Hubert Schumacher

Hubert Schumacher (born December 27, 1896 in Luxembourg ; † May 6, 1961 ) was a Luxembourgish architect , urbanist and painter.

As director of state architecture, he was in charge of the reconstruction of all public and sacred buildings in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg that were destroyed in the Second World War .

Life

Hubert Schumacher was born on December 27, 1896 in Luxembourg to a family of business people. After his secondary studies at the École Industrielle et Commerciale à Luxembourg , he studied art and architecture, first in Munich, later at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. There he obtained the title Architecte diplômé par le Gouvernement français (DPLG) in 1926 . In 1926 he returned to his hometown Luxembourg and, after a short internship with the architect Nouveau, opened his own architectural office , but in 1939 he switched to the state building administration as a civil servant.

Hubert Schumacher and his wife Jeanne Feldes (1906–1952) had five children: Marguerite, Suzette, Pierre, Félix and Paul.

Hubert Schumacher died in Luxembourg on May 6, 1961, shortly after his retirement.

Sacred and profane buildings from 1926 to 1939

The towers of the cathedral

Between 1926 and 1939 he was responsible for planning and executing important building projects throughout the country. The expansion of the Cathédrale Notre Dame between 1935 and 1938, which still defines the silhouette of the fortress city of Luxembourg, should be emphasized . The extension building, which adjoins the two choir bays from 1613 to 1621, shapes the current shape of the old religious order in the appearance of the city both through its spaciousness and through the architectural unity. In this context, it should be emphasized that the redesign of the exterior architecture of the Gothic-style cathedral was a challenge, insofar as it was necessary to reconstruct the church with the surrounding buildings, such as the Atheneum building from the 17th century, the national library, the old refuge of St. Maximin (1751) (now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), as well as the surrounding older residential buildings, harmoniously connect. At that time, the future bishop of Luxembourg, Léon Lommel, was at his side to advise him on matters of sacred architecture . Unfortunately, due to the new conventions of the Second Vatican Council of 1965, the choir had to be redesigned for liturgical reasons. As a result, just four years after his death, the concept he developed for a harmonious connection between the nave and the choir was partially lost.

Schumacher built the Carmelite monastery (Couvent des Carmélites Déchaussées, called Carmel) in Cents / Neudorf, several houses on the Place Aldringen, u. a. the Maison des singes (House of the Apes), where he and his friend Auguste Trémont succeeded in skillfully combining sculpture and architecture. He built a day nursery for the city of Luxembourg (Crêche au Plateau d'Altmünster), which had been commissioned by the Mousel brewery family and built the Luxembourg exhibition halls on the occasion of the "Exposition de la Foire Internationale à Liège" (international exhibition in Liège) in 1931. On March 10, 1936, the first central maternity hospital in Luxembourg, the Maternité Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, was inaugurated by the Grand Duchess Charlotte (Luxembourg) named after her .

This was followed by the Christ-Roi chapel, commissioned by the Jesuit order, parish church in the then newly built residential area of ​​Belair (today Avenue Gaston Diderich). The foundation stone was laid on October 6, 1931 and the consecration took place by the Bishop of Luxembourg Pierre Nommesch on August 16, 1932. The planning was based on the expressionist language of forms developed by Hans Herkommer . The church building, designed according to Bauhaus ideas, was built for the first time for a church in Luxembourg using the reinforced concrete technology carried out by the entrepreneur Giorgetti. Similar to the city cathedral, the chapel was also changed according to the liturgical specifications of the Vaticanum and redesigned in 1994, but not in the sense of the simple forms of the Bauhaus style prescribed by Schumacher.

After the chapel was built, the Belair residential district gradually emerged, consisting mainly of single-family houses which, with a few exceptions, bear Schumacher's signature. He himself built a house for himself and his family in the immediate vicinity of the chapel. Among the numerous single-family houses around the city center (Belair and Limpertsberg), to which Schumacher gave his Bauhaus style, is the so-called "Villa Kutter" in the Limpertsberg district, which was built as a studio and at the same time a residence for the Luxembourg artist Joseph Kutter .

Architecture competitions

Hubert Schumacher has participated in numerous architecture competitions, such as B.

• Construction project for a stock exchange building in Luxembourg, first prize at: Concours International pour la Construction d'une Bourse à Luxembourg;
• Design for the construction of a new Atheneum, first prize at the Premier Concours National pour la Construction d'un nouvel Athénée, Parc Pescatore (the construction was not realized);
• Winner of the competition Concours pour la construction de maisons ouvrières de l'Arbed. (Workers' houses in the iron and steel industry);
• Winner of the competition to build a town hall for the city of Dudelange Concours National pour la Construction d'un Hôtel de Ville a Dudelange ;

Civil service career

Due to his varied professional experience, he was accepted into the civil service as part of a state-advertised administration competition for the career of civil servant. In June 1939 he was chosen from among several competitors, shortly afterwards to hold the post of state architect's assistant. The Second World War, which broke out in Luxembourg on May 10, 1940, meant that all administrative activities were taken over by the German occupying power, and Hubert Schumacher was transferred to the administration of higher municipal affairs that had been initiated by the German occupier .

