Peter Joseph Krahe

Peter Joseph Krahe (8 April 1758, in Mannheim – 7 October 1840, in Braunschweig) was a German architect. He was instrumental in converting the old city walls and fortifications of Braunschweig into a series of parks and other public spaces.

Life He was the son of the well-known historical painter Lambert Krahe. In 1775, he became a student at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, which his father had helped to create. At the age of twenty-two, he became the Academy's youngest professor. Thanks to a grant from Elector Karl Theodor in 1782, he was able to spend a year studying in Rome. Upon returning, he set himself up as an architect. The years 1785 and 1786 were also spent in Italy, where he became an honorary professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze. He first architectural project was a theater in Koblenz, commissioned by Elector Clemens Wenzeslaus of Saxony and completed in 1787. He was appointed Director of the City Planning Board there in 1790, but the post was abolished in 1795 when the area was occupied by the French Army. He then applied for a position as Court Architect in Hanover, but that area was also taken by French troops. As a result, he was forced to work at odd jobs, including tax collection.