Hans Poelzig

Hans Poelzig (April 30 1869 Berlin - June 14 1936 Berlin) was a German architect, painter, and set designer active in the Weimar years.

Related Topics:
April 30 - 1869 - Berlin - June 14 - 1936 - Weimar

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After finishing his architectural eduation around the turn of the century, Poelzig designed many industrial buildings. For an industrial fair in 1911, he designed the Upper Silesia Tower in Posen 51.2 m tall, which later became the water tower. He was eventually appointed city architect of Dresden in 1916.

Related Topics:
Posen - Dresden

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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.)

Related Topics:
Max Reinhardt - UFA - The Golem - Edgar Ulmer - Film noir - Universal Studios - Boris Karloff

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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 the 1920s he ran the "Studio Poelzig" in partnershp with his wife Marlene. Poelzig also designed the 1929 Broadcasting House in the Berlin suburb of Charlottenburg, a landmark of architecture, Cold War history, and engineering history.

Related Topics:
Bruno Taut - Ernst May - Expressionism - New Objectivity - Charlottenburg - Cold War

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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.

Related Topics:
I.G. Farben Building - IG Farben - Frankfurt am Main - Goethe University - Eisenhower - Palace of the Soviets - League of Nations

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

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