German Stonemasons Win 2011 Peter Parler Award (April 14)
Eduard Schnell of Fridingen and Gerhard Roth of Augsburg will receive €5,000 for their work, in the biennial competition organized by the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz (German Historic Preservation Trust) and the Bundesverband Deutscher Steinmetze (Association of German Stonemasons).
With his award-winning project, Schnell’s namesake stonemasonry workshop secured, cleaned and enhanced the baroque sculptures of Hercules and Samson in Karlsruhe, Germany, with work from Frank Tarrach, stone sculptor at Schnell.
According to the award jury, the prudent restoration, reconstruction and documentation as well as the expert transportation of the figures and the sculptural craftsmanship all deserve praise.
Roth receives the award for his outstandingly prepared and executed renovation of the balcony of Schaezler House in Augsburg. He has not only saved the original material of a baroque balcony, according to the judging, but above all prevented serious damage to the building that would have been unavoidable in the originally planned reconstruction.
The second prize of €3,000 euros goes to Claus Dieter Bachmann, managing director of Bachmann & Wille GmbH, Göttingen, Germany, and Jörg Lehmann, Bauhütte Quedlinburg GmbH, Westerhausen, Germany,, for the reconstruction of the main entrance steps with portal and portico at Schloss Drachenburg in Königswinter, Germany.
The jury awarded the €2,000 third prize to master stonemason Christian Späte in Zeitz, Germany, for the successful reconstruction of the rococo staircase of Kurländer Palace in Dresden. Germany.
Commendations go to master stonemason Arthur Zimmer from the Halbig stonemasonry firm in Mellrichstadt, Germany, for the enhancement and reerection of the war memorial with angel in Unsleben, Germany; to stonemasonry firm Jürgen Poppitz of Horb-Bildechingen, Germany for the restoration of the oriel at Schloss Hohenmühringen in Mühringen, Germany; and to stonemasonry firm Markus Glöckner of Neunkirchen, Germany, for renovation work on the Old Abbey in Mettlach, Germany.
The competition is intended for self-employed master stonemasons and sculptors. The award is presented for exemplary high-quality work by stonemasons on regisgtered buildings, or objects of natural stone, under the aspects of conservation, craft restoration, creativity and material.