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Martin Elsaesser (28.05.1884 – 05.08.1957) was a German architect and professor of architecture, who is especially well known for the many churches he built, and for his designs for the so-called new Frankfurt. Martin Elsaesser studied architecture from 1901 to 1906 at the Technical University of Munich under Friedrich von Thiersch and at the Technical University of Stuttgart under Theodor Fischer. When he won the competition for the Lutheran church of Baden-Baden in 1905, Martin Elsaesser started to be active as a freelance architect. From 1911 to 1913 he worked as an assistant to Professor of Paul Bonatz, at Stuttgart Technical University, and later became professor for medieval architecture at the same institution (1913-1920). From 1920 to 1925 he was managing director of the School of Arts and Crafts at Cologne. As government building surveyor in Frankfurt am Main, Ernst May made him chief of the city's municipal building department in 1925. In this job, Martin Elsaesser was responsible for the New Frankfurt project. His largest construction during his time at Frankfurt was the Grossmarkthalle. The engangement in Frankfurt was quite disappointing for Martin Elsaesser, since he could not get the jobs e desired. Additionally, Martin Elsaesser and Ernst May were in strong rivalery. Elsaesser kept this post in Frankfurt until 1932.
During the period of National Socialism, Elsaesser did not receive any commissions. Nonetheless, he did not opt for emigration; but spent the war years in internal exile, pursuing architectural study tours and utopian designs. After the end of the Second World War, Martin Elsaesser became a professor for design at Munich Technical University from 1947 to 1956.
1926 - 1928 Grossmarkthalle - Frankfurt
1926 - 1928 Pestalozzi School Building - Frankfurt
1928 Indoor Swimming Pool Fechenheim - Frankfurt