Werner March

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Werner March in January 1944 as a captain in the German Wehrmacht
Werner March (left) in November 1935 with the model of the Berlin Olympic Stadium
Memorial plaque at the Olympic Stadium Berlin , in Berlin-Westend
Cairo International Stadium , built 1956–1960 based on designs by Werner March
Petrikirche (Bielefeld) , built in 1954 based on designs by Werner March
Our Father Church (Berlin-Wilmersdorf) , built in 1961 based on designs by Werner March

Werner Julius March (born January 17, 1894 in Charlottenburg ; † January 11, 1976 in Berlin ) was a German architect . Its most famous building is the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

Life

March was the son of the architect Otto March and the grandson of the respected building ceramics manufacturer Ernst March . In 1912 he passed the Abitur examination at the Kaiserin-Augusta-Gymnasium in Charlottenburg, Prussia . March studied architecture at the Technical University of Dresden in the summer semester of 1912 . For the second semester he moved to the Technical University of Charlottenburg .

When the First World War broke out in August 1914, March volunteered as a soldier. After being discharged from the officer rank , he resumed his studies in 1918 and passed the final examination with distinction at the end of 1919.

German Bestelmeyer , who was appointed professor at the Technical University in 1919, became March's patron and role model . March became Bestelmeyer's master class at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. He worked in the construction management of two buildings in Bestelmeyer, the administration building for the Reich debt management in Berlin and a bank building in Gotha .

At the beginning of 1923 March passed the 2nd state examination. He then worked in the building office of the Reichsbank in Berlin on the design and implementation of a large housing estate for Reichsbank employees in Berlin-Schmargendorf . On the basis of this project, which was carried out in several construction phases until 1926, he went into business for himself in 1925. Soon afterwards March became a member of the Association of German Architects (BDA). One of his first major successes was the winning competition design for the “German Sport Forum”, which he wrote together with his brother Walter March in 1926 and which, from 1927, carried out a large number of individual construction phases.

Another indicator of March's career was that he was elected chairman of the Brandenburg state district of the Association of German Architects in 1930. In 1932 he was also appointed a member of the Prussian Academy of Building .

The German Sports Forum, which he designed together with his brother Walter March, was part of the concept of the Reichssportfeld with the Olympic Stadium from 1933 , on which he worked with Albert Speer . March also designed the Berlin Olympic Village , as well as residences for high rulers of the National Socialists, such as the representative Carinhall property in Schorfheide north of Berlin for Hermann Göring in 1933 .

On May 1, 1933, he joined the NSDAP and became a member of the organizing committee for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin .

In the Olympic year of 1936, March was awarded the title of professor by Adolf Hitler at the suggestion of the Reich Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick and appointed a member of the Academies of the Arts in Berlin and Munich . He took over the management of the institute for training facilities of the German Reich Academy for physical exercises . March 1938 rejected the appointment to the chair of urban planning at the Technical University of Berlin.

During the Second World War , he took part in the Abwehr of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris from 1940 as a staff officer , and later as a consultant to the General Staff in Italy. However, he was repeatedly given leave of absence to take over larger state construction projects.

After the war Werner March first lived and worked in Minden . His house and studio in Berlin had been destroyed. In Minden he led the reconstruction of the cathedral and the town hall . From 1948 onwards he again performed various voluntary tasks within the newly founded Association of German Architects. In 1953 he was appointed full professor to the chair for urban planning and settlement at the Technical University of Berlin, which he held until his retirement in 1960. His design for a stadium in Cairo began in 1956. March's 1936 design for an archaeological museum in Baghdad was also realized in 1952–1956. 1952 a. a. the Protestant St. Petri Church and in 1961 the Our Father Church in Berlin-Wilmersdorf (Detmolder Straße), which is considered to be a particularly successful post-war church. The Institute for Telecommunications on the northern part of the TU was built from 1963 to 1967 according to his plans. In 1955 the German Academy for Urban Development and Regional Planning appointed him a member, within which he held various offices after 1960.

In the period from 1956 to 1960 he built another stadium. For Egypt he designed the national stadium in Cairo - Cairo International Stadium . Designed as a multi-purpose stadium for Olympic sports, it is mainly used as a venue for soccer games. There are many parallels to the Berlin Olympic Stadium in terms of shape, size (capacity of 120,000, after renovation 74,100 seats) and the Erdstadion stadium type .

The Technical University of Berlin made March 1962 an honorary senator. In 1973 the city of Minden awarded him the City of Minden Ring of Honor .

March died in January 1976 in Berlin-Dahlem and was buried in the Luisenfriedhof II in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Königin-Elisabeth-Straße.

buildings

literature

  • Heinz Bergschicker: German Chronicle 1933-1945. A picture of the times of the fascist dictatorship. (with scientific advice from Olaf Groehler) Verlag der Nation, Berlin 1981. / 2nd revised edition, 1982. (Illustration on p. 176)
  • Hans-Henning Zabel:  March, Werner. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 111 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Thomas Schmidt: Werner March. Architect of the Olympic Stadium. Birkhäuser, Basel / Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-7643-2455-4 .

Web links

Commons : Werner March  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Life data from Munzinger , accessed on March 13, 2019
personal data
SURNAME March, Werner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES March, Werner Julius (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Charlottenburg
DATE OF DEATH January 11, 1976
Place of death Berlin