Hans King

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Hans Königs (born August 6, 1903 in Aachen ; † December 23, 1988 there ) was a German architect and city ​​curator .

Life

family

House where Hans Königs was born, Rochusstraße 23 (on the right in the picture)

Hans Königs was the first of seven children of the Aachen builder and architect Arnold Königs and his wife Anna, née. Goebels. In August 1943, Hans Königs married Marianne Bachus in the Alexian monastery in Aachen . The marriage resulted in a daughter (Ursula, born September 6, 1944 in Malmedy).

School time and training

After Hans Königs had completed the pre-school of the Kaiser-Karls-Gymnasium , he attended the municipal upper secondary school with attached secondary school in Vinzenzstraße (now Kármánstraße), the forerunner of today's Couven-Gymnasium . School days were strongly influenced by the chaos of the First World War . Numerous teachers and classmates in the upper classes volunteered for military service or were called up. On October 2, 1917, the upper secondary school was renamed on the occasion of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg's birthday . The political unrest in November 1918 as well as the occupation of Aachen by Belgian and French troops resulted in numerous cancellations of classes at Aachen schools in the winter of 1918/1919. Despite these adverse circumstances, Hans Königs was able to complete his “one year” at Easter 1919 with very good grades. In recognition of his achievements, the father Hans Königs allowed membership in the Aachen History Association . In later years, Hans Königs was active there as a member of the advisory board and board of directors and organized and led countless excursions since 1937.

The first watercolor drawings, mostly of urban history motifs, such as B. the Sandkaultor , the Marschiertor and the Ponttor . In 1921 Hans Königs was the best student of his year. At Easter 1922 he passed his Abitur exams. On his certificate there was an entry for the subject of history: "In the field of Aachen history, which he studied as sources, and Aachen family studies , he has achieved achievements that deserve special recognition." During his school days, he belonged to the literary circle , an association by Catholic high school students. They were led by Jesuit Fathers. The literary circle was a forerunner of the Bund New Germany . The future Lord Mayor Hermann Heusch was one of Hans Königs' classmates .

After an internship, Hans Königs began studying architecture at the Technical University in Aachen in the summer of 1922 . One of his teachers was the painter August von Brandis .

At the beginning of his studies he joined the Catholic student association KDSt.V. Franconia Aachen of the CV . His thesis of October 28, 1922 dealt with archaeological finds in the excavation of the Sinn company building . At Easter 1927, Königs passed the first part of his diploma examination. A severe tuberculosis disease forced him to interrupt his studies for almost two years. On September 29, 1930 he received his diploma from the Faculty of Construction at RWTH Aachen University . In five subjects he passed with very good , in 7 with good . After completing his studies, he joined the Aachen-based KDSt.V. Kaiserpfalz at.

career path

Until 1941 he worked as an architect in his father's construction office. His activities included the project planning, the calculations of the statics, the tendering, the awarding, the construction management and the accounting of the respective construction measures. In the years 1931 to 1935, the Königs construction company carried out numerous construction projects on Königshügel, Melatener and Krefelder Strasse, Purweider Weg and Chlodwigstrasse and Pippinstrasse. In addition, the company was entrusted with numerous renovation work on Aachen's commercial buildings and cafés. Even at this time, Hans Königs was increasingly devoting himself to architectural photography.

In 1936, construction work began on the Lützenburg residential and commercial building in the Burtscheid district of Aachen . The installation of an air raid shelter and reinforced floor ceilings was already prescribed for the new building at that time .

At the same time, Hans Königs began to actively campaign for monument protection in Aachen. The trigger was the threat of demolition of the house Zum blinden Esel , a three-wing courtyard complex in Franzstrasse, which was rebuilt in 1754 by the well-known architect Johann Joseph Couven . Under the guidance of Hans Königs it was possible to repair the courtyard in an exemplary manner between 1936 and 1937.

On June 1, 1936, Franconia, to which Hans Königs was still closely linked, was forcibly dissolved.

