John Martens

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Henning John Gustav Martens (* April 22 . Jul / 4. May  1875 greg. In Libau , Courland Governorate , Imperial Russia , † 4. June 1936 in Demmin , Pomerania), called John Martens , was a German architect and Baukeramiker .

After studying architecture at the Riga Polytechnic , the Royal Prussian Technical University of Charlottenburg near Berlin and the Royal Württemberg Technical University of Stuttgart , Martens worked from 1900 to 1906 as the office manager and chief architect of the architect Bruno Möhring . There he was responsible for the design of the German department at the 1904 World Exhibition in St. Louis ( Louisiana Purchase Exposition ).

John Martens at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair

He then headed the design department of the building construction office in Rixdorf near Berlin until 1908 , where, thanks to his nationwide good reputation, he helped young aspiring architects such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe , Max Kemper , the brothers Max Taut and Bruno Taut as well as their partner Franz Hoffmann (later founded the Taut & Hoffmann ) moved into the Rixdorf building department. The architect Robert Friedrich Goetze was his successor when John Martens went freelance as an architect and building ceramist in 1908 and worked as an artistic consultant for ceramic companies in Velten in the Mark . The frost-proof Martens ceramics (building ceramics) he developed, which is highly valued by architects, was sold by Adler GmbH Velten and, from 1913, by Richard Blumenfeld Veltener Ofenfabrik AG . In 1911 he founded the atelier for building ceramics with the architect Herbert Hans Ruhl in Schöneberger Nollendorfstrasse 33.

Ceramic museum in Bolesławiec, which goes back to the work of Martens in this place

Martens worked for the Berlin building officer Theodor Goecke as a site manager for the new building of the 1914–1916 state nursing home in Treuenbrietzen . He also edited all the work drawings of the nursing home. Exempted from military service, John Martens worked from 1917 to 1920 as an architect and "building attorney" as part of the reconstruction program for East Prussia in Ortelsburg . At the beginning of the 1920s he again set up a workshop for building ceramics in Ragnit and at times also worked as a teacher for ceramics at the Königsberg School of Applied Arts . In 1922, on the recommendation of Hermann Muthesius , he was appointed to teach at the State Ceramic Technical School in Bunzlau . In 1925 he founded the next ceramics workshop (brand: JMK) in this place and also worked as a commercial artist. From 1934/1935 until his untimely death in 1936 he tried a new beginning as a freelance architect and building sculptor in Pomerania .

Martens is buried in Demmin .

In 1903 Martens was one of the founding members of the Association of German Architects (BDA) and was appointed to the German Werkbund (DWB) in 1913 . Under the influence of August Wagner (owner of the United Workshops for Mosaic and Glass Painting Puhl & Wagner, Gottfried Heinersdorff ), who was a member of the NSDAP from 1932, Martens joined the NSDAP in 1933. In 1934 he became a member of the Reich Chamber of Culture , Student Council of Architects through the incorporation of the BDA ( Gleichschaltung ) .

literature

  • District Office Neukölln of Berlin, Department of Construction and Housing (ed.), Wolfgang Krawczynski, Dieter Althans, Siegfried Duschk, Michael Freiberg, Dietrich Ribbert, Manfred Riebau: Architect Reinhold Kiehl, City Planning Officer in Rixdorf near Berlin. (Anniversary contribution to the 750th anniversary Berlin 1987.) Berlin 1987.
  • District Office Neukölln of Berlin, Construction Department (ed.), Dieter Althans, Robert Dupuis, M. Hecker, S. Jaik, W. Krawczinsky, Cornelia Huge, Jan Sonnenberg: 100 years of building for Neukölln. A municipal building history. Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-00-015848-0 .
  • District Office Neukölln of Berlin, District Mayor, Building Construction Department (ed.), Dieter Althans, Robert Dupuis, Cornelia Hüge, Rainer Pomp, Jan Sonnenberg: Rixdorf Town Hall - Neukölln Town Hall. (Publication on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Neukölln town hall.) Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-00-026396-5 .
  • Robert Dupuis: John Martens (1875-1936). Architect, sculptor and building ceramist. In: Christoph Brachmann, Thomas Steigenberger (Hrsg.): A Swede in Berlin. The architect and designer Alfred Grenander and Berlin architecture (1890–1914). Didymos Verlag, Kolb 2010, ISBN 978-3-939020-81-3 .

swell

  • Part of the estate of John Martens from the property of his daughter Christiane Martens, who died in December 2005, in the Neukölln Architecture and Building Archive

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Latvias Valsts Vestures Arhiv: inventory of church books from Libau and inventory of the register of the Riga Polytechnic.
  2. ^ Archive of the Technical University of Berlin: inventory of the register of registrations.
  3. ^ Archive of the Technical University of Stuttgart: inventory of the register of registrations.
  4. ↑ District Office Neukölln of Berlin, Bau- u. Housing inspection office, planning chamber: inventory of historical building site files.
  5. ^ Archives of the Oven and Ceramics Museum Velten / Mark: holdings of sample books from Adler GmbH and Richard Blumenfeld AG; Tonindustriezeitung, Berliner Architekturwelt, Bauwelt.
  6. ^ Landesarchiv Berlin: Holdings of Berlin address and telephone books; Building site files.
  7. ↑ Berliner Architekturwelt, 20th year 1917/1918, issue 6–8, page 181.
  8. ^ Secret State Archives of Prussian Cultural Heritage: Holdings of files from the Oberpräsidium Königsberg, reconstruction program 1914–1923.
  9. ^ Landesarchiv Schleswig-Holstein: Holdings of the Itzehoe district register.
  10. ↑ City Archives Demmin: Holdings of death registers.
personal data
SURNAME Martens, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Martens, Henning John Gustav (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect and building ceramist
DATE OF BIRTH May 4, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Libau
DATE OF DEATH June 4, 1936
Place of death Demmin