Ernst Hochfeld

Ernst Hochfeld (born May 9, 1890 in Lemgo , † March 18, 1985 in Los Angeles ) was a German architect.

Live and act

Hochfeld went to school in Hamburg and completed architecture studies in Hanover , Munich and Dresden , from which he graduated in 1913. From 1919 he worked in several architectural offices in his hometown. Together with Fritz Block , with whom he became friends during his studies, he won a competition to design the Ohlsdorf Jewish cemetery . For this reason, both founded an architecture office in 1921 and designed a variety of buildings. During the 1920s, Hochfeld was a leading architect of the New Building in Hamburg.

Hochfeld married the violinist Hedwig Behrens (1892–1992), who in 1928 gave birth to their daughter Annette. He was interested in many cultural issues, but was only related to the Jewish faith because of his family history. The attacks against Jews that began in the German Reich in 1933 quickly developed into a mortal danger. In November 1938 he therefore moved with his family to Los Angeles.

In the United States, Hochfeld initially worked as a set designer for companies in the Hollywood film industry. He was granted American citizenship in 1943 and was licensed as an architect in California three years later. Until 1972 he worked as chief draftsman for various architectural offices in Los Angeles. He also dealt with genealogical work, which he had already started in Hamburg.

In 1972, Hochfeld briefly visited his hometown during a trip through Europe. In 1980 he published his memoir with "Hamburgs Architecture in the 20s" in old age. At the end of it he wrote: "The twenty years in the building trade in Hamburg were for me the liveliest, most creative, richest time of my life".

literature

• Roland Jaeger: Hochfeld, Ernst . in: The Jewish Hamburg. A historical reference work . Publisher: Institute for the History of German Jews, Wallstein Verlag (April 1, 2006).