Egon Eiermann (29 September 1904 – 19 July 1970^[1]) was one ofGermany's most prominentarchitects in the second half of the 20th century. He was also a furniture designer. From 1947, he was Professor for architecture at Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe (todayKarlsruhe Institute of Technology).

Eiermann was born inNeuendorf bei Potsdam [de] (now part ofBabelsberg, Potsdam), the son of Wilhelm Eiermann (1874–1948), a locomotive engineer and his wife Emma Gellhorn (1875–1959).^[2][3] He archived hisAbitur at the Althoff-Gymnasium^[3] and studied architecture atTechnische Universität Berlin.^[1] From 1925 to 1928, he was master student ofHans Poelzig.^[4] After graduating in 1928, he gained professional experience in the construction departments ofKarstadt AG in Hamburg and the Berlin electricity works (Bewag (Berlin) [de]).^[3] From 1931 to 1945, he was an independent architect in Berlin and initially planned residential buildings.^[2][5] BeforeWorld War II he had an office with fellow architectFritz Jaenecke [de]. During the Nazi era, he mainly created industrial architecture.^[6] In 1945, he escaped toBuchen inWest Germany, the birthplace of the father.^[7] From 1946 to 1965, he had a shared office with Robert Hilgers.^[2] In 1948, the office was relocated to Karlsruhe.^[3] He joined the faculty of theTechnische Hochschule Karlsruhe in 1947,^[4][8] working there on developingsteel frame construction methods. Students wereOswald Mathias Ungers andJulia Bolles-Wilson [de].^[9][10][11] During a study trip to the United States in 1950, he metWalter Gropius,Marcel Breuer andKonrad Wachsmann inBoston, and in 1956 alsoLudwig Mies van der Rohe.^[2] In 1967, Eiermann chaired the jury in the architectural competition for theOlympic Park in Munich.^[a][13]

In 1940, he married in Berlin interior designer Charlotte,née Friedheim (1912–2001) and in 1954 in Berlin architect Brigitte, née Feyerabendt (1924–2019). He had two children: with his first wife Andreas (born 1942), from his second marriage Anna (born 1956).^[3]

He died inBaden-Baden, aged 65.^[14] He is buried at theBuchen Cemetery.^[7]

During the years of reconstruction, his steel-frame industrial buildings became exemplary.^[5] The buildings are transparent, inviting, democratic, making order visible.^[15]

Afunctionalist, his major works include: thetextile mill atBlumberg (1951);^[16] theWest German pavilion at theBrussels World's Fair (withSep Ruf, 1958);^[b][8] theEmbassy of Germany, Washington, D.C. (1958–1964);^[8] the highriseLanger Eugen for the GermanParliament inBonn (1965–1969); theIBM-Germany Headquarters inStuttgart (1967–1972);^[14] and, theOlivetti building inFrankfurt (1968–1972). By far his most famous work is the newchurch on the site of theKaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church inBerlin (1959–1963).

The sets of the 1926 filmThe Pink Diamond were designed by Eiermann.^[17][3]

Source:^[2]

