Nicodemus Tessin the Younger

Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger (23 May 1654 – 10 April 1728) was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.

The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which has had a lasting influence on Swedish architecture and history. Several of his works, including the gardens of Drottningholm Palace, are among the most architecturally significant in Sweden.

Biography

Early life Tessin was born on 23 May 1654 as the only child of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, son of the mayor of Stralsund, and Maria Svan, daughter of the mayor of Västerås. He showed artistic talents at an early age and was given an education in Mathematics and language at Uppsala, where he must have been influenced by Olaus Rudbeck who was at the time highly engaged in the scientific basis of architecture and botany. Together with his stepbrother Abraham Winands, Tessin actively took part in his father's work, and when Tessin inherited his father's position, he asked to share it with Winands and the two would keep working side by side until the death of Winands in 1709.

In 1690, Tessin married his mistress Hedvig Eleonora Stenbock (1658–1714), maid of honour of Queen Hedvig Elenora. However, at this time Tessin still belonged to the lesser nobility and his marriage to a woman from the high nobility was regarded as inappropriate. The marriage therefore had to take place secretly in Pomerania and, to repair the situation, Tessin had to produce a residence in accordance to his wife's status. Works on the Tessin Palace begun in 1694 and initially progressed slowly, but in 1697 Tessin and his family could move in and in 1701, two years after Tessin had been promoted to high nobility, the interior was completed to the extent Tessin could invite the widowed queen and the royal family to a supper. Besides his own palace, the gardens of the Drottningholm Palace and Steninge Palace, both located not far from Stockholm, are often pointed out as his greatest achievements.

Later life

Most of Tessin's projects as an architect were produced during the 17th century, including several churches such the King Charles' Church in Kungsör and the Holy Trinity Church in Karlskrona, and many of his proposals never were built. During his later life, he played an important role as an administrator and he also produced ambitious city plans for Stockholm in connection to his work for the royal palace.

Progeny Tessin the Younger was the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, one of the most influential Swedish politicians of his time. Carl Erik Tessin Hedvig Tessin von Schwerin Ulrika Maria Tessin Sparre, she was the mother of Fredrik Sparre, who was Lord High Chancellor of Sweden in the 1790s.

Selected works Stockholm Palace Tessin Palace, (1694–1700) Steninge Palace Completion of the Drottningholm Palace Gottorp, Schleswig, (1697–1703) Holy Trinity Church, Karlskrona King Charles' Church, Kungsör Västra/Östra boställshuset, Stockholm