In 1937 he led the annual excursion of the Aachen History Association to the Soers to numerous farms, farms and Rahe Castle . Through his work in the preservation of monuments and in the Aachen History Association, he met the cathedral builder Joseph Buchkremer at this time . In 1937 work began on the new rooms of the cathedral singing school , which was carried out in coordination between Hans Königs and Joseph Buchkremer.

In 1939, Hans Königs published a scientific article about the manor complex Der Große Bau in Süsterfeld . Here he discovered valuable stucco work that he can attribute to the Italian plasterer Petrus Nicolaas Gagini . One of the stucco work shows Gut Soerser Hochkirchen. It was restored at the instigation of Hans Königs in 1969 and installed in the Handel Hall of the Alten Kurhaus in Aachen, after the Der Große Bau estate was almost completely destroyed in the war. Unfortunately, the stucco relief was covered by a wall in 1970 and was only rediscovered by “chance” in 2008 during renovation work.

Commemorative plaque for the "Dom fire fighting group" with the most famous picture of Hans Königs: The bombing raid on Aachen, taken from Krefelder Strasse on July 10, 1941

Hans Königs was spared from being drafted into the Wehrmacht due to the health impairment caused by the consequences of tuberculosis. During the Second World War , also when Aachen had lost many historic buildings due to heavy bombing, he continued to work on behalf of the monument protection. Some of the recently reconstructed and rebuilt buildings, such as the Domsingschule or the Romanesque House on Klosterplatz, were partially or completely destroyed during the first major attacks. In 1940, Hans Königs volunteered for the air raid station at Aachen Cathedral .

In 1942, Will Hermanns , the head of the city's cultural office , commissioned him to photograph the still intact, historic streets of the city. He gathered a few employees around him in order to document as many roads as possible in an undamaged condition. They were often accused of spying for the British Air Force . At that time, a general ban on photography was imposed in Aachen. Between 1942 and 1943 around 1200 photos, some in color, were taken. Some series of images, especially the shots from the historic Burtscheid , were destroyed in the bombing of the cityscape. In the summer of 1943, the bombing raids on the city of Aachen intensified. Thousands of Aacheners lost their lives in the process. Countless historical buildings were completely destroyed or badly damaged, such as the Aachen City Hall , the theater , the old Couven Museum on the Seilgraben as well as the Wespienhaus and the recently restored Zum Blinden Esel courtyard .

In 1943, Hans Königs was commissioned by the state curator to find out where the Aachen art treasures from historical buildings and museums were to be stored. During the eviction of Aachen, ordered by the National Socialists, in September 1944, Hans Königs stayed in the city; he spent the last days of the war in a parsonage in Berensberg near Aachen.

Only through vehement efforts was H. Königs able to prevent the demolition of the abbey gate (built in 1644) in 1947.
Example of relocations in Aachen's old town: House Hühnermarkt 19: The decorative elements come from destroyed Aachen houses, such as the door from Bahnhofstrasse 22, the balcony basket from the “Blind Donkey” from Franzstrasse 8 and the bluestone walls from House Krugenofen 15-17
Mosaic dome of the transferred princely bath from the imperial bath
Nuellen's garden pavilion, moved to the Burtscheid spa gardens .

On November 1, 1944, Mayor Franz Oppenhoff appointed him head of the Office for Monument Protection .

Until Joseph Buchkremer's return in August 1945, Hans Königs was in charge of all construction and repair work on Aachen Cathedral. Together with the cathedral capitular Erich Stephany and the American art protection officer Hancock, he initiated the return to Aachen of the cathedral treasures stored in a mine tunnel near Siegen .

A few months after the end of the fighting in Aachen, Hans Königs submitted a report on the condition of the Aachen monuments, in which it had to be determined that 90% of the buildings classified as worthy of monument were destroyed or badly damaged.

On May 29, 1945 he was commissioned with Felix Kuetgens as a consultant for art protection. Königs checked the losses in the city's art collections. The American occupation entrusted him with running the housing department. Hans Königs worked tirelessly for the preservation of the heavily damaged monuments, such as the historic city gates, the Aachen town hall, the Wespienhaus, the abbey gate in Burtscheid or the post car , a historic restaurant at the town hall. Not all architectural monuments could be saved during this time, when the creation of living space was paramount. Hans Königs always tried to preserve, store and reuse the historically valuable bluestone facades of the old Aachen town houses.

