Paul Schmitthenner


Paul Schmitthenner was a German architect, city planner and Professor at the University of Stuttgart.
During Nazi Germany, Schmitthenner was one of Adolf Hitler's architects.

Early life and education

He studied at the technical universities of Karlsruhe and Munich and later became a Professor at the University of Stuttgart, where he formed together with Paul Bonatz the architectural style of the Stuttgart School.

Architecture

His belief that the traditional methods and styles in architecture revealed best the German character led to his appointment as expert group leader for fine arts in the Kampfbund. He believed that Schönheit ruht in Ordnung. Schmitthenner was in open opposition to modern architects like Walter Gropius. For him, Goethe's cottage at Weimar was still the ideal type of the German residential building. However, despite official approval, his enthusiasm did not bring many large commissions.
He had to leave his chair at the University after war without a pension and worked as an architect till the end of his life. In Stuttgart he built the "Königin-Olga-Bau" for the Dresdner Bank in 1950.

Works

Baugestaltung. Das Deutsche Wohnhaus, 1932.