Theodor Prachensky

Theodor Prachensky (born June 7, 1888 in Innsbruck , † February 23, 1970 ibid) was an Austrian architect and painter . Together with his brother Wilhelm Nikolaus Prachensky and Lois Welzenbacher , Clemens Holzmeister , Franz Baumann and Siegfried Mazagg, he was one of the leading architects of the interwar period in Tyrol . In addition to his full-time work as an architect, he devoted himself to painting and also created a work in this genre that was recognized far beyond the borders of the region.

Prachensky self-portrait

biography

Theodor Prachensky was born in Innsbruck - Hötting in 1888 as the son of the German-Bohemian typesetter Josef Filipp Prachensky and Maria Ursula, née Rehbichler . He was the second of three children, his older sister Emmy was born in 1886 and his younger brother Wilhelm Nikolaus in 1898. Mother Maria Ursula had Kitzbühel roots. Father Josef Filipp was not only a particularly good singer, but also a committed member of the social democratic movement. This led to Theodor Prachensky not only being particularly committed to social building projects in his later career as an architect, but also taking on specific building tasks and projects of the social democrats (e.g. Volkshaus Innsbruck). Theodor Prachensky was also influenced ideologically by his father's party membership and noted in an autobiography (family property): “1914: The First World War began. In 1915 I became a soldier as a one-year volunteer with the 1st Regiment of the Tyrolean Kaiserjäger . Because of my political attitude, and I was already a father, I had nothing to do with military ambitions ... I was never an enthusiastic soldier. Thank God, I had widened my heart through all the mountain running ... which saved my life ... Suddenly the Nazis were there, to the delight of my boys and fanatical brother-in-law Franzl [Baumann, note]. I was skeptical of the matter, which brought me the accusation of my loved ones ... As a somewhat trained politician ... I saw early on that the Führer was pushing for war. He arrived promptly. ”Theodor Prachenksy graduated from the state trade school, dept. of higher construction school. From 1909 to 1911 he spent in Meran , where he worked for Musch & Lun . In 1912 he took part in an architecture competition for the first time - the one to build the Zelgergrund in Innsbruck - and immediately caused a sensation with his contribution. The following professional breakthrough came with his marriage to Maria Baumann (sister of the architect Franz Baumann), his family foundation and, last but not least, the construction of the Prachensky house on Innsbruck's Bergisel . Under the poor economic conditions after the First World War, Theodor Prachensky and Jakob Albert designed a residential building in Rosegger-Strasse for the Innsbruck City Planning Office until the outbreak of World War II in 1919/20, the slaughterhouse block from 1922 to 1925, and the Pembaur block from 1926/27 , 1927 to 1929 the Mandelsbergerblock, 1930 the residential complex in the Rudolf-Greinz-Straße and 1930 to 1932 the Sennblock, after several attempts to plan large-scale single-family or terraced houses in the eastern districts of Innsbruck, did not lead to sustainable results had. In the time of National Socialism Prachensky completed his military service from 1939 to 1945, but also exhibited at the Innsbruck “Gau Art Exhibitions” in 1940, 1942 and 1944, where he received the first prize for graphics in 1942. In 1939/40 he also published his war experiences, provided with his own illustrations, in the National Socialist periodical “Bergland. Illustrated alpine monthly ".

Pembaur block

The slaughterhouse block in Saggen was followed by the Pembaur block in Pradl (1926/27).

Pembaur block 1

For the type A small apartments, the architects Jakob Albert and Theodor Prachensky came up with more elegant floor plan solutions than before: They created eat-in kitchens with loggias on the side of the courtyard and two rooms of approximately the same size facing the street. In addition, they included a component that has a long tradition in Innsbruck in their conceptions more consistently than before: the bay window . These porches take on the task of adding rhythm to the street fronts and giving the residents a good view of the street space. The design of the inner courtyard of the Pembaur block can be seen as a masterpiece of social housing in Innsbruck.

