Quick Facts
Biography
Paul Schmitthenner (born Lauterburg, Elsass-Lothringen, Germany 15 December 1884 – 11 November 1972) 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 (German: "Beauty lies in (geometric) order"). 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.