page_title: Carl Theodor Reiffenstein
section_title: Work
hierarchical_section_title: Carl Theodor Reiffenstein / Work
caption_attribution_description: English: Frankfurt on the Main: Johanniterkirche (Saint John's Church) at the corner of Fahrgasse (Drive Lane) and Schnurgasse (Line Lane) as seen to the southwest, historicising depiction of the situation before 1845 Deutsch: Frankfurt am Main: Johanniterkirche an der Ecke von Fahrgasse und Schnurgasse, nach Südwesten gesehen, historisierende Darstellung des Zustands vor 1845
context_page_description: Carl Theodor Reiffenstein was a German landscape and architecture painter who created an invaluable historical record of Frankfurt am Main.
context_section_description: It is difficult to make a full assessment of his surviving works, as they are widely dispersed in private collections. His known works number over 2,000 (mostly watercolors). It is estimated that if one includes study sheets, sketches etc., that the number would exceed 10,000. The Städelschule alone possesses forty-three volumes of study sheets.
  As early as the 1830s, the character of the Altstadt in Frankfurt had begun to change, largely due to what were intended as hygienic improvements. Beginning in the 1850s, he would wander through the area making sketches; sometimes only days before the buildings were razed to make way for new structures or streets. When he was too late, he would make use of every possible resource to reconstruct the scene. He compiled a seven volume work with over 1,600 images and 2,600 pages of extensive notes on architectural details, suspected changes, owners and the age of buildings throughout the Altstadt. These volumes were bequeathed to the Historical Museum and have yet to be fully published, although many of the images have been used; notably in an edition of Goethe's Dichtung und Wahrheit.
caption: St.John's Church (1871).
   A reconstruction of the way it would have appeared in 1845.
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