Karl Meitinger

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Karl Meitinger (born  February 11,  1882 in Munich ; †  March 2, 1970 ibid) was a German architect and construction clerk who worked as a city planner in Munich.

Life

Meitinger studied at the Technical University of Munich and the Technical University of Charlottenburg . After completing his studies, he initially worked for the Stöhr construction company. In 1910 his career began in the Munich city administration . In 1927 his son Otto was born , who later also worked successfully as an architect, monument conservator and president of the Technical University of Munich. From 1928 he was the city's senior building officer under the then town building officer Fritz Beblo , who was head of the building construction department in 1936, until he succeeded Hermann Reinhard Alker in 1938even received the office of town planning council. Karl Meitinger's professional career is a typical example of the continuity of urban planning under National Socialism and during the construction period, because after the end of the war the Americans reappointed him from 1945 to 1946 as town planning officer with responsibility for civil engineering and urban planning. Shortly before the Americans marched in, Meitinger prevented the ordered demolition of the Isar bridges.

Meitinger had already presented "Proposals for Reconstruction " on August 9 and November 22, 1945 , which were discussed in public as the Meitinger Plan , and in 1946 wrote the guidelines for the reconstruction of the destroyed with his book "The New Munich" Big city. His plan, which was also close to the ideas of the mayor at the time, Karl Scharnagl , aimed at the "resurrection" of old Munich. The city should be rebuilt as much as possible in order to attract tourists, which was already a central source of income for the city back then: “One day, Munich will again be a focal point for new tourism, and its old reputation as a German city of art will flourish again.” Reconstructions should be made However, it should only be carried out where there was still enough historical building material, otherwise he wanted to design the building freely "in the spirit of the old town". But although the “image of the old town” was to be re-created, the new needs of automobile traffic were taken into account, so that, for example, Marienplatz in Meitinger's plans was to be crossed by a main traffic artery. Meitinger also planned a 50 to 70 meter wide old town ring to relieve city traffic. He also spoke out in favor of the construction of pedestrian zones, which should not become a reality in Munich until the 1972 Olympics. The Meitinger Plan was particularly sharply criticized by the representatives of modern architecture in the spirit of modernism in the 1920s. His successor as town planning officer was Hermann Leitenstorfer .

Munich North Bath

As an architect, Karl Meitinger designed several swimming pools in Munich, including the women's outdoor pool in the Isar floodplains, the Georgenschwaigbad, the municipal men's outdoor pool on Schyrenstrasse and, the most famous, the Nordbad , which was planned as the first of five Munich district pools at the time. Meitinger died in 1970 and was buried in Munich's Westfriedhof .

plant

Buildings in Munich (selection)

Großmarkthallen Munich, Kontorhaus 1 in the background
High bunker in the Blumenstrasse

Fonts

  • The new Munich. Reconstruction proposals. Münchner Graphische Kunstanstalten, Munich 1946. Reprinted by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation 2014, ISBN 978-3-86222-162-2

Web links

Commons : Karl Meitinger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Winfried Nerdinger: construction time. Planning and Building, Munich 1945–1950. Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich 1984.
personal data
SURNAME Meitinger, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect and construction officer
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH March 2nd 1970
Place of death Munich