Theodore Heuck

Theodore C. Heuck (born 1830-1877) was Hawaii's first professional architect who is well known for creating Iolani Barracks in 1871 which was dedicated to Queen Emma. He was born in Hamburg, Germany and grew up as an only child (Burlingame). He was married to wife Mahiki on March 22, 1852. Two years later the couple divorced and had no children (Family Search). Traveling from Australia, Heuck went to Hawaii with his partner Herman Von Halt in 1850 where they were both merchants and owned a retail store ("Hawaii Timeline").

tarting out

Trained as an architect, carpenter, and engineer Theodore C. Heuck was first noticed by King Kamehameha IV while walking around Heuck's retail store. The king saw Heuck's work and immediately wanted him to start building architecture in Honolulu. Heuck agreed to this proposition and decided that he and his partner Herman Von Halt should split up. Their retail store was shut down and Von Halt went on to being a merchant while Heuck started building for the king. Before starting, Heuck was given a contract on May 26th which stated that he would be responsible for any flaws that may occur when finished with any piece of architecture. After agreeing to this contract Heuck constructed three major works of architecture: the Queens Hospital, the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii, and Iolani Barracks ("Celebrating 140 Years of Caring").

The Queens Hospital

By order of King Kamehameha IV, the Queens Hospital, now known as the Queens Medical Center, was created in 1860 and was dedicated to Queen Emma and the people of Hawaii. This building was Heuck's first project. In order for Heuck to start building this creation, King Kamehameha IV had to first get approval from the legislature. So in 1854 he announced to the legislature the objective to create a hospital for the people of Hawaii. At that time, the Hawaiian race was seriously threatened by different types of disease brought to the islands by foreign visitors. Queen Emma supported the dream of a hospital, and the two campaigned tirelessly to make it a reality. They personally went door-to-door making the necessary funding. The royal couple exceeded their goal in just over a month, raising $13,530. In turn, the Legislature provided $6,000. With all this money it was given to Heuck to go and get whatever supplies needed to finish this architecture. By 1860 the structure was completed and ended up being flawless. Because everyone had been so impressed by Heuck's work, he was elected to the legislative board of the Kingdom from 1864-1867 as a trustee of Queens Hospital and also served as the secretary of the Board of Health. He was also made a Knight of the order of Kamehameha I. Through six generations, The Queen's Medical Center has become a major provider of health care to the people of Hawaii and stands near downtown Honolulu on Punchbowl Street (Burlingame & "Celebrating 140 Years of Caring").It is beautiful as it was years ago.

The Royal Mausoleum

King Kamehameha IV passed away November 30, 1863, 15 months after his son. His brother Lot Kamehameha came to the throne of Hawaii as King Kamehameha V. Immediately Heuck was hired to start the construction of a building for the king and the son known as The Royal Mausoleum. Built by Heuck in Nu'uanu, Oahu at Mauna'ala, the Royal Mausoleum Theodore was constructed so that it was surrounded by a black fence, bearing the royal seal at the gate and built a small chapel which is located near the center, which is behind the tomb of Kalākaua and his family, and to the right of the Kamehameha tomb, Bishop Monument, and Wyllie tomb. This was Heuck's second project. After finishing this structure on February 3, 1864, there was a large national funeral for the king. Later in the evening Ka Haku (King Kamehameha IV's son) rested alongside his father. Queen Emma was so distraught with the grief of losing her husband and son she camped on the grounds of the mausoleum, and slept in the wing where her family had been buried.

