Willi Ludewig

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Wilhelm Karl Ernst "Willi" Ludewig (born February 25, 1902 in Lichtenberg ; † February 5, 1963 in Buenos Aires ) was a German architect. Due to his early talent and hard work, he had already set up his own architecture office at the age of 21, and from the mid-1920s he was able to work on numerous large-scale commissions from urban planner and settlement architect Martin Wagner . He became known for many buildings in the Bauhaus style in Berlin, in what was then the province of Brandenburg and in Central Germany .

Life

Willi Ludewig was the son of the wealthy businessman Max Ludewig, who lived in the city ​​of Lichtenberg at Prinzenallee 17 (since 1951 Einbecker Straße). Willi had nine siblings, five of whom had died before he was born. After attending school, he learned the trade of a bricklayer and completed his apprenticeship in 1919. On August 20, 1920, he graduated from the Berlin building trade school . He found a job at the Lichtenberg building authority and worked in the construction management of larger construction projects. From 1922 he applied to several German architectural offices , for example with Czajerek and Schnaare in Hamborn , with Fritz Becker at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and with Hans Poelzig in Berlin . Ludewig decided on his kind of wandering in Hellerau near Dresden, where he also dealt with music, gymnastics and dancing.

Back in Berlin, Willi Ludewig founded his own architectural office in 1923, and through his acquaintance with the Düsseldorf trade union secretary Ernst Bodien, he soon received contracts as a freelancer for large cooperative and union building projects as well as for architects like Gustav Heide.

In 1924 Willi Ludewig married the photographer Erna Lange, and their son Eckard was born in 1925. In July 1925 he got his first commission as an architect.

At the end of 1927 he formed an architectural community with Arthur Nowottnik and they opened their studio in Berlin-Kreuzberg , Köpenicker Straße. They mainly won trade unions and housing development companies such as Gehag and Gewoba as clients . Willi Ludewig's sphere of activity comprised primarily Berlin, then Brandenburg and other German places including East Prussia .

Willi and Erna Lange separated in 1930, but only got divorced in 1931. In the meantime, Willi Ludewig lived with his secretary, the Polish Helena Bider ("Lusja"), and they married after the birth of their son Kristof. During this time, the family moved into a house designed by Ludewig himself and built under his management in Berlin-Lankwitz , Lessingstrasse 20a.

In 1933, the National Socialists expropriated the trade union associations, which now had to cease their activities and thus also their construction activities. The architectural community therefore hardly received any major public contracts. Therefore, at the urging of the chairman of the BDA , Ludewig took over the position of chief architect in the Reich Aviation Ministry . His job was to manage the construction of a secret military airfield between Riesa and Leipzig (the Oschatz air base ). During the work, Ludewig lived on site and experienced how death sentences were pronounced and carried out for the slightest offense (suspected betrayal of secrets).

Since his wife was Jewish and continued to live with her son in Berlin, she was summoned to the Gestapo after the Nuremberg Race Laws were passed . Ludewig should also appear there. The architect found out about these plans and was able to escape by train to Zurich in September 1935 , but was now considered a deserter and had to fear for his life. The wife and son were with Lusja's father in Warsaw at the same time. After careful written contact, the family agreed to emigrate to Argentina . In Buenos Aires he soon worked as an architect.

During his stay in Berlin, Ludewig was an active member of the BDA. Another son (Andrés Ludewig) was born in Argentina. Willi Ludewig died in Buenos Aires in 1963.

In April 2019, the Lichtenberg Local History Museum will dedicate itself to the work of Ludewig on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus, including through a public lecture.

Works (selection)

"Freie Scholle" settlement in Trebbin
Welfare forum, architectural monument in Brandenburg an der Havel
  • 1925–1927: Salzwedel , Mispag settlement (tenant, savings and building cooperative)
  • 1926–1936: Trebbin , four buildings of the Freie Scholle cooperative settlement (Höpfnerstrasse 9–18), together with a Trebbin building department
  • 1927/1928: Finsterwalde , Gewoba settlement (apartment building Friedensstraße, Tuchmacherstraße, Triftstraße)
  • 1927/1928: Cottbus , Friedrich-Ebert-Hof (Dresdener Strasse, Kochstrasse, Juliot-Curie-Strasse, Gartenstrasse)
  • 1927–1929: Luckenwalde , Auf dem Sande
  • 1928–1930 (planning and construction), 1930/1931 (extension buildings): Luckenwalde, Volksheimsiedlung (August-Bebel-Platz, Dahmer Straße, Gottower Straße, Jänickendorfer Straße, Karl-Marx-Straße, Theaterstraße)
  • 1928–1930: Brandenburg an der Havel , Wohlfahrtsforum (Kanalstrasse 8/9: office building, hospital and sports hall)
    Ludewig himself described this building complex as his most important building project.
  • 1928–1930: Finsterwalde, residential and commercial building of the consumer cooperative
  • 1928–1930: Großräschen , Gewoba settlement
  • 1928–1930: Guben , Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse settlement (for Gewoba)
  • 1929/1930: Forst (Lausitz) , Keune (Gewoba) settlement
  • 1930: Essen , AOK building
  • 1930: Pirna , AOK building
  • 1930: Berlin-Hermsdorf , Kuttig residential building in
  • 1930: Berlin-Frohnau , house Robert
  • 1930: Falkenberg (Mark) , Rosenberger residence
  • Further individual buildings (all without a year) in:
Berlin-Spandau (residential building), Zepernick ( Landhaus Ronnger ), Forst / Lausitz (AOK medical centers); Berlin-Lichtenberg, Erkner , Fürstenwalde , Flatow , Frankfurt (Oder) , Frankfurt am Main , Bad Freienwalde , Küstrin , Landsberg an der Warthe , Nauen , Nowawes , Plaue , Prenzlau , Spremberg Slamen , Strausberg , Teltow , Velten , Wittenberge

Unrealized drafts

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ludewig, Max; Commercial> Prinzenstrasse . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1924, I, p. 1853.
  2. ↑ a b Who was the architect Willi Ludewig? , at www.books.google.de, accessed on April 6, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g see web links
  4. ↑ Ludewig, Willi; Architect . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1935, I, p. 1594 (the office was located in the city center, Neue Wilhelmstrasse 1).
  5. ↑ a b c Architect Hans Waloschek , p. 100 f.
  6. ↑ a b c Willi Ludewig. In: arch INFORM ; accessed on April 6, 2019.
  7. ↑ Architectural monument residential building Werner Robert
personal data
SURNAME Ludewig, Willi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ludewig, Wilhelm Karl Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin-Lichtenberg
DATE OF DEATH 5th February 1963
Place of death Buenos Aires