Gustav Birkenstaedt

Gustav Birkenstaedt (born August 30, 1871 in Vienna , † July 24, 1912 in Lana ) was an Austrian architect who mainly worked in Meran and Lana. Its Art Nouveau buildings , a neo-baroque church and other of its buildings are under monument or ensemble protection.

Life

Little is known about Birkenstaedt's career before his time in Merano. He worked in Munich until 1906 .

In July 1906 he was called an architect from Merano. In Merano, he worked for the Musch & Lun company . In 1908 he was a founding member of the Merano local group of the Tyrolean Association for Homeland Security. In 1912 he was re-elected to the committee.

In 1908 Birkenstaedt was a freelance architect in Merano. His office and apartment, which he shared with his mother Eugenie, were in the Villa Lauretta at the then Franz-Ferdinand-Kai 21, today's address is Manzonistraße 13.

From 1911 he carried out preparatory work for the architect Friedrich Ohmann for the newly built Kurhaus Meran on behalf of the Merano spa administration .

The consortium Vigiljochbahn bought 220,000 m² at the Vigiljoch in order to build the mountain station of the Vigiljochbahn, an inn and a holiday home area. The planning of these buildings was the responsibility of Birkenstaedt, he was artistic adviser to the Vigiljochbahn-Gesellschaft.

Birkenstaedt suffered a heart attack while inspecting the Vigiljoch construction project; he was buried in the Protestant cemetery in Merano.The grave was abandoned in 1971.

Building (selection)

image	Surname	Built	place	Others
	Pension Neuhaus	1907	Meran, Passerpromenade 50–54, Theaterplatz 16–17, Manzonistraße 1	The client was the spa doctor Sebastian Huber
	Hotel Emma	1908	Meran, Mazziniplatz 1	Birkenstaedt planned the facade and interior design on behalf of Musch & Lun. The building was listed as a historical monument in 1985.
	Heiligkreuz in Lanegg	1911	Lana, Kirchweg	Birkenstaedt's project for a new church for the Teutonic Sisters in Lana was approved by Archduke Eugen The church was listed as a historical monument in 1979.
	Villa Musch, Weinhardt Sanatorium	1912	Meran, Maiastraße 2	The villa was listed as a historical monument in 2004.
	Gasthof Station Vigiljoch	1911/12	Lana, Pawigl	The original inn was demolished in 2000. The successor building, the Vigilio Mountain Resort , was planned by Matteo Thun ; the new building was completed in 2003.
	Vigiljochbahn valley station	1911/12	Lana, Villener Weg 3	The valley station was built in a historicizing style.
	Vigiljochbahn mountain station	1911/12	Lana, Pawigl	The mountain station was built so that as little as possible could be seen from the cable car.
	Summer houses on the Vigiljoch	1911/12	Lana, Pavigl	Birkenstaedt built one of the houses in the villa colony for himself. Today it is known as Villa Singer. The entire estate was placed under ensemble protection in 2008, see p. List of protected ensembles in Lana
	Passage for pedestrians at the Vinschger Tor	1913	Meran, Vinschger Tor	Up until then, all traffic between Merano and the Vinschgau had to go through the Vinschger Tor, when a tram line was added in 1908, the gate should be demolished. The Heimatschutzverein tried to preserve the gate and Birkenstaedt presented its project with two passages for pedestrians to the right and left of the gate in 1910, in 1913 a pedestrian passage was built west of the gate in 1968 the eastern passage for pedestrians was realized.

literature

• House plan of the spa town of Merano: List of streets, squares and promenades, villas, houses and farmsteads in the spa district of Merano. Meran: Pötzelberger 1922.
• Hans H. Reimer: They were strangers. Innsbruck 2019.
• Anna Pixner Pertoll: Built in the light. The Merano villas, their gardens and the development of the city (1860–1920) . Edition Raetia, Bozen 2009, ISBN 978-88-7283-355-1 .

Web links

Commons : Gustav Birkenstaedt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Obituary in the Meraner Zeitung of July 26, 1912 p.1 f Digital copy of the state library “Dr. Friedrich Teßmann "
• 100 years of the Vigiljoch cable car PDF

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reimer p. 348
2. ↑ Brixen Chronicle of April 21, 1906 p. 6
3. ↑ Brixen Chronicle of July 7, 1906, p. 7 Digital copy of the state library “Dr. Friedrich Teßmann "
4. ↑ Maiser Wochenblatt of October 24, 1908 p. 4 Digitized version of the state library “Dr. Friedrich Teßmann "
5. ↑ Meraner Zeitung of May 29, 1912 p. 2 Digital copy of the state library “Dr. Friedrich Teßmann "
6. ↑ Address book of the spa town of Merano 1909 p. 463 Digital copy of the state library “Dr. Friedrich Teßmann "
7. ↑ Address book of the spa town of Merano 1909 p. 227 Digital copy of the state library “Dr. Friedrich Teßmann "
8. ↑ Der Burggräfler of December 31, 1910 p. 5 Digital copy of the state library “Dr. Friedrich Teßmann "
9. ↑ The construction technician XXXI. Volume, No. 16, p. 440
10. ^ Karl Armbruster: Die Tiroler Bergbahnen, Verlag für Fachliteratur, Berlin 1914 p. 181
11. ↑ Maiser Wochenblatt of July 27, 1912, page 2
12. ↑ Meraner Zeitung of July 28, 1912 page 1
13. ^ Written information from the Evangelical Church of Meran
14. ↑ Pixner Pertoll p. 181
15. ↑ Meraner Zeitung of April 24, 1907 p. 4
16. ↑ Meraner Zeitung of November 1, 1908 p. 9
17. ↑ Entry in the monument browser on the website of the South Tyrolean Monuments Office
18. ↑ Bozner Nachrichten of June 11, 1910 p. 5
19. ↑ Entry in the monument browser on the website of the South Tyrolean Monuments Office
20. ↑ Entry in the monument browser on the website of the South Tyrolean Monuments Office
21. ↑ Bozner Nachrichten of September 4, 1912 p.1
22. ^ Wiener Monday Post, September 9, 1912, p.2
23. ↑ Meraner Zeitung of September 4, 1912 p. 9
24. ↑ Innsbrucker Nachrichten of June 1, 1910 p. 5
25. ↑ Meraner Zeitung of March 30, 1913 page 5
26. ↑ Heidi Trenkwalder: Franz Innerhofer , ed. Heimatschutzverein Meran, 2008, p. 51