Wilhelm Massing (architect)

Wilhelm Massing (born October 5, 1904 in Weiler bei Bingen ; † July 21, 1981 ) was a German architect and urban planner in Frankfurt am Main .

education

After attending elementary school in Weiler and the Stefan-George-Gymnasium in Bingen , he studied from 1924 to 1926 at the Technical University of Darmstadt . From 1926 to 1928 he practically worked in Dortmund ( Thyssen AG office building in Düsseldorf ) and Munich (Ludwigsburg city expansion) as well as in the building construction department in Hamburg , from 1928 he continued his studies at the Technical University of Stuttgart and in 1930 passed the main examination to become a qualified engineer .

Professional career up to the end of the Second World War

From 1930 to 1931 he worked for the architect Wiederanders in Davos (planning residential and hotel conversions) and from 1931 to 1932 worked for the architect O. Schärli Luzern (competition for the canton hospital, residential buildings of the Stollberg consortium, urban development project). 1932–1933 he continued his studies at the Technical University of Milan and received his doctorate on the Italian elements in the Cuvilliés Theater in Munich. From November 1932 to July 1936 he was staff of the Milan architectural firm Faludi and independently for planning and supervision of cinemas Excelsior, Lirico, Olimpia Milan, the Lichtspielhaises Faraggiana in Novara, as well as the conversion of a theater in Brescia , and the urban design of Bergamo responsible . Called back by the family, he opened his own architecture office in Frankfurt am Main in 1936. He was involved in the construction of single-family houses as well as the four-year plan settlement in Oberursel of the Nassauische Heimstätten. From April 1, 1940 to January 20, 1945 he was assigned to the Reichspostdirektion in Posen for planning telecommunications bunkers. There he married the postal secretary Mrs. Margarethe born on November 19th, 1943. Herald. They returned to Weiler in December 1944 and moved to Frankfurt in 1946 and to Neu-Isenburg in 1951. They had two sons, Andreas (* 1945) and Thomas (* 1952).

Professional career after the Second World War

From January to December 1945, he was at the Imperial post in Bendorf conscripted and was from January to May 1946 by the Regional Directorate adopted Frankfurt as an employee. In 1947 he resumed his work as a freelance architect in Frankfurt, and moved into the office at Stiftstrasse 2, which was only slightly destroyed during the war. In 1947 he designed the images of the Easter processional path "Kreuzweg" for the community of Weiler, from 1953 to 1971 for the Reconstruction and expansion of the upholstered furniture works Johann and Alexander Bretz in Gensingen responsible and in 1947 architect for the expansion of the youth hostel Burg Stahleck in Bacharach . He was a member of the re-established Association of German Architects (BDA).

Massing was involved in the reconstruction of Frankfurt both in terms of urban planning and monument restoration (see list of the most important buildings below). In 1973 he closed the architecture office in Frankfurt and moved it to Neu-Isenburg . Wilhelm Massing died on July 21, 1981 in Weiler and was buried in the forest cemetery in Neu-Isenburg.

Buildings (selection)

• 1949–1953: Planning and construction management of the House of Youth, the Frankfurt Youth Hostel on the Deutschherrenufer as well as renovation of the cowherd's tower in the Große Rittergasse
• 1950: First prize in the old town competition of the Wiederaufbau AG for the cathedral and old market; “Main river development”; Assignment of planning and implementation of the work in the old town between Römer and cathedral
• 1954–1956: Reconstruction of the Katharinenkirche together with Theo Kellner and Charles Crodel (glass window)
• 1961–1965: Reconstruction of the Peterskirche in Frankfurt, together with Theo Kellner and Charles Crodel (glass window)
• 1963–1965: New construction of the headquarters of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels with cantata hall in the Großer Hirschgraben
• 1964: Commissioned by the State Conservator of Hesse to develop a concept for the preservation of historical monuments to preserve old Sachsenhausen ; Survey of all streets and evaluation of new building applications; Proposal for the design of the streets and squares as well as their equipment with six fountains (e.g. the Frau Rauscher fountain in Klappergasse)
• 1966: Retirement home in Preungesheim
• 1967: New building of the Landesbausparkasse Hessen (LBS) in Junghofstrasse
• In-house architect for the Hessische Landesbank for interior design, renovation and entertainment
• 1968: New construction of the "Investment Advice" department of the Hessische Landesbank in Goethestrasse
• 1969: Design of the pedestrian tunnel from the main train station to Kaiserstraße
• 1968–1970: New construction of the administrative headquarters of the company Farben Jenisch in the Großer Hirschgraben / corner of Berliner Straße

• 

  Katharinenkirche in Frankfurt / M.

• 

  House of Youth

• 

  The administrative headquarters of the company Farben Jenisch in the Großer Hirschgraben / corner of Berliner Straße

• 

  Frankfurt, Großer Hirschgraben: in the foreground the house of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels with Cantate-Saal (today Volkstheater)

Web links

• Reconstruction of Frankfurt, picture gallery ( Memento from July 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
• Wilhelm Massing. In: arch INFORM .

literature

• Martin Richard Möbius: Theo Kellner, Felix H. Hinssen. From the joint work. Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna, FE Huebsch, 1930.