Pembaur block 2

The architects created a lowered area in the center of the courtyard, which was enclosed by a protective wall. Since the lower-lying area was primarily intended as a playground for children, it was equipped with a sand basin or pool. On the north side of the courtyard, the level was raised and the building of a mother's advice center (now also a kindergarten) was placed here. The one-story building is flanked on the sides by two rounded, four-story towers. The two components with vertical alignment close off the Pembaur block towards the north chain. On each of their floors there is a room with a particularly beautiful view from which the entire courtyard can be seen. The masterful staging of this inner courtyard situation was recognized immediately after the block was completed. A photograph from the time of creation with three children sitting at the edge of the paddling pool shows the inner courtyard landscape with the panorama of the north chain with Seegrube and Hafelekar rising behind the block. The architects had therefore considered it a fundamental component of the living atmosphere in this block not to build the fourth side of the courtyard at the same height, but to integrate the view of Innsbruck's local mountains into their "Pembaur-Straße residential building concept" (the building only took place in later). Many more were to follow the block of flats, including the Mandelsberger block, in the vicinity of which Theodor Prachensky also designed a (unrealized) kindergarten project.

Kindergarten and school buildings

Between 1929 and 1931, Theodor Prachensky and his brother-in-law Franz Baumann created what is still known today as the “ Hötting secondary school ”. The building project was preceded by a competition in which Theodor Prachensky initially emerged as the winner. He had submitted a second project together with his brother-in-law Franz Baumann, which was awarded the second prize. This school, too, should initially be made larger and include one component for girls and one for boys. After the funding could not be secured, the projects submitted to the competition had to be revised. Among the recently submitted projects, the one designed jointly by Theodor Prachensky and Franz Baumann was successful and implemented. The high quality of the three-storey building, the geometric shape of which is composed of cuboids, is primarily due to the clear lines and the calm, orderly course of the façades. The horizontal structures dissolve the surfaces of the large volume and give the rather large building an elegant appearance. The steps flowing out of the corner, which connect the street level with the ground floor, which is 2.70 m higher, and the concrete slab protruding above it as an entrance roof, literally invite the visitor to enter. Another remarkable detail of this building is that all access routes inside lead to the light and that all classrooms are flooded with light. Brightness, practicality and simplicity are the principles on which the architectural concept for this school building is based. At that time the secondary school was a relatively new type of compulsory school in Austria, and the school building in Hötting is one of the most important buildings from the interwar period in Innsbruck, not least because of the coherent connection between “new learning” as a social concern and a concrete architectural and aesthetic statement.

Innsbruck employment office

The implementation of social criteria in the language of architecture also played a role in the former Innsbruck employment office (Schöpf-Straße, behind today's AMS building).

Theodor Prachensky, Innsbruck Employment Office (today a university institute)

Theodor Prachensky also built this together with Jakob Albert in 1931/32. Friedrich Achleitner wrote about the construction project: “In the thirties, as a result of the economic situation, many employment offices were built. Since the building task was traditionally not burdened, the architects had the opportunity to build modern buildings throughout. ”The building has been used by the University of Innsbruck for a long time and has been structurally changed so much internally that today only its external architectural structure is understandable. The building was erected on slightly sloping terrain and this topographical situation was used to open up it from a central project, which was positioned exactly on the edge of the terrain. The central entrance was not used by the many job seekers who were there at the time the building was erected, but by the employees. In the Innsbruck city archive only a poorly preserved set of blueprints for the old employment office is preserved, but it is just possible to see that the two rounded stair towers on the sides formed the actual entrances: one was unemployed by women, the other by men used. From there, the job seekers each reached a large waiting room. The rest of the interior was designed in such a way that the entry and exit to the counters was as smooth as possible. In the middle zone of the building, behind the central projection, was the area that was available to the employees of the employment office for their advisory and placement activities. The same floor plan concept was followed up in an adapted form on the upper floor.

Artist and "city builder"

With regard to Theodor Prachensky's life's work as an architect, two things have to be emphasized, his artistic talent and his position as a “city architect”: The urban planning and architectural character that Innsbruck has experienced due to his work and Jakob Alberts is probably very few of the inhabitants City conscious. But the mere fact that a large number of the buildings they have built are still in function or are inhabited speaks for the quality of the architectural design.

Theodor Prachensky's estate consists to a large extent of diagrams. Partly colored, partly uncolored perspectives still give us eloquent information about planned and unrealized things. The great commitment and diligence with which Theodor Prachensky campaigned for the architectural and urban development of his hometown will not be forgotten, not least because of these valuable pictures. He died on February 23, 1970 at the age of 82.

