Hans Poelzig

Hans Poelzig (30 April, 1869 Berlin–June 14, 1936 Berlin) was a German architect, painter and set designer active in the Weimar years. The daughter of a countess, Hans Poelzig took his mothers maiden name.

Education

In 1903 he became a teacher and director at the Breslau Art Academy (Kunst- und Gewerbeschule Breslau). From 1920-1935 he taught at the Technical University of Berlin (Technische Hochschule Berlin). Director of the Architecture Department of the Preußische Akademie der Kunste in Berlin.

Career

After finishing his architectural eduation around the turn of the century, Poelzig designed many industrial buildings. He desgined the 51.2 m tall Upper Silesia Tower in Posen for an industrial fair in 1911. It later became a water tower. He was appointed city architect of Dresden in 1916. He was an influential member of the Deutsche Werkbund.

Poelzig was also known for his distinctive 1919 interior redesign of the Berlin Grosses Schauspielhaus for Weimar impressario Max Reinhardt, and for his vast architectural set designs for the 1925 UFA film production of The Golem. (Poelzig mentored Edgar Ulmer on that film; when Ulmer directed the 1934 film noir Universal Studios production of "The Black Cat", he returned the favor by naming the architect-Satanic-high-priest villain character "Hjarmal Poelzig", played by Boris Karloff.)

With his Weimar architect contemporaries like Bruno Taut and Ernst May, Poelzig's work developed through Expressionism and the New Objectivity in the mid-1920s before arriving at a more conventional, economical style. In 1927 he was one of the exhibitors in the first International Style project, the Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart. In the 1920s he ran the "Studio Poelzig" in partnershp with his wife Marlene (Nee Moeschke) (1894-1985). Poelzig also designed the 1929 Broadcasting House in the Berlin suburb of Charlottenburg, a landmark of architecture, and Cold War and engineering history.

Poelzig's single best-known building is the enormous and legendary I.G. Farben Building, completed in 1931 as the administration building for IG Farben in Frankfurt am Main, now known as the Poelzig Building at Goethe University. In March 1945 the building was occupied by American Allied forces under Eisenhower, became his headquarters, and remained in American hands until 1995. Some of his designs that were never built included one for the Palace of the Soviets and one for the League of Nations headquarters at Geneva.

Poelzig died in Berlin in June 1936, shortly before his planned departure for Ankara.

Legacy

Work

Buildings

1901 Church - Spiral spire, Beslau
1904 A Family house with garden pavilion for the arts and crafts exhibition
1908 Dwelling house (Mietshaus), Menzelstraße, Beslau
1908 Dwelling house (Mietshaus), Wölflstraße, Beslau
1908 Dwelling house (Mietshaus), Hohenzollernstraße, Beslau
1907 - ca1909 mixed commercial offices and retail (Wohn- und Geschäftshaus Lauterbach), Beslau
1911 Sulphuric acid factory in Luban
1911 Getreidesilo, Markthalle in Luban
1911 Upper Silesia Tower in Posen for an industrial fair
1912 Department store in Junkernstrasse, Breslau
1913 Exhibition hall, wine restaurant, Pergola for exhibition
1919 Grosses Schauspielhaus, in Berlin
1920 Festival Theater for Salzburg
1924 Verwaltungsgebäude (office building), Hanover
1929 Haus des Rundfunks (Radio Station), Charlottenburg, Berlin
1931 I.G. Farben Building in Frankfurt

Evangelische Kirche
Apartment and cinema at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin

Projects

Palace of the Soviets
League of Nations
1921 - Friedrichstraße Station Skyscraper competition in Berlin
1925 - Film sets for The Golem
1925 - Capitol, cinema, Berlin,
1927 - Deli, cinema, Breslau,
1926 - German Forum for Sport, Berlin,

Awards

Resources

Notes

References

External links

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