Publisher's Synopsis
This monograph deals with the practically unexplored field of the creation and development of architectural and engineering relations between France, Germany and Russia, in particular the 18 years of creativity in St. Petersburg by the self–taught engineer, Wilhelm von Traitteur (1788–1859). <br> <br> Traitteur′s main work, which placed him among the European construction art avant–garde of his time, is without doubt his five iron suspension bridges, erected between 1823 and 1826. The program for the construction of the first suspension bridges in Russia, initiated by the newly organized Russian Department of Transportation, headed by Duke Alexander von Württemberg, has to be regarded as part of a European–wide experimentation with new types of suspension bridge constructions. In addition, during the time of his co–operation with the founder of the Russian Department of Traffic Engineers, the Spaniard Augustin de Bétancourt (1758–1824), Traitteur was well known as an architect, draughtsman and co–founder of lithography in Russia. His lithographic albums are unique in their own way and contain valuable information on the construction and architecture of the day. <br> <br> Apart from the biography, this book also treats previously little known aspects of the architectural and engineering history of Russia as part of the pan–European professional context of that time. These include the presentation of new findings in the transfer of civil engineering know–how between France, Germany and Eastern Europe, as well as the early development of iron constructions – a basic element of modern architecture and civil engineering.