• 1929–1930 Substation of the Berliner Elektrizitätswerke AG, Berlin-Steglitz
• 1931–1933 Hesse residential building, Berlin-Lankwitz
• 1936–1937 Steingroever residential building, Berlin-Grunewald
• 1938 factory building and boiler house of the Degea-AG-Auergesellschaft, Berlin-Wedding
• 1938–1939 expansion and conversion of the Total-Werke Foerstner & Co, Apolda
• 1939–1941 factory buildings of Märkische Metallbau GmbH, Oranienburg
• 1948–1950 administration and factory building of Ciba AG, Wehr/Baden
• 1949–1950 handkerchief weaving mill/spinning mill, Blumberg/Black Forest
• 1950–1953 administration building of the United Silk Weaving Works, Krefeld
• 1951–1956 experimental power plant of TU Karlsruhe^[18]
• 1953 St. Matthew Church, Pforzheim^[19]
• 1953–1954 Burda Moden publishing house, Offenburg
• 1954–1961 residential building, Interbau, Hansaviertel, Berlin-Tiergarten
• 1955–1957 Volkshilfe administration building, Cologne
• 1956–1958 German Pavilion, World Exhibition in Brussels (withSep Ruf, exterior planning byWalter Rossow)
• 1956–1960 administration building of Steinkohlebergwerke AG, Essen
• 1957–1963 Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin-Charlottenburg^[20][21][22]
• 1958–1961 Head office of Neckermann Versand KG, Frankfurt am Main
• 1958–1961 administration building of the steel structure Gustav Müller, Offenburg
• 1958–1964 Chancellery building of the German Embassy, Washington^[23][24][25]
• 1959–1962 Eiermann house, Baden-Baden^[26]
• 1961–1967 buildings for theDEA-Scholven GmbH refinery, Karlsruhe^[27]
• 1965–1969 high-rise building for members of the German Bundestag, Bonn^[28]
• 1967–1972 Administration and training center of Deutsche Olivetti, Frankfurt am Main,^[29]
• 1967–1972 IBM headquarters, Stuttgart-Vaihingen (Eiermann-Campus [de])^[30]

• 
  Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche^[6]
• 
  Olivetti Buildings in Frankfurt^[31][32]
• 
  Office building ofDEA oil refinery, Karlsruhe^[33]
• 
  Langer Eugen, Bonn – detail of the facade^[6]
• 
  Expo Brüssel 1958 German pavilion^[34][35]

From 1949, the first functional and serially produced seating furniture made of wood and tubular steel was created in cooperation with theEsslingen companyWilde + Spieth [de].^[36]

Source:^[2][37]

• 1950 SE 68 tubular steel chair
• 1952 E 10 wicker chair
• 1952–1953 SE 18 wooden folding chair
• 1953 table frame Eiermann 1
• 1960–1961 Church seat SE 121
• 1965 table frame Eiermann 2

50m
55yds

Egon-Eiermann-Allee

   

Egon-Eiermann-Allee,Karlsruhe

90m
98yds

Egon-Eiermann lecture hall

   

Egon-Eiermann lecture hall (KIT)

Source:^[2]

• 1962Berlin Art Prize
• 1965 honorary doctorate fromTechnische Universität Berlin
• 1965 Grand State Prize for Architecture of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
• 1968 Grand Prize of theAssociation of German Architects (Großer BDA Preis)
• 1968Grand Federal Cross of Merit
• 1969Hugo Häring Prize [de] of the BDA Baden-Württemberg
• 1970 OrderPour le Mérite for Science and Arts

In 1997, the Egon Eiermann Society was founded in Karlsruhe.^[38] In 2004, theBundespost honored Eiermann with a special postage stamp.^[3] InKarlsruhe, Egon-Eiermann-Allee (49°02′12″N8°20′56″E / 49.03677°N 8.34895°E /49.03677; 8.34895) was named after him in 2009.^[14] One of the lecture halls in the architectural building (49°00′40″N8°24′40″E / 49.01115°N 8.41107°E /49.01115; 8.41107) of theKarlsruhe Institute of Technology bears his name.^[39] TheEgon Eiermann Award [de] is an international ideas competition in architecture.^[40]

Source:^[2]

• 1926 Founding member of the "Group of Young Architects" ("Gruppe junger Architekten")^[41]
• 1931 Member of theAssociation of German Architects (Bund Deutscher Architekten)
• 1931 Member ofDeutscher Werkbund^[42]
• 1951 Founding member of theGerman Design Council (Rat für Formgebung)
• 1955 Member of theAcademy of Arts, Berlin (West), Section Architecture
• 1960 Honorary member of the Central Association of Austrian Architects
• 1962 Member of the planning council for the new buildings of theGerman Bundestag and theGerman Bundesrat in Bonn
• 1963 Corresponding Honorary Member of theRoyal Institute of British Architects
• 1969 Founding member of the Housing and Environment Institute of the Hessian state government

