Johann Ludwig Friedrich Lahrs (11 July 1880 – 13 March 1964) was a German

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and professor.

Life

Lahrs was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

, East Prussia. After attending the Löbenicht Realgymnasium, Lahrs studied at the Technical University in Charlottenburg in 1898. He worked in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and Charlottenburg until 1908; in 1906 he was awarded the Schinkelpreis in honor of

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassic ...

. In 1908 Lahrs began working at the Kunstakademie in his native Königsberg. He served as architectural professor at the Kunstakademie from 1911 to 1934. Lahrs' most prominent designs included the

Kunsthalle A kunsthalle is a facility that mounts temporary art exhibitions, similar to an art gallery. It is distinct from an art museum by not having a permanent collection. In the German-speaking regions of Europe, ''Kunsthallen'' are often operated by ...

(completed 1913) in Tragheim and the new Kunstakademie (completed 1919) after it moved to

Ratshof Ratshof and the Pregel River from the south. View of the Pregel from the west. Ratshof is in the lower left, Contienen in the lower right, and the 1920s-era docks are the upper right Ratshof or Rathshof was a suburban quarter of western Königs ...

. In 1920 Lahrs and Stanislaus Cauer designed a memorial in the Gemeindefriedhof cemetery near Rothenstein and

Maraunenhof Maraunenhof was a suburban quarter of northern Königsberg, Germany. Its territory is now part of the Leningradsky District of Kaliningrad, Russia. History The estate Maraunenhof, originally Maraunen, was located in the forest west of the Oberte ...

; the memorial honored 200 workers killed in a munitions explosion in Rothenstein. Lahrs also designed the new mausoleum for

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

near

Königsberg Cathedral , infobox_width = , image = Kaliningrad 05-2017 img04 Kant Island.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Front (west side) of the cathedral , map_type = , map_ ...

in 1924. In the same year he designed a regimental memorial at Brandenburg Gate honoring casualties from Königsberg's foot artillery during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1926 he led an excavation of the courtyard of

Königsberg Castle The Königsberg Castle (german: Königsberger Schloss, russian: Кёнигсбергский замок, Konigsbergskiy zamok) was a castle in Königsberg, Germany (since 1946 Kaliningrad, Russia), and was one of the landmarks of the East Prussi ...

. Two years later he designed the provincial finance office, the Landesfinanzamt, just outside

Neurossgarten Neurossgarten (german: Neuroßgarten) was a quarter of northwestern Königsberg, Germany. Its territory is now part of Kaliningrad, Russia. History The name ''Neuroßgarten'' means "new horse pasture" in German, with the eastern Königsberg subur ...

. Lahrs also designed the bookstore Gräfe und Unzer. Lahrs remained at the Kunstakademie until 1934, when he retired his professorship after the appointment of Kurt Frick to the academy during '' Gleichschaltung''. Lahrs was married to Maria Lahrs, a painter and silhouette artist, with whom he had three daughters. After being expelled from Königsberg in 1945 as a result of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Lahrs settled in Stuttgart. In 1956 he published ''Das Königsberger Schloß'', an architectural history of Königsberg Castle. Lahrs died in 1964 after an auto accident in Stuttgart.

Gallery

Kantsgrab5.jpg, Kant Mausoleum Kaliningrad 05-2017 img05 Kant Island.jpg, Kant Mausoleum

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lahrs, Friedrich 1880 births 1964 deaths 20th-century German architects Architecture educators Architects from Königsberg Academic staff of Kunstakademie Königsberg German neoclassical architects People from East Prussia Architects from Berlin