Theodor Prachensky - Catalog raisonné Architecture

Buildings and projects that can be documented

• 1910/11? Social Democratic People's House in Innsbruck (project), Leopold-Strasse (corner of Michael-Gaismair-Strasse)
• 1910/11? Tiroler Arbeiter Konsumverein (project), Leopold-Strasse
• 1912 Competition for building construction on Zelger grounds / Bismarckplatz (honorable mention, project), re. Area between Salurner-, Heiliggeist- and Leopold-Straße or Triumphpforte, Casinos Austria and IKB buildings, Innsbruck
• 1913 Prachensky house, Bergiselweg 20, Innsbruck
• 1913/14 Museumstrasse women's swimming pool, farm building, corner of Amraser-Strasse and König-Laurin-Strasse, Innsbruck
• 1914 Feldjägerkaserne in Reichenau (project), Innsbruck
• 1914/15 Landwehr artillery barracks (project), Innsbruck
• 1915/16 memorial chapel, war cemetery , Pradler cemetery , Kaufmannstrasse, Innsbruck
• 1918 residential building, Sonnenstrasse 32, Innsbruck
• 1918 competition for peace u. Heldenkirche zur Hl. Familie in Innsbruck, keyword “Peace be your first peal” (2nd prize, project) and motto “Schmuckhof” (together with Franz Baumann, 3rd prize, project), Franz-Fischer-Straße, Innsbruck
• 1918 Competition for warrior homes in Innsbruck (3rd prize, project)
• 1919/20 Housing complex, Rosegger-Strasse 25–53, Innsbruck
• 1921 Rosenkranzkirche competition (project, no prize), Bozen-Oberau, keyword "Maria"
• 1921 Competition Kaiserschützen Memorial (1st prize, project), keyword: "Edelweiß", Landessöhne Memorial Tummelplatz, Schloss-Straße, Innsbruck
• 1922 Villa for Mr. Pechanda (project), location unknown
• 1922 War Memorial Hötting competition (1st prize, project), motto “St. Georg ”, overbuilding of the entrance to the cemetery on the side of the Höttinger parish church, Innsbruck
• 1922–1925 Slaughterhouse block, residential building of the Vaterländische Baugesellschaft, Erzherzog-Eugen-Strasse 25–39 and 24–28, Matthias-Schmid-Strasse 2–8 and Schlachthofgasse 8–14 (Schlachthofgasse 2, 4, 6 date from 1911 ), Innsbruck, Stadtbauamt Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert (1880–1974)
• 1924 Innsbruck main train station competition (no prize, project), keyword “Forward”, Südtiroler Platz, Innsbruck
• 1924 Innsbruck trade fair, city hall decoration for the horticultural exhibition, Innsbruck
• 1925 Design for the construction of covered market stalls on the Innrain (project), Innsbruck
• 1925 Municipal housing in Innsbruck, medium-sized apartments, filling the vacant lots at Schillerstraße, Ing.-Etzel-Straße / Goethestraße, Innsbruck
• 1925/26 substation, Salurner Straße 11, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1926 design for a house in the low mountain range near Innsbruck (project)
• 1926/27 Pembaurblock, residential complex of the city of Innsbruck, Pembaurstraße 31–41 / Amthorstraße 25–27 / Pestalozzistraße 1–11, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
  

  Kindergarten Egerdachstrasse 1
• 1928 Municipal Kindergarten, Pembaurstrasse 20, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1928–1936 Dual secondary and elementary school in Pradl, “ Rennerschule ”, Pembaurstrasse 18, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
  