• Eiermann, Egon (1984).Egon Eiermann 1904 – 1970 Bauten u. Projekte (in German). Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.ISBN 978-3-421-02805-1.OCLC 613275675.
• Eiermann, Egon (2004).Egon Eiermann (1904–1970): die Kontinuität der Moderne, anläßlich der Ausstellung (in German). Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz.ISBN 3-7757-1436-7.OCLC 249312450.
• Fiell, Charlotte; Fiell, Peter (2005).Design of the 20th Century (25th anniversary ed.). Köln: Taschen. p. 239.ISBN 978-3-8228-4078-8.OCLC 809539744.
• Hildebrand, Sonja (1999).Egon Eiermann, die Berliner Zeit: das architektonische Gesamtwerk bis 1945 (in German). Basel: Birkhäuser.ISBN 978-3-7643-6690-2.OCLC 633882868.
• Kielmeyer, Barbara (1999).Egon Eiermann – die Möbel, Ausstellung im Museum beim Markt, Außenstelle des Badischen Landesmuseums Karlsruhe, 16. September – 14. November 1999; Ausstellung des Badischen Landesmuseums Karlsruhe in Verbindung mit dem Südwestdeutschen Archiv für Architektur und Ingenieurbau an der Universität Karlsruhe (in German). Karlsruhe: INFO-Verl.ISBN 978-3-88190-236-6.OCLC 215049760.
• Lampugnani, Vittorio (1983).Hatje-Lexikon der Architektur des 20. Jahrhunderts (in German). Stuttgart: G. Hatje.ISBN 3-7757-0174-5.OCLC 10511350.
• "Nachhaltig prägend – Große Eiermann-Ausstellung in Karlsruhe".BauNetz (in German). 14 September 2004. Retrieved28 February 2022.
• "Egon Eiermann (Karlsruhe)".db deutsche bauzeitung (in German). 1 November 2004. Retrieved28 February 2022.
• "Egon Eiermann DIGITAL. Exhibition in Karlsruhe, Germany – ndion".ndion. 12 February 2020. Retrieved28 February 2022.
• Sperling, Thomas (2003), "Eiermann, Egon",Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press,doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t025681
• Boyken, Immo; Oestmann, Hans J. (1 June 1990). "Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Egon Eiermann: The Dictate of Order".Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians.49 (2). University of California Press:133–153.doi:10.2307/990473.ISSN 0037-9808.JSTOR 990473.
• Curl, James (2015).The Oxford dictionary of architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-175298-8.OCLC 913074935.
• Bauer, Anneke (2004).Egon Eiermann, die Wohnhäuser ... aus der Feder der Studenten (in German). Karlsruhe: Inst. für Baugestaltung.ISBN 978-3-9805818-2-0.OCLC 76482179.
• Kupke, Susanne (28 September 2004)."Egon Eiermann: Vorzeige-Architekt der jungen Demokratie".Mitteldeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved28 February 2022.
• "Würdiges Gehäuse".Der Spiegel (in German). 1 October 1963. Retrieved28 February 2022.
• Hildebrand, Sonja (23 February 2009)."Bedrohtes Hauptwerk der Nachkriegsmoderne".Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved28 February 2022.
• "Biography, Architecture, & Facts".Encyclopedia Britannica. 25 September 2021. Retrieved28 February 2022.
• Stark, Ulrike (1993).Architekten, Egon Eiermann (in German). Stuttgart: IRB Verlag.ISBN 978-3-8167-3361-4.OCLC 40934752.
• Malave, Florita (1985).Egon Eiermann, architect (in German). Monticello, Ill: Vance Bibliographies.ISBN 978-0-89028-235-9.OCLC 11871854.
• Thomas, Christian (1 March 2021)."Einflussreichster Architekt der Nachkriegsperiode".Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved1 March 2022.
• Stock, Adolf (1 March 2021)."Eiermann und Henselmann".Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). Retrieved1 March 2022.

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