at the Haagsche Teekenacademie and was there in 1833, as stated on the student list: known to his father and in 1834: known to Mr. Saraber. The latter was probably Elie Saraber who at that time was a lecturer in Architecture at the Teekenacademie. His sister Sara Saraber (The Hague, 29.12.1798- The Hague, 15.10.1832) died unmarried at the age of 33, his brother Johannes Saraber (The Hague, 16.4.1801- The Hague, 16.4.1859) was a fusilier, wigmaker and hairdresser and married Cornelia Piera (Dordrecht, 28.8.1791- The Hague, 7.5.1869). Training On September 27, 1824, Elie Saraber is first enrolled at the Haagsche Teekenacademie for the apprenticeship year 1824-1825. His occupation is listed as carpenter, age 16, address Agterom. He is "known to Mr. Hofman" who also pays his bill. In the following four school years Mr. Hofman continues to pay his school fees. He is then "known to Mr. Van Gogh" and later to a certain Mr. Weenink. Saraber decides to continue learning on his own account and studies for three more years at the Academy of Drawing. In the year 1829-1830, he appears on the list of "pupils of the art of measuring" and in his last year, 1831-1832, he is enrolled in all-day Transparencies. Why he became a carpenter is not known, nor how he entered the Drawing Academy. Perhaps he was apprenticed to his brother-in-law Johannes Helge who was a carpenter. His 13 years older brother Pieter Saraber was a head teacher and taught "drawing," among other things. Perhaps he saw in his little brother the talent for drawing and made sure he went to the Teekenacademie. That he was talented is evidenced by the fact that no fewer than five times during his studies he won a prize in the competitions held annually by the academy.In his third year, 1826-1827, he won two prizes: a prize in the subject of Transparency for a perspective drawing of a number of columns with vaults and the "Accesfit" (accessit/accessit, second prize, honorable mention) for a view, floor plan and cross-section of a two-story dome building. Saraber was then in the second grade; in those days one started in the fourth grade and finished in the first grade. The 1829-1830 school year again brought him two prizes; in the subject of Transparency, he received a prize for an overhead view of a small two-story building and a colonnade in front of the entrance. He also received a "Commendation Certificate for Accesfit" for the design of a school building for 400 pupils in "one of the principal cities of the State." He received his fifth award for the design of a house on an estate in Gelderland in the school year 1830-1831. That year there was actually no teaching in the first class because all the other pupils had joined the army, probably to fight against the Belgians who had rebelled and wanted independence. Saraber received a National Medal for his demonstrated diligence and ability. Why he himself did not join the army is not known. In his last school year, 1831-1832, he was enrolled every day in Transparency, in which he became a teacher years later. Work His career as an architect can be subdivided on the basis of work for four (groups of) clients: the Dutch Reformed Church, the first Hague Housing Association, a number of private clients for whom he rebuilt country houses, and three projects for which he himself took the initiative or co-initiated. He also held a number of paid additional positions. He began, as far as is known, with the extension of the St. Anthony asylum on the corner of Vleerstraat and Slijkeinde in 1846. According to his design, a floor is partially built on top of the asylum. Here perhaps lies the seed for his long-term cooperation with the Dutch Reformed Congregation in The Hague. From July 1849 to April 1877 he is church architect and is responsible for the maintenance of all buildings owned by the Dutch Reformed Congregation. This includes the three main churches of The Hague: the Groote or Sint Jacobskerk, the Kloosterkerk and the Nieuwe Kerk. Later the Willemskerk and the Bethlehem- or Armenkerk were added, both designed by himself. The annual accounts of the municipality and, for example, a tender for 125,000 "Rijnsche dakleijen", presumably for the Kloosterkerk, show that this was a nice day's work. From 1850. Saraber's missives offer a glimpse into the nature of the architect. In a letter to the Lords of the Church (November 1870), he pleads for the retention of about three workmen for the daily maintenance of the buildings despite the Church's intention to send all workmen home at the end of December because of a fund shortage. He writes that it weighs heavily on him when he thinks of the fate of the workmen and their families who find themselves without merit in the middle of winter when there is hardly any work. He takes the liberty to immediately introduce three workmen: plumber Heymans, 45, 8 years in service, carpenter Helge, 34, 15 years in service and bricklayer Van Huffelen, 26, two years in service. The name Helge is striking since that was the name of his cousin-in-law who was also a carpenter. It is not unlikely that these two Helges were related. Partly because of this position as church architect, he won the commission for his largest, still existing building; the Diakonie Weeshuis on the Hooftskade. The satisfactory completion of a major renovation of the Civil Orphanage on Westeinde may also have had a positive influence on the award of this large commission. This orphanage was commissioned in 1867. The conversion of the Royal stables, which had been donated to the Dutch Reformed Church by King William III, into the Willemskerk and the construction of the Bethlehem or Poor's Church are also worth mentioning within the framework of his function as a church architect. The Hague Housing Association "Vereniging tot Verbetering der Woning van de Arbeidende Klasse te 's-Gravenhage", founded in 1854, hired Saraber as technical advisor after its founding. Within a few months he was commissioned to design 18 ground- and upper-story houses on Schuddegeestweg (today Javastraat), which were completed in 1855. This was the start of fruitful cooperation between