Wolf Jacob I.
Stromer

Formerly grave no. 1490 in St. John's Cemetery, epitaph dated 1606, no longer extant.

Son of Fritz Friedrich, councilor. Married April 28, 1584, to Sabina (born February 21, 1565 – died January 19, 1633), daughter of Christoph III. Scheurl; five sons, seven daughters. Studied in Altdorf in 1575, in Ingolstadt in 1578, and in Bologna in 1579. Educational journey to Rome, Florence, Augsburg, and Venice. 1584–1614 mentioned above, 1584–1689 bailiff of the Sebalder Forest, 1589 councilor. From 1598 until his death, he held the office of city architect, the highest administrative position in the building authority, which generally did not involve architectural work. However, Stromer appears to have also been active in planning. The master builders and craftsmen employed under him produced a number of outstanding buildings. These included the completion of the gatehouse at the armory, the master builder's house, the Wöhrd Gate Bastion, the reconstruction of the Fleischbrücke (Meat Bridge) (1597/98), the ABC Bridge (Karlsbrücke), and the renewal and repair of the 18 bridges over the Pegnitz River after the floods of 1595 and 1602. He compiled a collection of architectural designs and drawings, the so-called Stromer Master Builder's Book. These drawings are not by him, but plans and drawings by him have survived. His portrait, painted around 1613/14 by Paul Juvenell the Elder, is located at Grünsberg Castle. Altdorf, after whom Andreas Khol engraved the portrait recorded by Panzer. Several medals bearing his name exist. His family register, containing 59 entries from the years 1578–90, is housed in the Stromer family foundation at Grünsberg Castle.

Music: Nuremberg City Archives –,

German National Museum: Wolf Jakob Stromer's Master Builder's Book.

Lit.: Biedermann, 1748, Plate CCCCLXIX; Thieme-Becker; Trechsel, 1735; Imhoff II, 1782, p. 508; Sporhan-Krempel, in: MVGN 51, 1962; Goldmann, Family Registers 1981, No. 1476; Tiggesbäumker, 1988; Zahn, DI-N No. 2872; Nuremberg City Archives, GSI 152; City Lexicon 2000. Exhibition: 1986/4.

(quoted from the Nuremberg Artists' Lexicon, edited by Manfred H. Grieb)