Born in Riegel near Freiburg-im-Breisgau, Baden, Germany, Anreith is best known in South Africa as a sculptor. He arrived at the Cape of Good Hope as a soldier in the service of the Dutch East-India Company in 1777. His work is well-documented. Anreith was responsible for one authenticated building which, according to Fransen & Cook (1980:43) is the Lutheran Church in Strand Street, Cape Town, now a National Monument, and built between 1791-92. The building had been put up by Martin Melck, a rich Lutheran, as a large shed-cum-storage building to serve as a meeting place for few Lutherans in Cape Town. On gaining a pastor in 1780, the Lutherans turned the shed into a church, employing Anreith to carry out the design for the conversion, consisting of a facade design. As Fransen points out Anreith's design as built was subsequently altered and Anreith's pediment was removed and a tower built in its place. In 1786, he was appointed master-sculptor to the Dutch East India Company. He worked closely with Louis Michel THIBAULT.
A shortage of designers at the Cape led to the founding by THIBAULT of a Technical Institute under the auspices of and located at the Lodge de Goede Hoop, where in 1815, he became an instructor until his death.
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Customs House - Old Granary - Desmond and Leah Tutu House: 1814. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape - Sculptor
| Iziko Museum - Slave Lodge - Supreme Court: 1680 : 1807-1814 : 1926 : 1961-1964. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape - Sculptor *
| Lion Gates: 1805 : 1958 : 2008. Cape Town, Western Cape - Sculptor
| Lutheran Church: 1791 : 1913-14. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect 1791
| Martin Melck House (Old Lutheran Parsonage): 1781. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Masonic Hall - Lodge de Goede Hoop: 1801 : 1892. Cape Town, Western Cape - Sculptor *
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References Cooper, A A. 1986. The Freemasons of South Africa. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau. pp 40
| Crump, Alan & Van Niekerk, Raymund. 1988. Public sculptures & reliefs Cape Town. Cape Town: Clifton Publications. pp 32; 38; 44, 46 (ill.); 50( ill.); 77
| De Bosdari, C. 1954. Anton Anreith : Africa's first sculptor. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pp All
| Fransen, Hans. 2004. The old buildings of the Cape. A survey of extant architecture from before c1910 in the area of Cape Town - Calvinia - Colesberg - Uitenhage. Johannesburg & Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers. pp 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 37, 47, 65, 141, 143
| Fransen, Hans. 2014. Cape Baroque and the contribution of Anton Anreith. Stellenbosch: SUN Media (imprint RAP). pp 97-127
| Greig, Doreen. 1971. A Guide to Architecture in South Africa. Cape Town: Howard Timmins. pp 25, 41, 88-89, 90-92, 220
| Hartdegen, Paddy. 1988. Our building heritage : an illustrated history. South Africa: Ryll's Pub. Co. on behalf of the National Development Fund for the Building Industry. pp 38
| Hislop, Jim. 2018. Behind the Castle. Cape Town: Jim Hislop /Cape Town Property Histories. pp 20, 31, 87, 102
| Laidler, P[ercy] W[ard]. [1933]. Tavern of the ocean, A : Being a social and historical sketch of Cape Town from its earliest days. Cape Town: Maskew Miller. pp 87, 92, 118, 153, 203
| Lewcock, Ronald. 1963. Early Nineteenth Century Architecture in South Africa : a study of the interaction of two cultures, 1795-1837. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pp 16, 17, 26, 54, 59, 62, 76-77, 80, 83, 108, 278, 352, 355
| Meintjes, Johannes. 1951. Anton Anreith, Sculptor : 1754-1822. Cape Town: Juta and Company. pp All
| Oberholster, JJ. 1972. The Historical Monuments of South Africa. Cape Town: Rembrandt Van Rijn Foundation for Culture at the request of the National Monuments Council. pp 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 28, 29, 32, 51, 72
| Oxley, John. 1992. Places of Worship in South Africa. Halfway House: Southern Book Publishers. pp 36, 82
| Picton-Seymour, Désirée. 1989. Historical Buildings in South Africa. Cape Town: Struikhof Publishers. pp 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 22, 26, 31, 44, 65
| Placzek, Adolf K (Editor in Chief). 1982. Macmillan encyclopedia of architects (Volume 1 of 4). New York: The Free Press. pp 82
| SABC. 1959. Our Art 1. Pretoria: Lantern / SABC. pp 43-47
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