  Mandelsberger block
• 1927–1929 Mandelsbergerblock, Noldinstrasse 1–11, Mandelsbergerstrasse 13–15, Holzhammerstrasse 14–18 and Egger-Lienz-Strasse 90–94, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1929 Kindergarten a. Wilten-West mother advice center (project), former Fürstenweg (today: Egger-Lienz-Straße), Innsbruck
• 1929 Draft for a residential building for Mr. Simon Treichl (project), teacher, Friedhof-Straße (former Friedhofs-Allee, today built over by the surgical clinic), Innsbruck
• 1929–1931 Semi-detached house Viktor Stolz and Theodor Hussl, Amraser Strasse 75–77, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1930 small house settlement on the Amras city limits (project); City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1930 Housing complex of the city of Innsbruck, Rudolf-Greinz-Straße 1–11 u. Kranewitterstrasse 14, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1930/31 Hötting secondary school, Fürstenweg 13, Innsbruck; together with Franz Baumann
• 1930–1932 Housing complex of the city of Innsbruck, Erzherzog-Eugen-Strasse 48–52, Sebastian-Scheel-Strasse 2–16 (Sebastian-Scheel-Strasse 18a and 18b cf. 1946), Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1930–1932 Sennblock, residential complex of the city of Innsbruck, Sennstrasse 14–20, Gutenbergstrasse 13–19 and Verdroßplatz 1–2, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1931/32 employment office (today: branch of the University of Innsbruck), Schöpfstraße 3, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1932 Freilichttheater am Bergisel (project), Innsbruck
• 1932 residential and commercial building "Sparkasse passage", Maria-Theresien-Straße 21–25, Innsbruck; together with Wilhelm Nikolaus Prachensky
• 1933 competition for facade design of the Sparkasse building, Innsbruck (1st prize), Erlerstrasse; together with Wilhelm Nikolaus Prachensky
• 1933–1934 Housing complex for Bundesbahn retirees in the city of Innsbruck, Schretterstrasse 1–7 / Landseestrasse 2–8, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1933–1937 residential construction of the non-profit building and housing association “Christliches Volksheim”, Amraser Strasse 42–50 / Hörmannstrasse 7–15, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1935/36 Extension of the Glungezerhütte and interior design, Tulfes near Hall in Tirol
• 1936 Design for a kindergarten for the Dollfuß and Franz Fischer housing estate (project), Sieglangerufer, Innsbruck
• 1936 Dogana Festival Theater (project), Rennweg, Innsbruck
• 1936? Interior design drafts Villa Blanka (project), Weiherburggasse 8, Innsbruck
• 1936? Design of the Kaiserschützenplatz Wilten (project), Leopoldstrasse / Franz-Fischer-Strasse, Innsbruck
• 1936 Design for an ornithological station in the Ahrental near Vill (project)
• 1936 Study for the Autobahnhof at Südtiroler Platz (project), Innsbruck
• 1937 Corner building of the new university bridge, Blasius-Hueber-Straße 12, Innsbruck
• 1937 Hörtnaglsiedlung, Tschiggfreystraße 3–5, Innsbruck
• 1938 Coordination of the festival decorations on the occasion of the reception for Adolf Hitler in Innsbruck on April 5 and 6, 1938; Decoration suggestions from various architects
• 1938 proposal for the management of the Saggen-Pradler circular route (project), Innsbruck
• 1939 Schubertblock, Schubertstrasse 12–18, Erzherzog-Eugen-Strasse 32–36 and Mozartstrasse 5–13, Innsbruck
• 1939/40 residential complex of the city of Innsbruck, Sebastian-Scheel-Strasse 1–23, Erzherzog-Eugen-Strasse 54–56, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1941 Sillblock, residential complex Sebastian-Scheel-Straße 2–16b, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1941 residential building at Schillerstraße 22, Innsbruck
• 1941 Housing complex Speckbacherstraße 39, 41–63 and Egger-Lienz-Straße 28 or Speckbacherstraße 42–52 u. Franz-Fischer-Strasse 37-41, Innsbruck; City building authority Innsbruck, together with Jakob Albert
• 1942 Fountain design for the courtyard of the Speckbacherstraße residential complex (project), Innsbruck
• 1942? Fountain design, location unknown (project, Eichhof residential complex?), Innsbruck
• 1942 Fountain design for the courtyard of the residential complex Langstrasse / Pradl (project), in connection with the green design of the residential complex (Eichhof?) Kranewitterstrasse Innsbruck
• 1942 Fountain design for the courtyard of the Eichhof / Pradl residential complex (project), in connection with the green design of the inner courtyard, Kranewitterstrasse, Innsbruck
• 1943 Proposal for building on Kranewitterstrasse with residential houses and workshops, Kranewitterstrasse, Innsbruck
• 1944 Plan for the construction of a youth library in Innsbruck, Burggraben 3, Innsbruck
• 1945 Proposal for the provision of the municipal health department and the professional fire brigade in Saggen-Strasse (project?), Innsbruck
• 1947 facade design, Andreas-Hofer-Straße 39, Innsbruck
• 1948 residential building, Lindenstrasse 26, Innsbruck
• 1949 Sketch of an idea for the construction of an outdoor swimming pool in the area above Büchsenhausen (project), Weiherburggasse, Innsbruck
• 1950 Outdoor swimming pool at Tivoli (project), Anton-Eder-Straße, Innsbruck
• 1950 Installation of shops in the vacant lots at Amraser Straße 16–20b (project), Innsbruck

