Karl Bonatz

Karl Nikolaus Bonatz (born July 6, 1882 in Rappoltsweiler ( Alsace ); † September 24, 1951 in Berlin ) was a German architect and construction clerk , from 1927 to 1937 senior municipal building officer, since 1947 successor to town planning officer Hans Scharoun and from 1949 town planning director in Berlin.

Life

Karl Bonatz was born as the younger brother of Paul Bonatz and studied architecture between 1899 and 1904 at the Technical University of Karlsruhe , the Technical University of Munich and the Technical University of Stuttgart . After completing the hospital in Strasbourg (together with his brother Paul), he volunteered as a soldier in 1915. From 1919 until his expulsion in 1921 he worked again as a freelance architect in Strasbourg. After four years of working as a freelance architect in Stuttgart , he took on tasks from 1926 to 1927 at the provincial building administration of the Prussian province of Saxony in Merseburg . Bonatz then worked in Berlin-Neukölln for the municipal building administration and then set up his own architectural office in Berlin.

After he divorced his wife Martha in 1938, he was accepted into the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts , which was a prerequisite for independent professional practice. In 1940 he began working for General Building Inspector Albert Speer , Department III (bunker structures). One example of his bunker planning is the Reichsbahnbunker Friedrichstrasse in Berlin-Mitte . The joking or ironic title of Bonatz as "Oberbunkerbaurat" is attributed to a statement by Speer.

The reconstruction plan for Berlin developed in 1945 is named after him " Bonatz Plan ".

After 1949 City Planning Director, Department of Housing and Construction of West Berlin had become, he was in 1951 for health reasons in the retirement staggered.

He was a member of the artists and writers' circle in Chorin , the German Academy for Urban Development and Regional Planning and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Buildings (selection)

1903: Competition draft for the Mainz District Court (together with Paul Bonatz) (carried out by the state building administration until 1906)

1904–1906: Johanniterschule in Rottweil (together with Paul Bonatz)

1905–1914: Hospital in Strasbourg (together with Paul Bonatz)

1927–1931: Homeless shelter in Berlin-Neukölln , Teupitzer Strasse 36–42 (together with A. Reichle) (part of the Berlin building exhibition 1931 )

1928: Trade school (today's technical college) in Geislingen an der Steige (together with Paul Bonatz)

1934–1939: Mixed community school Berlin-Britz (north), Onkel-Bräsig-Straße (today's Fritz-Karsen-Schule Berlin )

1942: Air raid shelter in Albrechtstrasse in Berlin-Mitte , today the Boros collection

Drafts (selection)

1936–1939: second construction phase of the Matthias Claudius elementary school in Berlin-Kreuzberg , Köpenicker Straße (first construction phase 1933–1936 by Richard Ermisch )
1938–1939: Extension of the residential area Berlin-Charlottenburg-Nord
n.d.: School on Efeuweg in Berlin-Britz
n.d.: Community school in Berlin-Britz-Süd

literature

District Office Neukölln of Berlin, Construction Department (Ed.): 100 years of building for Neukölln. Berlin 2005, pp. 43–52, pp. 288–291.

Individual evidence

personal data
SURNAME	Bonatz, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bonatz, Karl Nikolaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German architect and construction officer
DATE OF BIRTH	July 6, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rappoltsweiler
DATE OF DEATH	September 24, 1951
Place of death	Berlin

[1] Architectural monument homeless shelter in Britz

[2] Architectural monument community school in Britz