Immediately after the liberation of Luxembourg at the end of the Second World War in 1945, Hubert Schumacher replaced the former director of the building administration (Paul Wigreux) and he was awarded the title of Architecte de l'État-Directeur des Bâtiments Publics and he was henceforth the head of his meanwhile restructured and reorganized large building administration, the Administration des Bâtiments Publics .

His works from 1945 to 1961

In his capacity as director of the building administration, Hubert Schumacher unfolded his real talent and his great energy by immediately leading the rebuilding of the countless ruins caused by bombs on public and church buildings during the Second World War, mainly through the Rundstedt offensive in the north of the country , took over.

Thanks to his self-sacrifice, his striving and his extraordinary drive, it was possible in Luxembourg to gradually put an end to the post-war reconstruction work in Luxembourg at the beginning of the 1950s, in order to be able to return to almost normalcy. There is hardly a public or church building in Luxembourg where, after the war, Hubert Schumacher did not contribute in any way to its restoration or reconstruction.

First of all, it should be emphasized that under his leadership, together with the architect Michel Heintz, the reconstruction of the architecturally particularly important basilica of St Willibrord, the landmark of the abbey town of Echternach, which was blown up by German soldiers on December 26, 1944, could be tackled. The completely destroyed church building was rebuilt true to the Romanesque style according to the historically preserved plans from 1031. The newly built basilica was consecrated on September 20, 1953. Hubert Schumacher later began renovating the buildings that used to belong to the Benedictine abbey, which were mainly used for school infrastructure, such as high school, boarding school and various primary schools. The restored cloister of the former abbey and the Salle des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) are still one of the main attractions of Echternach .

As new buildings which were carried out under his management, include u. a .:

• the administration building and complex between rue Notre-Dame, rue Aldringen, and rue Phillippe II (building which today houses the Ministry of Education),
• the administration building of the State Council in the heart of the old town,
• the building of the University of Comparative Law in Luxembourg (in the immediate vicinity of the Grand Ducal Palace)
• the building of the former Gendarmerie garages and workshops on lost food, 2, rue Marie et Pierre Curie

The restoration of the old town house "Maison de Cassal" (rue Large) from the end of the 16th century (today occupied by the Service des Médias) is also the work of Schumacher.

Chair of public commissions

In addition to his already full job as a state architect, Hubert Schumacher was appointed President of the following commissions convened by the state:

• Commission des Sites et Monuments (Commission for the Protection of Monuments),
• Surveillance pour la Restauration des Édifices Religieux (Monitoring Commission for Church Reconstruction),
• Commission des Loyers (rental commission).

In the service of the grand ducal court

In 1947, Hubert Schumacher was officially appointed court architect by the Grand Duchess Charlotte with the title “Architecte de la Cour Grand-Ducale” because of his services to post-war reconstruction and his special skills in the field of architecture and art history . In this capacity he was responsible for the maintenance and renovation of all grand ducal castles and buildings and acted as personal advisor to the Grand Duchess in matters of art and architecture.

Awards

Due to his extensive services, Hubert Schumacher has been honored several times with domestic and foreign awards. B.

• Grand Officer of the Order of the Oak Crown
• Military and community service medals of Adolph of Nassau
• Commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown

literature

• Gilbert Trausch : Les 400 ans de l'Athénée de Luxembourg. (PDF file; 877 kB)
• Paul Spang : Luxembourg's state architects. National Library Luxemburgensia LV 106/1986.
• P. Spang, R. Staud: Sankt Willibrordusbasilika Echternach. Quick art guide 800.
• Jean Petit: Chapelle du Christ Roi. In: L'architecture moderniste à Luxembourg. Les années 30. Musée d'histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, 1997, ISBN 2-919878-02-6 , pp. 42-45.
• Alain Linster : Villa Kutter. In: L'architecture moderniste à Luxembourg. Les années 30. pp. 60-63.
• Pierre Schumacher : Maisons jumelées Cerf et Pauly. In: L'architecture moderniste à Luxembourg. Les années 30. pp. 66-69.
• Antoine Prum : Maternity Grande-Duchesse Charlotte. In: L'architecture moderniste à Luxembourg. Les années 30. pp. 36-41.

Web links

Commons : Hubert Schumacher  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Cathedral images