Iolani Barracks

Built partially from coral blocks and blocks cut with prison labor, Iolani Barracks, also known as Halekoa, (House of warriors) was built by Heuck in 1871 under the direction of King Lot Kapuaiwa (King Kamehameha V). The barracks was used by the kingdom's army, formerly called the "Household Troops" and comprised of about 60 soldiers. Heuck constructed the barracks to have a medieval castle look from Europe. It had coral block walls and a slate roof. It was surrounded by rooms once used by the guards as a mess hall, kitchen, dispensary, and lock up. This building was originally constructed in the site where the Hawai State Capital now stands. Every stone of Iolani Barracks was moved in 1965 to its present location at 364 South King Street on the Iolani Palace grounds. This was Heuck's third project completed and he spent an overbudgeted amount of $25,103.78. After the completion of this architecture Heuck's name was placed in the back of the barracks. The structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. After the overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy in 1893 the barracks was used on several occasions as headquarters for the National Guard of Hawaii. Now it has a palace shop, ticket office, video theater, and membership office (Burlingame).

Controversy

Theodore C. Heuck was no doubt a brilliant architect. He's been awarded many times for his architectural work and has been recognized for his altruism. Controversy still was part of his life. In 1870 an attorney general named Stephen Phillips tried to put Hecuk behind bars. He allegedly claimed that Heuck was buying stolen whalebone to construct a building. This case continued until 1873 when both men went to court. During the trial, the jury decided Heuck was innocent. Meanwhile Stephen was found guilty for presenting false evidence (Chaplin).

The contract

Theodore C. Heuck signed a contract stating that any building he constructed would be free of flaws. Failure to meet the terms of this contract would be death. On November 1, 1860 Heuck's contract ended. As it turned out every building he made had been flawless and built to perfection. The trustees had inspected every single building many times and found this to be true. The trustess thanked Heuck for his hard work and promised that his name would be placed on the back of Iolani Barracks to show their appreciation. But he didn't receive any money though. Instead the other men had received their pay when all they did was check to see if Theodore was doing his job. Of course Theodore was furious with this but did not stress the matter, for fear that he would be killed for not being appreciative to the gift he already had (Kanahele).

The end of a legacy

Throughout his years in the islands, Heuck spent his time building the most beautiful architecture for the Hawaiian monarchy. He had enthusiasm for his work and was gratified by people's reactions to what he had built. He was a very kind and generous man and did not complain when work had to be done (Ward). He was greatly appreciated for everything and was recognized for his artistic talents (Ward). In 1874 Heuck left Honolulu and returned to his home in Hamburg, Germany . In 1877 he died in Germany. The Hawaiian monarchy had a great feast in honor of his name and sent flower and puka shell leis to his grave site. (Ward).

Works cited

*Burlingame, Burl. "German Immigrant built Iolani Barracks." Honolulu Star Bulletin. 11 April 2004. .

*"Celebrating 140 years of Caring: In the beginning." Mamiya Medical Heritage Center. 24 Jan. 2008. .

*Chaplin, George. Presstime in Paradise. Honolulu Advertiser. University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu Advertiser, 1998.

*"Family Search". Where Generations Meet. 27 March 2006. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 3 July 2008.

*Gregg, David, and King, Pauline. Diaries of David Lawrence Gregg: An American Diplomat in Hawaii. Hawaii: Hawaiian Historical Society, 1982.

*"Hawaii Timeline." A community learning center. 2008. HawaiiHistory.org. 4 July 2008.

*"Iolani Barracks." Wikipedia Encyclopedia. 11 June 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 3 July 2008.

*Kanahele, George S. Emma: Hawaiian Remarkable Queen. University of Hawaii Press, 1999.

*"Mauna Ala". Nu'uanu, Oahu Hawaiian Islands. 6 Sept, 2003.

*"On the Place Grounds." Iolani Palace. 5 Oct. 2004. Iolani Palace. 4 July 2008.

*"Part 2 Glossary (D-H). Hawaiian Encyclopedia. 1986. 3 July 2008.

*"Part 3:Timeline of Honolulus Historic Buildings." Hawaiian Encyclopedia. 3 July 2008.

*"Royal Mausoleum". Wikipedia Encyclopedia. 3 July 2008.

*Ward, Deborah. "State Land Department to Make Accesibility Improvements Around Iolani Palace". Hawaii Reporter. 2 Jan. 2007. 2008 Hawaii Reporter, Inc. 4 July 2008.