In August 1951, Königs was appointed a member of the board of directors of the Rhenish Association for the Preservation of Monuments and Landscapes and a City Planning Officer.

One of the concerns of Hans Königs and his father was to revive Aachen's bathing tradition. Numerous bath houses and bath hotels were damaged and destroyed in the war. In 1956 the demolition of the damaged Badehotel Kaiserbad am Büchel began to make way for a new Badehotel. The still intact ceremonial bathing cell of the hotel, which Fürstenbad was developed at the initiative of Hans King and 1964 in the Burtscheider spa terraces translocated . Numerous other relocations, mainly of facades, followed and today inconspicuously determine the historical appearance of Aachen's old town.

Since January 27, 1956, he was a member of the examination board of the state engineering school for the field of building construction and since March 24, 1958 a member of the examination board for master builders at the Aachen Chamber of Crafts .

On January 16, 1964, Hans Königs was appointed city curator. The alderman, Wilhelm K. Fischer, had suggested him. At the same time, the city of Aachen promoted him to senior building officer . He was responsible for the structural supervision of the Karl exhibition in 1965 in the coronation hall of the Aachen town hall . Numerous reconstruction measures, u. a. the reconstruction of the old Kurhaus , the Theresienkirche and Augustinerkirche were carried out under his direction.

Hans Königs retired on August 7, 1968. Even after his retirement he continued to work a. a. on the documentation of the Aachen architectural monuments within the framework of the monuments directory Aachen city center with Frankenberger Viertel and Aachen, other districts with.

Hans Königs died on December 23, 1988 in Aachen.

Identifications of unknown works of art

The Burtscheider Valley near Aachen , identified by Hans Königs (1964), formerly known as Landscape on the Middle Meuse , 1570

Even before the Second World War, Hans Königs was able to ascribe the stucco work in the Gutshof Im Großen Bau in Süsterfeld to the Lombard artist Gagini. Particularly significant, however, is the identification of an oil painting by Lucas van Valckenborch in the Brussels Museum of Fine Arts from 1570. Up until that time, the painting was called Landscape of the Middle Meuse . By comparing it with old cadastral maps, he was able to identify the Burtscheider valley with the two distinctive churches of St. Johann and St. Michael and the Burtscheider baths . In the archive of the Val-Dieu Abbey near Aubel , together with the architect Hans Küpper, he was able to identify an old watercolor drawing from 1754 as a representation of the Burtscheider Imperial Abbey . Both paintings are among the most important and earliest representations by Burtscheid.

Honors

In 1979, Hans Königs received the Rhineland Taler in the White Hall of Aachen City Hall from the chairman of the Rhineland Regional Assembly, Josef Kürten, for his services to local history research and monument preservation in Aachen. In the same year he was honored with an honorary gift from the Burtscheider Citizens' Association. In 1981, Hans Königs was made an honorary member of the Burtscheid Society for Past and Present.

Collaboration on new buildings for the Königs company (before 1947)

  • Bakery and residential building Johann Lützenburg, Benediktinerstraße 34
  • House of the District Administrator Ernst, Melatenerstraße 74
  • Wilhelm Bock's house, Krefelder Strasse 12
  • Schirp residential building, Peliserkerstraße 4
  • Steffens house, Heinzenstraße 12
  • Schorn assembly group, Lipsmanstrasse 14–16
  • Assembly group Chlodwigstrasse 5–9
  • Pippinstrasse and Chlodwigstrasse assembly group
  • Assembly group Pippinstrasse 4-6
  • Residence Dr. med. W. Ritzerfeld, Brachelen , Geilenkirchen district

Collaboration in the reconstruction of the Königs company (before 1947)

  • Business building of the Sinn brothers, Großkölnstrasse 15-19, corner of Mostardstrasse
  • Schorn office building, Alexanderstraße 37
  • Grocery store Bücken, Victoriaallee 25
  • Café Schiffers, Großkölnstrasse 31
  • Tuchhaus Ortmanns, Großkölnstrasse 40
  • Business premises of the Aachen tram , Kapuzinergraben 16
  • Barbaraquelle Brachelen, Unterdorf

