Ludwig Swiss
Ludwig Schweizer (born December 8, 1910 in Schramberg ; † June 10, 1989 in Freudenstadt ) was a German architect , construction clerk and university professor who did a great job of rebuilding the city of Freudenstadt after 1945. He was a second nephew of the architect Otto Ernst Schweizer, who was also born in Schramberg .
Life
Training and first professional experience
The son of the Schramberg watch dealer Hermann Schweizer attended elementary school in his hometown Schramberg until he was fifteen, then switched to high school in Ravensburg , where he passed his school leaving examination.
After a one-year internship in Weimar in 1931/1932, Ludwig Schweizer began studying architecture at the Technical University of Stuttgart . His teachers were Heinz Wetzel , Paul Bonatz and Paul Schmitthenner . All three were representatives of the so-called homeland security architecture . In 1938, Schweizer completed his architecture studies at Wetzel with a diploma thesis entitled “Siedlung im Remstal”.
In 1939 Ludwig Schweizer initially worked as an architect in the Siedlungsgesellschaft new homestead in Kassel and then to Innsbruck displaced, where he worked as an employee in Gauheimstättenamt Tirol Vorarlberg among others, the construction of bomb shelters was busy. After a brief activity as head of the Alpine Home in Innsbruck, a settlement company for South Tyroleans who had emigrated , Swiss people were drafted into the Wehrmacht. In 1945 he returned to Germany and was involved in the reconstruction of Crailsheim from 1946 to 1948 . After a brief activity as town planning officer in Schwenningen , Schweizer took over the town planning department in the almost completely destroyed town of Freudenstadt in June 1949.
The reconstruction of Freudenstadt (1949–1956)
Schweizer's most important achievement was the planning and implementation of the reconstruction of the inner city of Freudenstadt, which was 95% destroyed in the last days of the war. Above all , the market square, which was designed by the Renaissance master builder Heinrich Schickhardt , had to be redesigned, whereby Schweizer prevailed with his planning. In keeping with the heritage architecture and the Stuttgart school , he succeeded in designing the market square, building the town hall, the town hall and the Kurhaus, not just adopting styles, but creating something new. A typical feature of his design that apply traufständigen rows of houses and the arcades, where the entrances to the stores are located. In recognition of his work in the reconstruction and in recognition of his person, the Freudenstadt municipal council decided in 1956 to name the large hall of the town hall Ludwig-Schweizer-Saal .
Professor in Stuttgart
In March 1956, the state government under Prime Minister Gebhard Müller appointed Ludwig Schweizer professor, and he quit his job in Freudenstadt to take up a chair at the Stuttgart State Building School. At the same time he ran an architecture office in Stuttgart. In 1967 he gave up teaching due to illness and limited himself to working as a freelance architect. Schweizer spent the last years of his life in Freudenstadt again.
Ludwig Schweizer had been married to Gretel Marwedel (1910–2005) since 1939, whom he had known from school in Schramberg. They had an adopted son.
In the last year of his life, Schweizer was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. He died on June 10, 1989 in Freudenstadt.
literature
- Hans-Günther Burkhardt, Hartmut Frank, Ulrich Höhns, Klaus Stieghorst (eds.): Urban design and a sense of home. The reconstruction of Freudenstadt 1945–1954. Analysis, comparison and documents . Stuttgart 1988.
- Heike Frommer: The architect Ludwig Schweizer . Booklet accompanying the exhibition in the Stadtmuseum Schramberg, Schramberg 1993. (= Writings of the Stadtmuseum Schramberg , issue 12.)
- Matthias Klotz: Ludwig Schweizer (1910–1989). Architect, urban planner, professor and painter . In: "Crailsheimer Geschichtsblätter", Heft 3, 2014, pp. 115–145
- Hans Hekler: The architect Ludwig Schweizer from Schramberg - the father of the reconstruction of Freudenstadt . In: » D'Kräz . Contributions to the history of the city and area of Schramberg «, Heft 36, 2016, pp. 33–42
- Heimat- und Museumverein Freudenstadt: Ludwig Schweizer - architect between tradition and modernity. The reconstruction of Freudenstadt - the miracle in the square. Urban history of Freudenstadt , Freudenstadt 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-062806-1
Web links
- Life dates and works overview in the SAAI
- Ludwig Swiss. In: arch INFORM .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Swiss, Ludwig |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German architect and construction officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 8, 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Schramberg |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 10, 1989 |
| Place of death | Freudenstadt |