(abridged version Bonas essay) I. Gosschalk (1838-1907) Izak Gosschalk (later Isaac) saw the light of day on April 18, 1838, as the second son of Jewish physician Hijman Hartog Gosschalk and Hester Hijmans. After an active social and professional life as an architect, he died in Brussels on Oct. 10, 1907. Gosschalk, who can be seen as the founder of the Dutch (or National) Neo-Renaissance, became best known as an architect of often picturesque, utilitarian (but rarely public) buildings. The Westergasfabriek on the Haarlemmervaart canal in Amsterdam, the railway station in Groningen and the now demolished Panorama building, also in Amsterdam, are the works with which he has become known to a wider public. However, his oeuvre covers a broad spectrum, from breweries and pubs to synagogues and religious schools (kindergartens). Gosschalk also distinguished himself as a city council member (Amsterdam) and served on various boards (e.g., the Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst), editorial boards (Amstelstem, Nederlandsche Spectator) and government committees (including the Board of State Advisors on Monuments of History and Art). He also regularly voiced his opinion on social and cultural issues in various articles. In these, his critical, somewhat cynical style was particularly notable. Education and apprenticeship Since no polytechnic school existed in the Netherlands in the mid-nineteenth century, Gosschalk had to complete his training as an engineer-architect abroad. Between 1858 and 1862, he trained as an architect in Zurich at the Eidgenössisches Polytechnikum (now ETH). At that time, Gottfried Semper was working there as a professor and Gosschalk will undoubtedly have taken lectures from him. The then raging battle there between "Gothicists" and "Renaissanceists" most likely had a decisive influence on his later stylistic development into a Neo-Renaissance. After his time in Zurich, Gosschalk trained as a painter and etcher in Munich for two years, probably in the form of private instruction. Back in the Netherlands, Gosschalk traveled through the Netherlands and northern Belgium from 1863 to 1867 to study ancient architecture while sketching. Probably with his solid engineering training in Zurich, Gosschalk was already relatively highly trained for the practice of architecture, which at that time was still dominated by self-taught carpenters and contractors. Thus, although it is not known of Gosschalk whether he was influenced by an architect with whom he was or was not employed, a clear teacher can be identified. Gosschalk himself named Gottfried Semper as his teacher in 1868. At the time of his training at the Polytechnikum, a battle of opinions raged (since 1858) between "Gothic-minded youngsters," the followers of Viollet-le-Duc, and the followers of Semper, the so-called Renaissanceists. Gosschalk chose - he looked back on it in 1899 - the golden mean and joined a third group that "appreciating the good in both styles, felt attracted to the so-called picturesque. For Gosschalk, there was a clear connection between political and social developments on the one hand and the development of art on the other. With this insight and with the knowledge of old Dutch architecture he had gained during his sketching trips, Gosschalk developed a hitherto non-existent style, which would become the leading movement at the end of the nineteenth century: the (Dutch) Neo-Renaissance. Working circle Little is known of Gosschalk's establishment as an independent architect. In 1899 he looks back on a practice of more than thirty years, beginning in 1865 and ending in 1899 with the completion of his last work, the railway station in Groningen. It is worth mentioning that the architect Van Nieukerken worked in Gosschalk's office for some time. Starting in 1879, he was an associate at the firm, which was then working on the design of the series of residential houses on Vossiusstraat in Amsterdam, which was important for Gosschalk's oeuvre. Typology oeuvre Gosschalk's design style can be typified as predominantly Dutch (or Dutch) neo-Renaissance. He added this style, which became generally accepted at the end of the nineteenth century, to the existing palette of styles. In addition, he designed - not uncommon for architects at the time - in several other styles, depending on the builder or building type. Gosschalk's architecture evolved from mid-nineteenth-century austere classicism to an imaginative mixture style (Eclecticism), in which the (Dutch) Renaissance was the main theme. Thus, Gosschalk's earliest works are still, entirely in accordance with the prevailing stylistic views at the time, built in an identifiable classicist style. Even then, however, he already gives away samples of his later characteristic picturesque brick facades with historic, Dutch elements. Gosschalk's architecture is also called rationalist. Here, reference is made especially to what is considered by many to be his 'magnus opus': the Westergasfabriek on the Haarlemmerweg in Amsterdam. Views on architecture Gosschalk never concealed his views on architecture. Right at the beginning of his career, even before he has completed a single building, he expresses his views on architecture and architecture in various articles sent to him. In the following years, the production of articles, brochures and letters to the editor did not lag behind his building production. In many of these writings Gosschalk opposes the prevailing views (or lack thereof) on architecture in the Netherlands in the second half of the nineteenth century. Plasterwork, decoration for decoration's sake, buildings designed by contractors and carpenters and the improper use of certain materials were some of the topics, which Gosschalk kept getting annoyed about. Gosschalk had become convinced in Zurich, where he was a student of Semper, that it was important to stick to historical stylistic principles, in this case the Renaissance. To such a basis, the architect could, as needed, add motifs from other style periods. Brick and mountain stone (natural stone) are a recurring theme in his work. Gosschalk liked to make frequent use of clean masonry with - if there was a budget for it - rhinestone details. Only exceptionally do we find plastered facades, usually as a cheap alternative to natural stone layers. New building materials and techniques such as glazed brick, cement tiles, paper stucco and artificial sandstone were used by Gosschalk quite early after their introduction. Thus, although he was a strong proponent of respecting tradition, Gosschalk by no means shunned the opportunities offered by the new era to the nineteenth-century architect. Memberships in associations Immediately upon his return to the Netherlands in 1863, even before he began traveling the country while sketching, Gosschalk signed up as a member of Arti et Amicitiae. He would later become president and honorary member of this society. Between 1872 and 1876, Gosschalk was secretary of the Royal Archaeological Society, an affiliation that would later carry him into the College of State Advisors. From these memberships, Gosschalk maintained an important contact: Gerard A. Heineken. Possibly Gosschalk's breakthrough as a well-known architect is due to this contact, since Gosschalk's first major work, the sensational Steam Beer Brewery De Hooiberg on Stadhouderskade in 1867, was built for Heineken. Gosschalk met his fellow professionals at the Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst and the Royal Institute of Engineers. Public administrative activities Gosschalk gained his greatest fame in a position of public administration with his membership in the Board of State Advisors on Monuments of History and Art. This committee, an initiative of the amateur archaeologist Mr. Victor de Stuers, had the task of advising the Minister of the Interior on the care of monuments (national monuments had yet to be created), the care of museum collections and the maintenance and foundation of national buildings. Despite the small size of the college, its influence was significant. Education: Eidgenössisches Polytechnikum Zürich/1858-1862; Munich/(?) Additional positions: Municipality of Amsterdam/municipal council member/1875-1887; Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap/board member/; Maatschappij tot bevordering der Bouwkunst/chairman, honorary member/; Amstelstem/editor/; Nederlandsche Spectator/editor/; Algemeen Handelsblad/editor/; Committee of Directors of the Committee of Supervision of the Peat Mill the New Bullewijk/member/1881-?