The Dr. Heinrich Matthey House is an historic home located in the Hamburg Historic District

Hamburg Historic District (Davenport, Iowa)

Hamburg Historic District is located on a bluff north of downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It is listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties and on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic district is where the city’s middle and upper income German community lived...

 in Davenport, Iowa

Davenport, Iowa

Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1983. The house was individually listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in 1993. The Georgian Revival

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

 home features a rectangular form, a high hipped roof

Hip roof

A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...

, a Palladian window in the dormer

Dormer

A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...

, a symmetrical front with the entrance on the right and a columned porch. On the east side of house is a projecting window bay and a tower on the southeast corner of the house that are reminiscent of the Queen Anne style.

Dr. Heinrich Matthey

The home is associated with Davenport physician Heinrich Matthey. He and his twin brother Carl were born on October 20, 1852 to Heinrich and Emilie (Kuntz) Matthey in Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

. When he was 21, Heinrich immigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

 with his parents in 1873. They moved to Davenport three years later. He joined his father in publishing the Sternan Banner. In 1880 he moved to Sterling, Illinois

Sterling, Illinois

Sterling is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,370 at the 2010 census, down from 15,451 at the 2000 census. Formerly nicknamed "The Hardware Capital of the World", Sterling has long been associated with manufacturing and the steel...

 where he published the Sterling Beobachter. After two years he sold the paper and returned to Germany where he studied medicine in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 and Würzburg

Würzburg

Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

, graduating in 1887. His brother Carl, who had stayed in Germany to study medicine, moved to Davenport and set up his medical practice. Heinrich returned to Davenport upon the completion of his studies and set up his practice. The two brothers merged their practices in 1889. The following year Heinrich married Hilda Mueller, daughter of lumber baron Chris Mueller

Mueller Lumber Company

The Mueller Lumber Company was located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It has since been torn down and it was delisted from the NRHP in 2005.The site is now the main clinic for Community Health...

, and they raised two children. Heinrich spent two terms on the school board.