Karl Klühspies

Karl Klühspies (* 25. May 1928 in Munich ) is a German transport planners , city planner , author and architect .

Live and act

After the end of the war, Klühspies studied engineering at the Technical University of Munich , then architecture and urban planning at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich .

He became an advocate of people-oriented urban planning at an early stage and in the 1960s turned against the conversion of the city of Munich into a so-called “car-friendly” city. In detailed investigations, he pointed out the enormous urban devastation that was planned for Munich as part of the urban development plans based on the American model at the time. Since Klühspies always used a citizen-oriented language when presenting the research results and presented the relevant urban planning contexts concisely and understandably, his efforts to protect the city of Munich were heard across all parties.

In 1966, many citizens resisted the plan to move the Altstadtring under the Prinz-Carl-Palais into a tunnel. The center of the protest was the citizens' initiative münchner bauforum e. V. , who argued mainly on the basis of the scientific presentations by Karl Klühspies. Together with a number of committed experts from architecture (Kim Wallenborn, Helmut Schöner-Federigotti, Helmut Borcherdt, Karl Assmann, Theodor Henzler and others), urban planning and several citizens' initiatives, we succeeded in substantially preventing or eliminating the expansion of the old town ring, which was planned as a first step to make it more compatible with the city. This made it possible to preserve the Munich Viktualienmarkt , which otherwise would have largely fallen victim to a Frauenstrasse / Blumenstrasse that had been expanded into a four- to six-lane, partially elevated ring road. The later reconstruction of the Munich Schrannenhalle would also have been made impossible by this city motorway. Today the Viktualienmarkt is one of the most important tourist destinations in the city.

On the other hand, the construction of the tunnel under the Prinz-Carl-Palais could no longer be prevented. Lord Mayor Hans-Jochen Vogel took up the criticism and constructive suggestions of the building forum and in 1968 called the “Munich Discussion Forum for Urban Development Issues” into being. This resulted in the "Münchner Forum" (Munich Discussion Forum for Development Issues), which still exists today, in 1972.

It is thanks to the personal commitment of Klühspies that the Isarparallele originally planned in the planning - a multi-lane city motorway on the west bank of the Isar underpassed at all bridges , which would have resulted in the loss of the entire avenue and Isar overbuilding - was put on record. The stop of this project allowed the preservation of the unique urban space along the Munich Isar, which today is not only characteristic of the city as a whole, but also one of the most important urban recreational areas.

The constructive-critical suggestions, which he presented in numerous publications as a city and traffic planner and also publicly represented in panel discussions and lectures, were not always welcome by the Munich city administration, which only late recognized citizens' initiatives as partners in successful urban development.

Karl Klühspies advocated a strong role for public transport in Munich not only in the context of the “Munich Forum”. In particular, his scientifically led proof of the importance of an orientation towards public transport systems in the "ÖV-Gutachten München" (Volume III, overall management Prof. Heimerl) led to a rethinking of urban politics. Long before the city's tram network was actually expanded again, Klühspies pointed out the need to maintain and expand the route. The public transport report initiated a renaissance of the tram in Munich.

In the 1970s, Klühspies published detailed proposals for reopening and reactivating Munich's numerous city ​​streams . More recent urban renewal processes are increasingly implementing these suggestions.

From the 1980s, Klühspies worked internationally as an expert and speaker on questions of traffic and urban planning. He worked internationally for the Goethe Institute . Technical lecture tours led him a. a. to North and South America and China .

In the last few years he has dealt with analyzes of the privatization of railways and has proven many times that the railways take on important public service tasks and that a railroad privatization of the nation and thus the citizens could bring considerable disadvantages equivalent to expropriation.

Awards

In 1977 he received the Theodor Heuss Medal from the Theodor Heuss Foundation for his commitment . In 1988 the city of Munich awarded him the Munich Glowing Gold medal.

bibliography

• Ecological urban redevelopment. Thoughts on updating the Munich urban development plan . Publisher: Münchner Forum. Munich, 1991.
• Isar Valley Railway, an urban development opportunity . Reports and minutes. Münchner Forum, Heft 50. Publisher: Münchner Forum. Munich, 1977.
• Fürstenried [-] East. To the location concept 78 . Munich Forum, contributions to the urban development plan. Munich, 1979.
• City landscape . Collection series. München Forum, Heft 21. Publisher: Münchner Forum. Munich, 1980.
• The green urban space . Collection series. Munich Forum, Issue 22. Publisher: Münchner Forum. Munich, 1980.
• Traffic . Munich Forum, contributions to updating the urban development plan. Munich, 1981.
• Speaking of denial of loyalty. A travelogue of the Munich transport company, of which some, this BEEN councilors still believe it refers to a very different journey ... . Munich Forum, 1980.
• Urban development changes in the north-western part of the city . Reports and minutes of the Munich Forum, issue 12.Munich 1970.
• Gradual expulsion from the Pradies? Expert opinion on the question of whether the motorway ring in the south of Munich should be closed and the risk of misunderstanding of expert reports by laypeople. Generally understandable treatise for. Politician u. Non-professionals . Munich, 1972.
• A cultural program for Munich's old town. Suggestions d. AA. Fundamental questions on the occasion of a 'public inspection' and criticism of the Munich pedestrian areas. with Karl Assmann. Munich Discussion Forum for Development Issues / Committee on Policy Issues, Reports, etc. Protocols [d.] Munich Forum. Munich 1972.
• Public transport . Munich forum, contributions to updating d. Munich Urban Development Plan, No. 9. Munich 1973.
• Public transport report Munich , Volume III: International examples, overall management Prof. Heimerl. Ed .: City of Munich.
• Munich not as planned. Ed .: Munich Forum for Development Issues / Franz Schiermeier Verlag / Munich. 2016.

Web links

• www.karl-kluehspies.de - Stadt Verkehr Raum
• Munich discussion forum for development issues V.