Hans Poelzig | |
|---|---|
 Hans Poelzig (1927) | |
| Born | (1869-04-30)30 April 1869 |
| Died | 14 June 1936(1936-06-14) (aged 67) Berlin |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Buildings | I.G. Farben Building Haus des Rundfunks inCharlottenburg |
| Projects | Palace of the Soviets Film sets forThe Golem |
Hans Poelzig (30 April 1869 – 14 June 1936) was aGerman architect, painter and set designer.
Poelzig was born in Berlin in 1869 to Countess Clara Henrietta Maria Poelzig while she was married to George Acland Ames, an Englishman. Uncertain of his paternity, Ames refused to acknowledge Hans as his son and consequently he was brought up by a local choirmaster and his wife. In 1899 he married Maria Voss with whom he had four children.[1]
His mother was the daughter ofAlexander von Hanstein, Count of Pölzig and Beiersdorf who marriedPrincess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg in 1826. Because of this, Clara was the step-sister toAlbert, Prince Consort making Hans a step-cousin toAlbert's children.
In 1903 he became a teacher and director at theBreslau Academy of Art and Design (German:Kunst- und Gewerbeschule Breslau; today inWrocław, Poland). From 1920–1935 he taught atTechnische Hochschule Berlin (today,Technische Universität Berlin).
After finishing his architectural education around the turn of the century, Poelzig designed many industrial buildings. He designed the 51.2-metre-tall (168 ft) Upper Silesia Tower in Posen (todayPoznań) for an industrial fair in 1911. It later became a water tower. He was appointed city architect ofDresden in 1916. He was an influential member of theDeutscher Werkbund.
Poelzig was also known for his distinctive 1919 interior redesign of the Berlin Grosses Schauspielhaus for Weimar impresarioMax Reinhardt, and for his vast architectural set designs for the 1920UFA film production ofThe Golem: How He Came Into the World. (Poelzig mentoredEdgar Ulmer on that film; when Ulmer directed the 1934film noirUniversal Studios production ofThe Black Cat, he returned the favor by naming the architect-Satanic-high-priest villain character "Hjalmar Poelzig", played byBoris Karloff.)
With his Weimar architect contemporaries likeBruno Taut andErnst May, Poelzig's work developed throughExpressionism and theNew Objectivity in the mid-1920s before arriving at a more conventional, economical style. In 1927 he was one of the exhibitors in the firstInternational Style project, theWeissenhof Estate inStuttgart. In the 1920s he ran the "Studio Poelzig" in partnership with his wife Marlene (Nee Moeschke) (1894–1985). Poelzig also designed the 1929 Broadcasting House in the Berlin suburb ofCharlottenburg, a landmark of architecture, andCold War and engineering history.
Poelzig's single best-known building is the enormous and legendaryI.G. Farben Building, completed in 1931 as the administration building forIG Farben inFrankfurt am Main, now known as the Poelzig Building atGoethe University. In March 1945 the building was occupied by American Allied forces underEisenhower, became his headquarters, and remained in American hands until 1995. Some of his designs that were never built included one for thePalace of the Soviets and one for theLeague of Nations headquarters at Geneva.
In 1933 Poelzig served as the interim director of the United State School for Fine and Applied Art (Vereinigte Staatsschulen für freie und angewandete Kunst), after the expulsion of founding directorBruno Paul by the National Socialists.
In 1935 Poelzig received first prize for a theater and concert hall inIstanbul, Turkey, where he was also planning to teach. On November 30 that year, age 65, he retired from the Director of the Architecture Department of thePrussian Academy of Arts inBerlin. While preparing to move to Turkey, on 14 June 1936, Hans Poelzig died of a stroke. He was buried in theOld Wannsee Cemetery. [de]
In 1937 his wife had to close her studio under pressure from the National Socialists.
On 18 November 2015,Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin inaugurated a memorial at Friedrichstraße 107 dedicated to the theatre's founders,Max Reinhardt, Hans Poelzig andErik Charell.
The interior of the castle ofthe Wizard of Oz in the 2024 filmWicked was inspired by the Großes Schauspielhaus.[2][3]
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