Vladimir Maksimovich Lemke (19 February [2 March] 1856, Saint Petersburg — 1920) was an architect who served as chief architect of Nizhny Novgorod from 1882 to 1902. He was born in Saint Petersburg and received his professional education there, graduating from the Saint Petersburg Construction College in 1879.[1]
Service in Nizhny Novgorod
Before arriving in Nizhny Novgorod, Lemke had spent three years as chief architect of Samarkand (1879–1882). During his two-decade Nizhny Novgorod period, he carried out a wide range of work: the construction of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, the reconstruction of the Church of John the Baptist, the erection of a chapel in the selo of Bogorodskoye, merchant Kolchin's bathhouse with a water supply from the Volga, the Bashkirov steam mill, workers' housing at the Degtyaryov mill, the municipal water supply in the Makaryev district, the building of P. Remler's pharmacy, and the reconstruction of the Rukavishnikov house on the Nizhne-Volzhskaya Embankment.[1] In 1896 he restored the tomb of Kuzma Minin in the Saviour Transfiguration Cathedral of the Kremlin.[1]
In 1885 Lemke designed a two-storey municipal trading arcade on commission from Nikolai Aleksandrovich Bugrov — a building at the point where Zelensky Descent meets the trading yard, the revenues from which were intended to fund a night shelter. Construction was supervised by architect F. N. Falin and was completed by early 1888.[2]
The Estate on Korolenko Street
For himself, Lemke built an estate in the block bounded by Korolenko Street and Novaya Street — an ensemble in the Academic Eclectic style that took shape in the 1890s. It comprises several buildings at addresses Korolenko 11 and 11a, as well as Novaya 21/11 and 23. The main house — a two-storey wooden building with expressive façade articulation, a characteristic rhythm of windows, and a corner composition — is frequently compared by local historians to a wooden terem.[3] The estate has survived to the present day and stands as an example of late nineteenth-century domestic wooden architecture that defines the scale of the Historic Buildings of the city centre.
Later Life
After completing his service in Nizhny Novgorod, Lemke worked in 1902–1903 on the technical construction committee of the Ministry of the Interior in Saint Petersburg, and from 1903 to 1905 served as chief architect of Tambov. He spent the last years of his life in Tambov and was buried there.[1]
Sources
- names52.ru — Lemke Vladimir Maksimovich (archive)
- opentextnn.ru — Chechenkov P.V. The City Outskirts a Hundred Years Ago: A Tour of the Vanishing Nizhny Novgorod (the Parish of the Church of the Three Hierarchs). Part Two: Kanatnaya — OPEN TEXT (archive)
- Newsroom24 — The Lemke House: an address in old Nizhny Novgorod that has not lost itself — Real Estate