Art by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841)

Schinkel trained first as a painter, and by his own account only pivoted to architecture after seeing a Caspar David Friedrich exhibition in Berlin around 1810 that convinced him painting couldn't do what he actually wanted to do. As Prussia's leading state architect in the years after Napoleon's defeat, he reshaped much of central Berlin, designing the Altes Museum, the Neue Wache war memorial, and the Schauspielhaus (now the Konzerthaus), buildings that still define the city's historic core. He also designed the Iron Cross military medal and, earlier in his career, theatrical stage sets, including a well-regarded 1816 Berlin production of Mozart's The Magic Flute.