Restoration of war-damaged houses (selection)

Historic Postwagen restaurant at Aachen City Hall (rebuilt)

(among others on behalf of the War Damage Office of the City of Aachen)

  • Dresdner Bank , Kapuzinergraben 12-14
  • Dresdner Bank, Elisabethstrasse 13–15
  • Residential house Annastraße 30
  • House Alexianergraben 45
  • House at Peterstrasse 48
  • Residential building Heinzenstrasse 17
  • Residential building Königsstrasse 23, 25
  • Residential building Lipsmanstrasse, 2, 2a, 6 and 10
  • Historic Postwagen restaurant at Aachen City Hall

Monument buildings (selection)

  • 1936: Conversion of the patrician house Geuljans, Zum Blinden Esel , Franzstraße 8, for Dr. Haystack
  • 1937: Expansion of the Propstei in Ritter-Chorus-Straße to become the Aachen Cathedral Singing School
  • Several years of experience in the preservation of monuments in cooperation with cathedral builder Joseph Buchkremer
  • several orders from the Rhine Province (state curator)
  • from 1942: Representative of the Rheinisches Landeskonservator for the relocation of the war-endangered Aachen cultural assets and for the protection of the listed buildings
  • from 1943: honorary representative of the city of Aachen for the monuments in the city of Aachen
Old Kurhaus Aachen, partially rebuilt and reconstructed (1965–1969)
  • 1943–1944: Examination of salvage options for the inventory of the historical town hall and for Aachen art treasures in the Malmedy district
  • 1944–1945 (until the return of cathedral master builder Joseph Buchkremer ): monument preservation care of the Aachen cathedral (especially security work)
  • Reconstruction of the old Kurhaus in Komphausbadstrasse (1965–1969)
  • Restoration of the city gates (Ponttor and Marching Gate)
  • Relocation of the Nuellens garden house to the Burtscheid spa garden
  • Relocation of the Fürstenbad from the Kaiserbad am Büchel to the spa park terraces in the Burtscheider spa garden (1964)
  • Reconstruction (together with Dr. Leo Hugot ) of the old Burtscheider town hall (Neubad) , early 1960s

Fonts

  • The row house as your own home . In: Aachen daily newspaper from June 13, 1931.
  • The estate "The Great Building" with Gagini's stucco paintings . In: Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsverein , 60 (1939), pp. 200–211.
  • Castles and mansions in the Montzener Land , Aachen 1941, unpublished manuscript
  • Reports and directories about the destruction of art in Germany. City district of Aachen . In: Die Kunstpflege, 1st episode (1948), pp. 99-103.
  • The fate of the secular architectural monuments . In: Albert Huyskens , Bernhard Poll (ed.): The old Aachen, its destruction and its reconstruction (= Aachen contributions for building history and local art , volume 3). Aachen 1953.
  • Recovered tombstones and memorial stones in Aachen . In: Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsverein , 68 (1956), pp. 399-407.
  • Report on the war damage and construction work on the secular architectural monuments of the city of Aachen . In: Yearbook of the Rheinische Denkmalpflege , Volume XX (1956): Reports on the activities of the monument preservation 1945–1953 , pp. 264–272.
  • Report on the war damage and construction work on the secular architectural monuments of the city of Aachen . In: Yearbook of the Rheinische Denkmalpflege , Volume XXI (1957): Reports on the activities of the monument preservation 1953–1956 , pp. 97–104.
  • Report on the war damage and construction work on the secular architectural monuments of the city of Aachen . In: Yearbook of the Rheinische Denkmalpflege , Volume XXII (1959): Reports on the activities of the monument preservation 1956–1959 , pp. 97–102.
  • Grave slabs in a brook sink at Steinbrück . In: Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsverein , 70 (1958), pp. 207–210.
  • On the circulation area of ​​works of the Aachen fine forging in the 17th and 18th centuries . In: Aachener Kunstblätter , Volume 29 (1964), pp. 86-88.
  • Burtscheid, the "Unknown Landscape" by Lukas van Valckenborch . In: Aachener Kunstblätter , Volume 29 (1964), pp. 178-192.
  • Report on the war damage and construction work on the secular architectural monuments of the city of Aachen . In: Yearbook of the Rheinische Denkmalpflege , Volume XXV (1965): Reports on the activities of the monument preservation 1959–1964 , pp. 67–88.
  • On the history of the Lords of Reimersdahl . In: Im Göhltal , Heft 3 (1968), pp. 4-11.
  • On the history of the Lords of Reimersdahl (addendum) . In: Im Göhltal , Heft 5 (1968), pp. 30–33.
  • Barrows from prehistoric times in the Göhl valley . In: Im Göhltal , Heft 15 (1974), pp. 20-21.
  • The term "Am Bildchen" . In: Göhltal , Heft 15 (1974), pp. 30-32.
  • About farmers and soldiers in the Aachen Empire during the War of the Austrian Succession (1741–1748) . In: Im Göhltal , Heft 15 (1974), pp. 70–73.
  • An unknown representation of the Burtscheid Imperial Abbey from 1754. A contribution to the historical topography of Burtscheid . In: Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsverein , Volume 84/85 (1977/1978), pp. 499–552.
  • Schimper Castle. Notes on a New Book . In: Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsverein , Volume 90/91 (1983/1984), pp. 247-250.

