Hildegard Schirmacher

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Hildegard Schirmacher (born August 31, 1924 as Ernst Schirmacher in Stuttgart ; † March 7, 2015 in Limburg an der Lahn ) was a German architect , building historian and monument protector . The focus of her work was the historical urban development and monument protection in Limburg an der Lahn.

Live and act

The east line of Frankfurt's Römerberg was reconstructed under Schirmacher's direction.

Ernst Schirmacher worked as a young architect at the Stadtbauamt Frankfurt am Main , where, among other things, he was involved in the planning of the building for the Oberfinanzdirektion Frankfurt am Main in Nordend. In 1961 he received his doctorate in engineering from the Technical University of Darmstadt with a thesis on the origin and development of the medieval city of Limburg . The work is still considered a standard work on Limburg urban development in this epoch.

In 1967, Schirmacher participated in the renovation of the old town in Bebra . In 1967 he presented a system for recording individual buildings in Limburg. This subsequently became the basis for the renovation of the old town there. In 1968, Schirmacher was appointed the leading architect of Limburg's old town renovation, which was to become a model for similar projects throughout Germany in the following decades.

In 1973, Schirmacher acquired the former Scholasterei building at Limburg Cathedral as the seat of his family and his architecture office. In the following years he restored the house. In addition, Schirmacher was voluntarily and civically involved in many debates on urban development and monument protection in Limburg, was the founding chairman of the Limburg Castle Association as well as chairman and long-standing member of the town's monument council.

From 1981 to 1983, Schirmacher was the architect responsible for the reconstruction of the east line of the Römerberg in Frankfurt am Main based on plans by the Berlin office of Dietrich Bangert , Bernd Jansen, Stefan Jan Scholz and Axel Schultes . In 1988 he was a founding member of the Hessian Academy of Research and Planning in Rural Areas.

Since 1997, Schirmacher led a life as a woman under the first name Hildegard. After her death, she left an extensive collection of photos, drawings and manuscripts to the Limburg City Archives, which in particular provide information about the historical building fabric and the renovation of the old town.

In August 2019, the local advisory board responsible for the Limburg core city decided to name a place at the listed Walderdorffer Hof in the old town after Hildegard Schirmacher. The associated ceremony took place on the fifth anniversary of her death in 2020.

Works (selection)

  • Limburg an der Lahn: Origin and development of the medieval city . Historical Commission publications for Nassau 16 . Wiesbaden, 1963.
  • Preservation in urban development: basics, areas, shape-related local typology . Series of publications by the Federal Minister for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development, 2: Urban development. Bonn-Bad Godesberg, 1972.
  • City ideas: the shape of medieval cities. Conservation and planning action . Artemis publishing house . Zurich, 1988.
  • The interior restoration of St. Bartholomew's Cathedral in Frankfurt: studies and programs . The City Council of Frankfurt am Main, Construction Department, Building Construction Office, 1989.
  • The Lintburk 910 - A search for traces , in: Limburg in the river of time. Highlights from 1100 years of city history. Limburg ad Lahn 2010, pp. 35–62 (contributions to the history of the district town of Limburg ad Lahn 1).

literature

  • Eva von Engelberg-Dockal: Reconstructions as part of a “post-modern reconstruction concept”? The Frankfurt Römerberg as a special case . In: In context, HRMagazin. Festival ceremony for Hans-Rudolf Meier . Weimar, 2016. pp. 4–17.
  • Christoph Waldecker : Limburg is falling into disrepair . In: Archive news from Hessen 15/1. Wiesbaden, 2015. pp. 40–41.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The voice of the old town has fallen silent. Hildegard Schirmacher died . In: Frankfurter Neue Presse, March 11, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Schirmacher, Hildegard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schirmacher, Ernst (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect, building historian and conservationist
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 2015
Place of death Limburg on the Lahn