Tieck was born in
Berlin, the third child of a rope-maker living on Rossstrasse (now called Fischerinsel). He was educated at the Friedrichswerder High School in Berlin. In 1789 he began an apprenticeship as a sculptor under
Heinrich Bettkober. From 1795 he was then further trained in sculpture at the Prussian Academy of Art in Berlin under the highly eminent sculptor,
Johann Gottfried Schadow, and then trained further with
David d'Angers in
Paris. In 1801-05 he was employed at
Weimar, where he associated with
Goethe, and designed his bust, which he afterwards also executed in marble for the
Walhalla temple. In 1805 he went to
Italy, returning to Germany in 1809, at the invitation of Crown Prince
Ludwig of Bavaria. For this patron he executed at
Munich and
Carrara a large number of busts, including those of the Prince himself, of Schelling, of
Alexander von Humboldt, and of his brother Ludwig. In 1819 he began his celebrated series of mythological sculptures for the Royal Theatre at Berlin, and in 1820 he was made professor at the Berlin Academy, designing statues of
genii for the
National Monument for the Liberation Wars. This work occupied him until 1829, when he began the series for the Berlin Museum, which include the bronze group of “Horse Tamers” upon the roof, and a statue of
Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the corridor. Based on a concept by Schinkel, Tieck created the tomb of General
Gerhard von Scharnhorst at Berlin's
Invalidenfriedhof in 1822. He also created a bust of
Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder and a lion made of bronze after a model by
Christian Daniel Rauch. Tieck's monument to
Nicolaus Copernicus was erected posthumously in
Thorn. Tieck was one of the principal representatives of the school founded by Rauch. His technique, however, was less naturalistic than that of Rauch, and smoother and more detailed in execution. He died in Berlin in 1851. ==Family==