Carl Ludwig Engel

Carl Ludvig Engel
Carl Ludvig Engel portrayed by Johan Erik Lindh.
Born	3 July 1778 Charlottenburg, Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia
Died	4 May 1840(1840-05-04) (aged 61) Helsinki, Finland, Russian Empire
Nationality	German
Occupation	Architect

Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect known for his Empire style, a phase of Neoclassicism. He had a great impact on the architecture of Finland in the first part of the 19th century, not just as an architect but also as the head of the Intendent's Office, which was responsible for all key public buildings throughout the country.

His most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild as the new capital of the newly founded Grand Duchy of Finland. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental centre, the Senate Square and the buildings surrounding it. The buildings are Helsinki Cathedral, The Senate (now the Palace of the Council of State), the City of Helsinki Town Hall, and the library and the main building of Helsinki University.

Carl Ludvig Engel was born in 1778 in Charlottenburg, Berlin, into a family of bricklayers. It was probably as a bricklayer apprentice that he first came in contact with his future profession as an architect. He trained at the Berlin Institute of Architecture after which he served in the Prussian building administration. The stagnation caused by Napoleon's victory over Prussia in 1806 forced him and other architects to find work abroad. In 1808 he applied for the position as town architect of Tallinn, Estonia. He got the job and in this way came into the vicinity of St. Petersburg and the Russian Empire. Finland was also close by and was soon to experience a new governmental phase as a Grand Duchy under Russian rule.

Engel started working in Tallinn in 1809, but just after a few years he was forced to move on again because of a lack of assignments. From this period in Estonia, a palace on Kohtu street 8 in Tallinn survives (today housing the Estonian Chancellor of Justice) and, possibly, Kernu manor.