Paul Due was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 architect and significant contributor to the stations built by the Norwegian State Railways.

Biography

Paul Due was born in Kristiansand

Kristiansand

-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...

, Vest-Agder

Vest-Agder

In the 16th century, Dutch merchant vessels began to visit ports in southern Norway to purchase salmon and other goods. Soon thereafter the export of timber began, as oak from southern Norway was exceptionally well suited for shipbuilding...

 County, Norway. He graduated in engineering science at Leibniz University Hannover in the years 1852-56. After graduating, he traveled to the United States, where he was first assistant in the U.S. Coast Survey, then from 1857 to 1859 employed at the architectural office in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 and then in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, where he executed drawings for renovation of City Hall. From 1860-65 he lived in Charleston, Virginia. Among other things he planned fortifications at Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 for the Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

When he returned to Norway, he designed 23 buildings in Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

 after the city was hit by the great fire in 1866. He worked with Bernhard Christoph Steckmest (1846-1926) in the firm of Due & Steckmest from 1870-1890. During this period, the firm provided plans for a number of notable buildings in Oslo. After ending their cooperation in 1890, Due worked as a railway architect for the Norwegian State Railways until 1912. During this period he designed more than 150 railway stations, including the stations at Hamar

Hamar Station

Hamar Station is a railway station located in downtown Hamar, Norway, on the Dovre Line and the Røros Line. The station was opened in 1862 with the construction of the narrow gauge railway between Hamar and Eidsvoll...

, Kristiansand

Kristiansand Station

Kristiansand Station is a railway station located in downtown Kristiansand in Vest-Agder, Norway on the Sørland Line. The station is served by regional trains to Oslo and Stavanger...

, Levanger

Levanger Station

Levanger Station is a railway station located in the town center of Levanger, Norway on the Nordland Line. The station serves both local and express trains northbound through Innherred and to Nordland, and southbound to Trondheim...

 and Kornsjø

Kornsjø Station

Kornsjø Station is a railway station located at Kornsjø in Halden, Norway, on the Østfold Line. The station is located from the Norway–Sweden border and was opened in 1879 for changing crew on international trains between Sweden and Norway...

. One of his most important buildings from this time period, the Hamar Railway Station

Hamar Station

Hamar Station is a railway station located in downtown Hamar, Norway, on the Dovre Line and the Røros Line. The station was opened in 1862 with the construction of the narrow gauge railway between Hamar and Eidsvoll...

 dating from 1896, replaced former wooden buildings by architects Georg Andreas Bull

Georg Andreas Bull

Georg Andreas Bull was a Norwegian architect and chief building inspector in Christiania for forty years. He was among the leading architects in the country, and left his mark on Norwegian building history both as a creative architect, and through his measurement studies and archeological...

 and Balthazar Lange

Balthazar Lange

Balthazar Conrad Lange was a Norwegian architect.-Personal life:He was born in Asker as a son of customs treasurer and lieutenant colonel Christopher Andreas Lange and Anne Birgithe Falsen...

.

Due was co-founder and chairman of the Norwegian Engineering and Architectural Association. He served as a member of the tax commission 1872-80, and a member of the Oslo Building Commission from 1884 to 1888. In 1907, he was a member of the evaluation committee for the competition of the Nidaros Cathedral West Front

Nidaros Cathedral West Front

The Nidaros Cathedral West Front , which includes multiple sculptures, was the final portion of the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway that was restored. This is the cathedral's main facade and one of the most beautiful and ornate portions of the church...

. He became an honorary member of the Society of Architects in 1899 and an honorary member of Norway's Engineering and Architectural Association in 1887. During 1897, he was knighted in the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.

Personal life

Paul Due was born in Christiania as the son of Oluf Christian Due and Anna Catharine Vibe, and through his father a nephew of Prime Minister Frederik Due

Frederik Due

-Further reading:...

. He married Francisca Wilhelmine Witte (1834-1918) in 1858, while they were living in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. They had six children. One of their sons was noted architect Paul Armin Due

Paul Armin Due

Paul Armin Due was a Norwegian architect Paul Franz Wilhelm Armin Due was the son the renowned architect Paul Due. He graduated from Leibniz University Hannover in 1896 and spent two years working in Germany before returning to Norway to work for his father's architecture firm...

.

Selected work of Due & Steckmest

• 1872 - Parkveien 43, Oslo
• 1873-1875 - villaen Lykkeberg i Lykkebergparken, Fredrikstad
  Fredrikstad
  is a city and municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad....
  
  
• 1873 - Leiegårder i Inkognitogaten 16, Oslo
• 1875 - Onsumslottet i St. Halvards gate 33, Oslo,
• 1875 - Dues egen villa i Inkognitogaten 14, Oslo
• 1877 - Parkveien 41a, Oslo
• 1880-1881 - Boligkomplekset på Sehesteds plass, Oslo
• 1881 - Uranienborg terrasse 11, Oslo
• 1883 - St. Edmunds kirke, Oslo
• 1885-1889 - Boligkomplekset på Solli plass, Oslo
• 1887 - Ringnesslottet, Colletts gate 43, Oslo
• 1889 - Uranienborg terrasse 9, Oslo
• 1889 - Stenersgata 24, Oslo