Max Schmechel
Max Schmechel (born May 8, 1892 in Varchmin , Pomerania ; † September 14, 1966 in Mannheim-Neckarau ) was a German architect and politician ( CSVD , CDU ).
Live and act
Schmechel was born as the son of the operations manager of a small railway. After graduating from high school in Köslin in 1910, he studied architecture at the Technical University of Munich , the Technical University of Danzig , the Technical University of Vienna and the Technical University of Darmstadt .
From 1914 to 1918 Schmechel took part in the First World War. After his demobilization, he passed his diploma at the Technical University of Darmstadt in 1919 and became an architect at the building department of the city of Mannheim . He submitted his dissertation on Nikolaus von Pigage's Schwetzingen designs and buildings in 1921 at the Technical University of Darmstadt.
Schmechel achieved his greatest success as an architect when, as the winner of an architecture competition, he was commissioned to plan the Almenhof garden city . From 1923 he lived as a freelance architect. From 1952 to 1960 he was chairman of the Mannheim branch of the Association of German Architects (BDA) . In addition, he headed the Mannheim-Stadt Chamber of Architects . His works also include: the director's villas Unterer Luisenpark (1923), the Kalmitplatz residential complex (1925), the Pfalzplatz residential complex (1931), the Markuskirche (1938), the Hafenkirche (1953) and the Emmauskirche (1953). In addition, he was involved in numerous church reconstructions after the Second World War, including the Konkordienkirche .
From the mid-1920s, Schmechel also began to become more politically active. From 1930 to 1931 he was a city councilor in Mannheim. As a member of the Christian Social People's Service (CSVD) he was a member of the Reichstag from 1931 to 1932 , in which he represented constituency 32 (Baden). From 1931 to 1933 he was state chairman of the CSVD in Baden . After the Second World War he became a member of the CDU and represented it on the Mannheim municipal council from 1956 to 1962 .
Schmechel initiated the “Spiritual Week Mannheim” in 1927 and directed it until 1965. As a devout Christian, he organized Christian meetings in his private home after 1933, attended by Protestants who rejected the German Evangelical Church under Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller , which was influenced by the Nazis . He was a member of the regional synod and in the regional church council of the Evangelical regional church in Baden . Schmechel was married to Elsa Freyse (1893–1981) and had five children.
His grave in the main cemetery in Mannheim consists of a high bronze cross, the surface being composed of cubes and recesses.
Fonts
- Nicolaus von Pigage's Schwetzingen designs and buildings. 1923. (dissertation)
- Dr.-Ing. Max Schmechel: Buildings 1921–1925. 1926.
- Is our way right? 1931. (together with Hermann Strathmann and Karl Veidt)
Individual evidence
- ^ W. Münkel: The cemeteries in Mannheim . SVA 1992, p. 135
literature
- Wolfgang Brach: The Mannheim City Council 1945–1984. Mannheim 1984, ISBN 3-87804-162-4 .
- Andreas Schenk: Architectural Guide Mannheim. Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-496-01201-3 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schmechel, Max |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German architect and politician (CSVD, CDU), MdR |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 8, 1892 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Varchmin , Pomerania |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 14, 1966 |
| Place of death | Mannheim-Neckarau |