Joachim Ludwig Schultheiss von Unfriedt (variations include Schultheiss von Unfried) (1678 – 10 June 1753) was a German Baroque architect, official, and councillor most active in Königsberg and throughout East Prussia.
Possibly born in Altruppin, Brandenburg, Schultheiss was the son of Joachim Scultetus von Unfried, a privy councilor of Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg.[1] He began studying at the University of Frankfurt (Oder) on 23 August 1689[1] and continued his studies in Italy and France. He became Royal Prussian Engineer and Building Master (Kgl. Preuß. Ingenieur und Baumeister) in Königsberg on 9 January 1702.[2] Schultheiss oversaw the transfer of material from the declining castle in Fischhausen to the fortifications of Pillau until 1705.[3] He was then named Building Director (Baudirektor) on 11 June 1705.[2]
From 1705-13 Schultheiss focused on renovating Königsberg Castle, especially an east wing which was alternately referred to as the Friedrichsbau, the Unfriedbau, and the Unfriedflügel.[4] From 1705-10 he worked on the galleries, royal lodge, and pulpit-altar of the Schlosskirche, the church connected to the castle. Schultheiss designed the Royal Orphanage in Sackheim (1703–05), Tragheim Church (1708–10), and the Brauerhaus in Löbenicht.[5] From 1704-05, along with Jean Baptiste Broebes and Johann Caspar Hindersin, he also aided in the transition of the manor house in Schlobitten into a palace of the Dohna family.[6] In 1708 he renovated the church of Kaukehmen.[7]
After the coronation of King Frederick William I of Prussia in 1713, Schultheiss took the position of building director in Berlin.[1] He returned to Königsberg after taking the position of building director for the Oberland district on 18 January 1721.[1] The king, who was focused on the recovery of East Prussia after the great plague of 1708-11, tasked Schultheiss with designing the new towns built in the province. He became the most important architectural official in East Prussia and a member of the Kriegs- und Domänenkammer after the king's reorganization of government in 1723.[2]
Schultheiss designed or altered the layouts of numerous East Prussian towns, including Stallupönen (1722);[8] Darkehmen and its 13 morgen market square (1723);[9] Ragnit's old town (1723);[10] Gumbinnen's old town (1724), new town (1727), and town hall (1727);[11] Schirwindt and its market square (ca. 1725);[12] and Pillkallen (ca. 1725).[13] Ca. 1730 he possibly worked on the family grave of Friedrich von der Groeben at the church of Groß Schwansfeld.[14] From 1731-32 he oversaw the rebuilding of the church in Drygallen.[15] Schultheiss designed the Neustädter Reformierte Kirche in Gumbinnen from 1736 to 1739.[11]
In his second period in Königsberg, Schultheiss designed the incomplete Garnisonkirche (garrison church) of the Königsgarten (1731) and the French Reformed Church (1733–36) on Königstraße.[4] He died in Königsberg.
