Gottfried Johann Schädel

Menshikov Palace in Saint Petersburg

Johann Gottfried Schaedel (German: Johann Gottfried Schädel) was a German Baroque architect who worked for the Russian Empire in modern day Russia and Ukraine.

Schaedel was born in 1680 in Wandesbek, Duchy of Holstein, Holy Roman Empire (now part of Hamburg).

In 1713, Prince Alexander Menshikov paid him 400 Reichsthaler (384 rubles) to move to Saint Petersburg with his family. After Menshikov's fall from grace, Schaedel settled in Moscow where he worked in tandem with the French artist Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

In 1731, Schaedel accepted an invitation from the Archbishop of Kiev and moved to Kiev where he designed the great belltowers of Kiev Pechersk Lavra and Sophia Cathedral, the Klov Palace and other notable buildings which altered the city's skyline.

Schaedel received no new commissions after 1744 and died in Kiev in poverty in 1752.

In 1995, the Ukrainian film director created a documentary about Schaedel for the National Television Company of Ukraine.

Notable buildings[]

• Menshikov Palace
• Great Lavra Bell Tower
• Klov Palace

External links[]

• Johann Gottfried Schädel at Ukraine, the History of Great Nation.