Elisabeth Böhm (architect)

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Elisabeth Böhm (née Haggenmüller ; born June 18, 1921 in Mindelheim ; † September 6, 2012 in Cologne ) was a German architect. She was the wife of Gottfried Böhm  and the mother of the architects Stephan , Peter and Paul and the artist Markus Böhm . She was jointly responsible for numerous realized Böhm buildings and a number of unrealized projects, but as a woman in a famous architectural dynasty always remained in the background.

In 2000 she was awarded a plaque of honor for her life's work by the Cologne Architects and Engineers Association.

life and work

Elisabeth and Gottfried Böhm at an exhibition opening in Cologne in 2009

Elisabeth Haggenmüller was born in Mindelheim in 1921 as the daughter of the goldsmith Georg Haggenmüller and his wife Magdalena Haggenmüller. After graduating from high school in Munich in 1942, she was able to implement her early wish to become an architect (“if I were a boy”) by studying architecture. In 1944 she had to interrupt her studies because women were no longer welcome at universities. She completed an internship in an architecture office in Innsbruck and continued her studies after the war. In 1946 she completed it with a diploma thesis in which she designed a settlement for artists and craftsmen with distinction. After completing her studies, Elisabeth Haggenmüller completed an internship at the Kaufbeuren municipal building department.

During her studies, she met her future husband Gottfried Böhm, who was still vacillating between a career as an architect or a sculptor. Some authors attribute it to the influence of Elisabeth Haggenmüller that Böhm finally turned to architecture.

After getting married in 1948, she worked with her husband in the  architecture office that Dominikus Böhm had taken over, but as a wife she was not officially an employee. After the birth of four sons between 1950 and 1959, Elisabeth Böhm was primarily concerned with household chores and upbringing; it was only when her sons began their professional careers that she was more present in the Böhm office.

Her focus was on the design of floor plans, especially for residential houses and settlements, as well as the design of interiors. For example, she designed the interior design of the Godesburg , the Bensberg town hall  and the Kauzenburg . During the expansion of the Stuttgart theater (1984), during which Gottfried Böhm was unable to implement his entire project for the actual theater space design, the extension of the foyer as a circular pavilion that was finally realized came primarily from her.

In the 1980s, various independent housing projects followed and in 1991 the redesign of the Bulgarian embassy of the European Union in Strasbourg . Designs for villas in Italy and the Bulgarian embassy at the Vatican remained in the project stage.

Böhm family grave in Cologne's southern cemetery: grave of Elisabeth Böhm.

Elisabeth Böhm played a key role in the design for the WDR Arkaden in Cologne, which - very atypical for Gottfried Böhm - has a "refreshing" deconstructivist character and is considered a particularly versatile project.

Elisabeth Böhm lived and worked in Cologne, she is buried in Cologne's southern cemetery.

literature

  • Kristin Feireiss (Hrsg.): Elisabeth Böhm: City structures and buildings Contributions by Kristin Feireiss, Hiltrud Krier, Manfred Sack. Wasmuth Verlag, Tübingen 2006, ISBN 978-3-8030-0668-4

documentary

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Winner of the AIV honorary plaque - http://www.aiv-koelnbonn.de/aiv-plakette.html
  2. ^ A b Frank Dengler: Building in a historical setting: the architects Dieter Oesterlen, Gottfried Böhm and Karljosef Schattner . Georg Olms Verlag, 2003, ISBN 9783487118826
  3. ↑ Hiltrud Kier: Homage to Elisabeth Böhm , in: Kristin Feireiss (Ed.): Elisabeth Böhm: City Structures and Buildings , p. 21
  4. ↑ Hiltrud Kier: Buildings and Projects , in: Kristin Feireiss (Ed.): Elisabeth Böhm: City structures and buildings , p. 64
  5. ↑ Gottfried Böhm. Concrete and glass rocks. Exhibition guide of the Museum of Applied Art, Cologne 2009
personal data
SURNAME Boehm, Elisabeth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Haggenmüller, Elisabeth (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Mindelheim
DATE OF DEATH September 6, 2012
Place of death Cologne