Plans, sketches and diagrams that cannot be clearly assigned

• Interiors
• Villa and residential building projects
• Design for a school in Kramsach
• Municipal dairy parlor u. Sales point, Kapuziner-Gasse ?, Innsbruck
• Children's home on Leopold-Strasse, Innsbruck
• Markthalle am Innrain, Innsbruck
• University Clinic for Orthopedics, Innsbruck
• Isolation barracks, Innsbruck
• 3 arcades in the extension of the city's west cemetery , Innsbruck
• Design for the facade of the town hall (1923), Innsbruck
• Facades of the so-called "Gaswerkhäuser" in Pradl, Innsbruck
• Conversion of the Ferrari-Palais (to the Ferrari-School?), Innsbruck
• Reconstruction of the city police station, castle moat, Innsbruck (with interior design)
• Police building station, Innsbruck (with interior design)
• University Clinic for Psychiatry, Innsbruck
• Architectural design of the “Sillhöfe” sports field, Innsbruck
• Lending facility development, Innsbruck
• Transformer station Innbrücke, Innsbruck
• Building the archives of the Lieutenancy, Innsbruck
• Hans-Hörtnagl-Siedlung, Innsbruck
• Rearward expansion of Weiherburg, Innsbruck (is the swimming pool project behind Büchsenhausen Castle meant?)
• City Theater (today Tiroler Landestheater, Rennweg), Magazin, Innsbruck
• New registry office in the Golden Roof, Herzog-Friedrich-Straße, Innsbruck (with interior design)
• Ticket office, Igls
• Additional building in Klingler, Hötting, Innsbruck

Urban planning designs

• Design for the building of Alt-Pradl, Innsbruck
• Surroundings of the old military cemetery, Innsbruck
• Back of the Weiherburg, Innsbruck

In collaboration with Manfred Prachensky

• Hungerburgbahn mountain station, Innsbruck
• Sports shop Witting, Maria-Theresien-Straße, Innsbruck
• Landhaus Kröll,?
• Landhaus Dr. Zipperle, Merano
• 2 country houses, St. Leonhard in the Passeiertal
• Alpenhotel on the Timmelsjoch
• Country house project in Obladis?

In collaboration with Wilhelm Nikolaus Prachenksy

• Snack bar Hörtnagl, Maria-Theresien-Straße, Innsbruck

Awards in competitions

• 1912: Honorable mention in the competition "Development of the Zelgergrund" (today's area between Triumphpforte, Hotel "Holiday Inn", Casinos Austria and IKB buildings)
• 1918: 3rd prize at Kriegerheimstätten-Siedlung, Innsbruck
• 1918: 2nd prize (alone) and 3rd prize (together with Franz Baumann) for a Church of Peace and Heroes, Innsbruck
• 1921: 1st prize for the war memorial on Tummelplatz, Innsbruck
• 1922: 1st prize for the war memorial in Hötting, Innsbruck
• 1930: 1st prize (alone) and 2nd prize (together with Franz Baumann) in the competition for the Hötting double secondary school, Innsbruck
• ?: University building, Innsbruck
• ?: Innsbrucker Sparkasse, facade, Innsbruck

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bettina Schlorhaufer , Matthias Boeckl: Theodor Prachensky - architect and painter. Tiroler Kulturinitiative, Innsbruck-Bozen 2006, ISBN 3-9501186-5-9 .
2. ↑ Carl Kraus , Hannes Obermair (ed.): Myths of dictatorships. Art in Fascism and National Socialism - Miti delle dittature. Art nel fascismo e nazionalsocialismo . South Tyrolean State Museum for Cultural and State History Castle Tyrol , Dorf Tirol 2019, ISBN 978-88-95523-16-3 , p. 140-141 .
3. ^ Friedrich Achleitner: Austrian architecture in the 20th century: A guide in three volumes. Volume 1 (Upper Austria, Salzburg, Tyrol, Vorarlberg). Salzburg / Vienna 1980, DNB 550872566 , p. 358.

Web links

Commons : Theodor Prachensky  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Archive for Architecture of the University of Innsbruck keeps part of Theodor Prachensky estate
• The city archive of Innsbruck contains that part of Theodor Prachensky's architectural work that he created for the city community as part of his professional activities