the society and Saraber. Over the next few years 38 more dwellings were added to the Schuddegeest court. In 1868, 42 blocks of four houses each were built on Van Hogendorpstraat and Van der Duynstraat. Especially the last one attracted international attention and a wooden model and a number of drawings passed exhibitions abroad. Saraber converted or designed a number of country houses and villas for private clients, such as Villa Costa in Scheveningen and two villas on Alexanderstraat. Kasteel Vanenburg in Putten reminds many of the villas Saraber designed on Alexanderstraat, but it is not certain whether this country house was actually by his hand. In addition to this new building, he thoroughly rebuilt several other country houses. The most famous of these is the Keukenhof Castle where he turned a country house into a castle. A few years earlier he had already been allowed to build a coach house on the estate. Kasteel Oud-Poelgeest and the now demolished Huis te Bennebroek were also rebuilt under his supervision. The latter two were both commissioned by G. Willink. Royal company was also among Saraber's multitude of clients. For example, he was allowed to remodel the coach house of the Lange Voorhout Palace for Prince Hendrik "The Navigator." The renovation of this was so drastic that a completely new building was actually created. We also find Saraber as the initiator of the construction of the Hôtel Garni in Scheveningen. With Messrs. Mess, Piepers and Der Kinderen, he wrote a circular letter to raise money for the construction of the hotel since they were of the opinion that there was far too little room in the existing Stedelijk Badhuis and that it was undesirable for many visitors to the seaside resort to stay in Scheveningen village because of the nuisance of the fish trade. That they were right soon proved; less than a year after its completion in 1858 it was already decided to expand the hotel to more than twice its area! Both the original building and the expansion had been designed by Saraber. On his own initiative, Saraber also bought two plots of land from the municipality in Willemspark on today's Alexanderstraat. The municipality wanted to turn this park into an upscale residential area. Saraber wisely jumped at this and built two identical villas there. Whether he built the villas there on his own or sold them as a plan with the pieces of land deserves further investigation. It probably won't have done him any harm. In addition to his job as church architect for the Dutch Reformed Church and technical advisor for the Society for the Improvement of Working Class Housing in The Hague, Saraber also had other jobs. For example, he was supervisor of the buildings of Sociëteit De Witte and was treasurer of the Hague branch of the Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst. He had been a member of the Society since its founding in 1843, and when the Hague's correspondent, city architect Zeger Reijers died in 1857, he was appointed his successor in 1859. When the Hague chapter was founded, he became treasurer of that chapter under chairman Rose. Several times he took a seat on the committee judging the competitions issued annually. In addition to his career as an architect, Saraber also had a career as a teacher at the Haagsche Teekenacademie. In 1834 we first see him appearing on the staff lists of the Teekenacademie as a lecturer in architecture. He remained at the Academy at least until 1859. In the meantime, he has made it to head teacher of Ornament and, due to a lack of teachers, also takes on the position of teacher of Transparency. How long he taught thereafter is not known. Own address Where Saraber himself lived is partially known. In his student days until 1832 he lived at the Achterom 255 probably with his parents. From 1853 until his death in 1878 he lived with two nieces in a mansion at Herengracht 11 in The Hague. In 1870, one niece Maria Elisabeth Helge married and left the house. The other niece, Anna Cornelia, continued to live in the house with the next owners after his death. She remained there at least until 1904. Saraber's oeuvre Although his oeuvre is limited, we can still assume that Elie Saraber was of some importance to The Hague building practice of the second half of the 19th century. His close involvement with the Society for the Improvement of Working Class Housing in The Hague brought The Hague a number of innovative and internationally admired examples of social housing. All his designs, his descriptions in the Bouwkundige Bijdragen and his participation in the discussions of the Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst show that he was a progressive architect who was well acquainted with new techniques. For example, on several projects he applied the use of cavity walls which was not common for that time. In the orphanage, for example, iron I-beams were used and iron sills at the windows. These too were samples of newfangled construction. His style can be called austere, business-like, eclectic by the application of both Gothic (Keukenhof Castle) and Renaissance elements. Characteristic are the use of geometric forms and the lack of ornaments and in many works the pediment with oculus can be found for example in the Diakonie orphanage, the Hôtel Garni and Villa Costa. At the Diakonie orphanage, one also notices a very far-reaching symmetry. This symmetry is apparently so important that at the Orphanage School he would rather blind a window than alter the facade. Perhaps partly because of the nature of the buildings, an orphanage, social housing, he makes extensive use of clean masonry. We also see this in Keukenhof Castle which is perhaps more in keeping with the castle look intended there. In general, we can say that Saraber has a sober style but one of high quality and using the latest techniques. Wessel Dragt, 2009 Education: The Hague Drawing Academy Secondary activities: The Hague Drawing Academy/teacher/1834- ;Society for the Advancement of Architecture/Treasurer of The Hague Department/1863-1871;Competition for association building Royal Dutch Yacht Club at Rotterdam/juror/1849