as co-author:

  • Rheinische Denkmalpflege [ed.]: The architectural monuments in North Rhineland. War damage and reconstruction . In: Yearbook of the Rheinische Denkmalpflege, XIX (1951), pp. 3–20.
  • Hans Königs, Karl Vanderheyden: Aachen then and now - as the work of master builders . In: Der Deutsche Baumeister , No. 16 (1955), pp. 184–194.
  • Hermann Heusch, Hans Königs: The Wylre'sche Hof in Aachen . In: Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsverein , Volume 68 (1956), pp. 333–359.
  • Ernst Günther Grimme , Hans Königs: The great centuries of Aachen goldsmithing . In: Aachener Kunstblätter , Volume 29 (1964), pp. 45-88.
  • Wilhelm K. Fischer, Hanns Compernass, Hans Königs: Bad Aachen. Its springs and the imperial bath . Aachen 1963.
  • Landeskonservator Rheinland [Hrsg.]: List of monuments, 1.1 Aachen city center, with Frankenberger Viertel, 1.2. Aachen other parts of the city . Cologne 1977.

literature

  • Ludwina Forst: King's Path. In the footsteps of the first city curator, Hans Königs (1903–1988) . Thouet, Aachen 2008, ISBN 3-930594-33-1 .
  • Ingeborg Schild : Hans Königs 1903–1988 . Obituary of the Aachen history association for Hans Königs. In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . Volume 97 (1991), pp. 401-406 (including other writings and a listing of his excursions).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ludwina Forst: King's Way. In the footsteps of the first city curator, Hans Königs (1903–1988) . Thouet, Aachen 2008, ISBN 3-930594-33-1 , p. 100.
  2. ↑ Ludwina Forst: King's Way. In the footsteps of the first city curator, Hans Königs (1903–1988) . Thouet, Aachen 2008, ISBN 3-930594-33-1 , p. 38.
  3. ↑ Hans Königs Abitur certificate, March 20, 1922, privately owned by the family, Aachen.
  4. ↑ Biography of Hans Königs in: Festschrift 125 years CV circle Aachen , Aachen 2008, p. 15 ( digitized [PDF; 12.0 MB]).
  5. ↑ William Florack, Günter Rooms: Imperial Palace Aachen 1920-1975 . Aachen December 1, 1994, p. 239 .
  6. ^ Report on the condition of the most important monuments in the Aachen district, January 9, 1945, in the private property of the family, Aachen.
  7. ↑ Hans Königs: Burtscheid, the "Unknown Landscape" by Lukas van Valckenborch . In: Aachener Kunstblätter , Volume 29 (1964), pp. 178-192.
personal data
SURNAME Königs, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect and preservationist
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Aachen
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 1988
Place of death Aachen