Hanns Schönecker

Hanns Schönecker (* 1928 in Bliesen near St. Wendel ; † 2005 in St. Ingbert ) was a German architect .

Live and act

After graduating from high school, he began studying architecture at the Technical University of Darmstadt on a scholarship from the French Régie des Mines , which he completed with the main diploma examination. He then took up his first job as an employee of the Reul architectural office in St. Ingbert in the Saarland . In 1957, after the death of the company boss, he took over his office. He also taught for many years at the Saarland University of Applied Sciences in Saarbrücken . From 1973 to 1988 Schönecker was involved in the Saarland Chamber of Architects , where he was president for many years.

Schönecker distinguished himself in his architectural work by a high degree of sensitivity. His principle, which he formulated himself, was: “Starting from the existing spatial structure, one has to come to a form via the function” . He adhered to an architectural aesthetic whose principles were defined by the Bauhaus ; In doing so, he allowed himself to incorporate further developments since the Bauhaus period into his work. He was particularly influenced by the grand masters of architecture Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, as well as by the main representative of the Chicago School , Louis Sullivan , whose concise mission statement " Form follows function " Schönecker implemented with his personal signature.

Three focal points can be identified in Schönecker's work: Church buildings, schools as well as administrative and commercial buildings. In particular in the Saarland he built churches, u. a. in Waldhölzbach , St. Ingbert , Primsweiler and Türkismühle . Numerous post-war school buildings bear his architectural signature. The architect showed extraordinary sensitivity when it came to extensions and alterations. He succeeded in redesigning the inner-city Saarbrücker Schillerschule with its old structure into an art museum, as well as, for example, expanding the St. Wendel district savings bank with its 19th century structure. One of Schönecker's most important works was the new building of the Modern Gallery in Saarbrücken (1962–1974), an art museum with international standards, which, at the same time as the National Gallery in Berlin and the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, was one of the first new museum buildings in post-war Germany.

In 1995, Schönecker had to give up his job due to illness.

Awards

• 1991: Saarland Order of Merit
• 2002: Saarland Art Prize

literature

• Jo Enzweiler (ed.), Claudia Maas (edit.): Interview architecture. Marlen Dittmann in conversation with Hanns Schönecker. Galerie St. Johann, Saarbrücken 2002, ISBN 3-928596-70-5 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Hanns Schönecker in the catalog of the German National Library
• Literature on Hanns Schönecker in the Saarland Bibliography
• Entry in the Saar lexicon of artists

Individual evidence

1. ^ Announcement of awards of the Saarland Order of Merit . In: Head of the State Chancellery (Ed.): Official Gazette of the Saarland . No. 5 . Saarbrücker Zeitung Verlag und Druckerei GmbH, Saarbrücken January 24, 1991, p. 103 ( uni-saarland.de [PDF; 423 kB ; accessed on June 4, 2017]).