Josef Unger

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Workers' houses Absberggasse (1886/87)
Workers' houses in Puchsbaumgasse (1886/87)
Plans for the local railway reception building (1905)

Josef Unger (born May 8, 1846 in Komorowitz , Galicia , † December 22, 1922 in Vienna ) was an Austrian architect .

Life

Josef Unger was the son of a Jewish businessman. The family first moved from Galicia to Moravia , where Unger attended secondary school in Brno , then to Vienna around 1860. Here he was one of the first Jewish students at the Polytechnic, which later became the Technical University . Heinrich von Ferstel was his teacher. After studying from 1864 to 1868 he was employed as an inspector at the Nordwestbahn , where he stayed until his retirement in 1904. He also worked as a freelance architect. Unger went on numerous study trips to western countries.

meaning

As an employee of the Nordwestbahn, Unger planned various high-rise buildings for rail operations. He designed standard components for the reception building of the company's own local railways . His special merit, however, was the occupation with workers' houses for the railway employees. In this area he became a specialist who had received his inspiration from study trips to Western Europe. On behalf of the Association for Workers ' Houses , Unger built a group of workers' houses in Vienna- Favoriten , which are located between Absberggasse and Puchsbaumgasse at Kiesewettergasse 3-15. They represent the oldest example of social housing in Vienna. Following the English model, Unger built several terraced houses with front gardens or courtyards, several living rooms and direct water connections in the kitchen and toilet. However, this model could not prevail in urban areas. A later design for people's apartments from 1898 therefore already provided for communal facilities such as laundry rooms and bathrooms, a concept that found widespread use in social housing in the interwar period. However, this forward-looking project by Unger was never realized. Later he was able to implement a number of things for workers' residences of the Klosterneuburg monastery.

Honors

  • In the arcade courtyard of the University of Vienna - the university's hall of fame - there is a bust of Unger. As part of “purges” by the National Socialists in early November 1938, ten sculptures by Jewish or supposedly Jewish professors in the arcade courtyard were overturned or smeared with paint in connection with the “ Langemarck Celebration ”. At this point in time, the acting rector Fritz Knoll had the Arkadenhof sculptures checked; on his instructions, fifteen monuments were removed and placed in a depot, including that of Josef Unger. After the end of the war, all damaged and removed monuments were put back in the arcade courtyard in 1947.

Works

  • Workers' houses , Kiesewettergasse 3–15, Vienna (1886–1887)
  • Villa Otto Gebauer , Hasenauerstraße 4, Vienna 18 (1891)
  • Jubilee workers' residence of Klosterneuburg Abbey , Wiener Straße 68, Klosterneuburg (1898)
  • various reception buildings for local railways (1904)
  • Workers' residence Kreindlhof , Albrechtstrasse 105, Klosterneuburg (1910)

Web links

Commons : Josef Unger  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Josef Unger: reception building for local railways . In: Konstantin von Popp (Red.): Journal of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects , year 57.1905, issue 23, ZDB -ID 2534647-7 . Self-published, Vienna 1905, p. 353 as well as panel XXI. - Online (PDF; 40.6 MB).
  2. ^ Mitchell G. Ash, Josef Ehmer: University - Politics - Society . Vienna University Press, June 17, 2015, ISBN 978-3-8470-0413-4 , p. 118.
personal data
SURNAME Unger, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian architect
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH Komorowitz
DATE OF DEATH December 22, 1922
Place of death Vienna