(b Nieder Zeidlitz, Posen [now Poznan, Poland], 21 Feb 1841; d Leipzig, 28 Feb 1923). German architect and writer. He began his training in the firm of Ende & Böckmann, Berlin, in 1862. He continued his studies at the Bauakademie, Berlin, under Friedrich Adler, and later worked under Richard Lucae and in Vienna under Heinrich von Ferstel. He worked as a private architect in Berlin between 1871 and 1879, but his most important work dates from the period 1879 to 1906, when he was director of municipal building administration in Leipzig. In this official capacity he built a large number of public buildings, including a music conservatoire (1885–7), the police headquarters (1889–90), a market hall (1889–91) and the Johanniskirche, which he rebuilt (1894–7; destr.), incorporating the existing tower; together these buildings formed the architectural character of the city. His main work was the new Rathaus (1898–1905). The monumental design, incorporating the tower of a former castle on the site, liberally used German Renaissance and Baroque forms, but not without references to the local architecture of Leipzig. From the 1880s Licht began to develop a massive masonry style using Romanesque elements and motifs, seen particularly in the competition design (1891; unexecuted) for the Kaiser-Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld, influenced by the work of the American architect H. H. Richardson. Licht was widely acclaimed in Germany for his versatility and his design skills. He also made an important contribution to architectural journalism as the editor of two influential periodicals, Die Architektur des XX. Jahrhunderts: Zeitschrift für moderne Baukunst (1901–14) and Profanbau (1906–22). Produced in conjunction with the publishing house of Wasmuth in Berlin, these journals propagated contemporary architecture through lavish photography and publicized new designs and building types.

• Licht, Hugo
  • Leipzig, §1: History and urban development
  • Renaissance Revival, §1: Architecture
  • Schumacher, Fritz