Background
Christian Heinrich Grosch was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was first educated by his father, Heinrich August Grosch (1763-1843) who was a painter, graphic designer and teacher. When The Royal Drawing School was established in Christiania (now Oslo) in 1818, his father gained employment there as an instructor and re-located the family.
Education
Christian Heinrich attended the Royal Drawing School from 1819 to 1820. He also studied engineering with instructors including Benoni Aubert and Theodor Broch.
Career
He was a dominant figure in Norwegian architecture in the first half of the 1800s. His family moved to Frederikshald (now Halden) in Østfold, Norway during 1811. In 1824, he completed his training at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.
Christian Grosch became Oslo"s first "city conductor", which is to say he acted as the city"s chief architect, planning engineer, and building inspector.
He also accepted private architectural assignments and was responsible for many of the city"s landmarks, including the oldest part of Oslo Stock Exchange, the first campus at the University of Oslo, the original building for Norges Bank and the factory building of Prinds Christian Augusts Minde. During the course of his career, Grosch was responsible for the architectural designed of over 80 churches scattered throughout Norway.
From 1833 to his death in 1865 he was appointed state consultant (Statlig bygningsinspektør) for the royal buildings around Christiania. He was succeeded by Georg Andreas Bulletin.
The position is considered as the predecessor of the government agency Statsbygg.
Aslaksby, T.