Siegfried Theiss
Siegfried Theiss (born November 12, 1882 in Pressburg / Pozsony, today Bratislava ; † January 24, 1963 in Vienna ; also Siegfried Theiss ) was an Austrian architect.
Life
Siegfried Theiss came from a middle-class family. The father was a middle school teacher, the mother came from a family of landowners. After studying architecture at the Technical University (1901-06) and the Academy of Fine Arts (1906-07) in Vienna, Theiss teamed up with Hans Jaksch , who came from Northern Bohemia, to form a highly successful studio community, which lasted from 1907 to 1961, i.e. 54 years , lasted. Theiss, a talented draftsman, was more concerned with the artistic part, Jaksch was more responsible for the acquisition of the projects and the practical part of the implementation.
During the First World War, Jaksch was taken prisoner by the Russians, first in Turkestan , then, after an unsuccessful first attempt to escape, in Siberia . Siegfried Theiss, however, managed to continue the office and handle large orders such as the air barracks in Wiener Neustadt . The Theiss and Jaksch atelier remained successful even in the difficult times of the First Republic, Theiss was appointed associate professor at the Technical University of Vienna , and the Theiss and Jaksch office built, among other things, community housing for Red Vienna .
Even in the stormy 1930s Theiss and Jaksch did very well in business; to be mentioned are the Herrengasse high-rise and the Vienna Reichsbrücke , a prestige project of the corporate state . Nevertheless, the two architects, both of ethnic German origin in the terminology of the time , had no problems joining the NSDAP after the "Anschluss" of Austria . Theiss, like many others, also advocated the “Anschluss”. The activities of the office now dealt, among other things, with industrial plants in the dairy industry.
In 1945 Siegfried Theiss was briefly expelled from the Technical University because of his party membership, but was allowed to resume teaching at the end of 1945. Theiss and Jaksch remained successful during the reconstruction period - a remarkable, but by no means isolated example of the continuity of the Austrian architectural scene in the first half of the 20th century across all regime changes.
Works
See chapter “Works by Theiss & Jaksch” in the article by Hans Jaksch .
Recognitions
- 1953: Prize of the City of Vienna for Architecture
- In 2004, Siegfried-Theiss-Gasse in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was named after him.
literature
- Georg Schwalm-Theiss: Theiss & Jaksch: Architects 1907–1961 , Brandstätter Verlag, Vienna 1986, ISBN 3-85447-196-3 .
- Liesbeth Waechter-Böhm (ed.): Schwalm-Theiss & Gressenbauer. The tradition of a Viennese architecture office . Böhlau, Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-205-99127-3 .
Web links
- Siegfried Theiss. In: Architects Lexicon Vienna 1770–1945. Published by the Architekturzentrum Wien . Vienna 2007.
- Entry on Siegfried Theiss in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
Individual evidence
- ^ Adolf Hitler and the new German architectural style. In: Neue Freie Presse , April 9, 1938, p. 12 (online at ANNO ).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Theiss, Siegfried |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Theiss, Siegfried |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian architect |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 12, 1882 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pressburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 24, 1963 |
| Place of death | Vienna |