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Egon Eiermann (29.09.1904 - 19.07.1970) was a german architect, designer and professor. He studied architectur at the the Technical Highschool Berlin under Hans Poelzig
from 1923 to 1927. After graduation he joined the construction office of Rudolph Karstadt AG in Hamburg. Later he worked for the Berlin Electricity Works, before founding his own office
together with Fritz Jaenecke. Today, he is considerd to be one of the most important german architects of postwar modernism. On study trips to the US in 1950, he met Walter Gropius
and Marcel Breuer, in 1956 he made acquaintance with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. As a professor, he taugt at the Technical Highschool Karlsruhe.
From 1931 onwards, he first designed several residential buildings in Berlin and in its vicinity, and the order situation improved steadily. As a consequence of personal
differences, Jaenecke left the office partnership in 1934. In the years 1934 to 1938, Egon Eiermann worked on the corporate design of a berlin funeral home, creating
facades, interior desing, logo as well as candleholder and lettering. Industrial buildings were one of the main field of activities for Egon Eiermann from 1938 onwards.
He was commissioned by several industrial companys. As a result of the war activities he, transferred his office to Baelitz-Heilstätten near Berlin from 1943 to 1945.
During the National Socialist period in Germany, Egon Eiermann dealt primarily with the industrial building. This allowed him to continue unmolested designing
in a modern style. His architecture mediated lightness and freshness and should symbolize progress. Remarkably, he was able to use this architectural language
even for armaments factories without political concerns. After the war he was able to continue freely his career in West Germany. Thus he became one of the
most influential architects of his time in Germany. In the years of reconstruction Egon Eiermann created the famous handkerchief weaving in Blumberg from 1949-1951.
The building, which won the important Hugo-Häring price, became a veritable archetype.
From 1951 until 1953 Egon Eiermann built the Matthäus Church in Pforzheim, some years later the bell tower was added. This building is considered to be
one of the most important new churches of postwar modernism in Germany. The church is formed by a simple concrete skeleton, which was filled with
honeycomb window with colorful thick glass panes. The Church of Our Lady in Le Raincy near Paris by the architect Auguste Perret certainly served
as a model for the design by Egon Eiermann. The use of debris of the destroyed city of Pforzheim symbolized exemplary the life after death. The colorful
windows, designed by Hans Theo Baumann, give the interior a rather expressive appearance in comparison with the later Memorial Church in Berlin.
A further highlight in the career of Egon Eiermann is the German Pavilion at the World Exhibition in Brussels, which gained strong international attention.
Designed together with Sep Ruf, the building was constituted as a group of eight pavilions, each of them an elegant and transparent glass cube.
The building became a symbol of a new, modest and open-minded Germany. Unfortunately, the building was destroyed after the exhibition. The most
important buildings of the last period in the oeuvre of Egon Eiermann, are the buildings for IBM in Stuttgart-Vaihingen (1967-1972) and in Frankfurt (1968-1972).
The buildings in Frankfurt were completed just two years after his death.
One of the most criticized aspects in the biography of Egon Eiermann was his engangement for the Horten AG company in Stuttgart. During this time
he was responsible for the design of a department store in the city of stuttgart. The construction of Egon Eiermann's design resulted in the destruction of
the famous Schocken Store by Erich Mendelson. Even strong protests from the local population couldn't prevent the destruction of this modern monument.
The new building for the Horten company was one of the first buildings with completly abstract non-bearing facade. This abstract facade prevented every kind
of relation with the urban structure. The use of so called Horden Tiles obscured the building structure. There was no need to show windows or stories on the
exterior of the building. By this way, the interior divison of the building became extremly flexible. This kind of facade became very popular for department stores
in the following years.
1958 - 1961 Headquarter of the Mail-Order Company Neckermann - Frankfurt
1968 - 1972 Administration and Education Centre Olivetti Germany - Frankfurt