Hanns Egon Wörlen (5 April 1915 – 17 February 2014) 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 art

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

.Trauer um Hanns Egon Wörlen
Trauer um den Ehrenbürger Hanns Egon Wörlen
Born in

Marnheim Marnheim is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe aft ...

in 1915, Wörlen was the son of painter and graphic artist

Georg Philipp Wörlen Georg Philipp Wörlen (5 May 1886, Dillingen an der Donau, Bavarian Swabia – 18 April 1954) was a German painter, particularly associated with Passau, Bavaria, Germany. Life Wörlen was born in Dillingen an der Donau. After completing his ...

and his wife Margaret. At the age of five, he moved with his parents to

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

. He studied architecture at the

Technische Universität München The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

(Technical University of Munich) and was drafted into military service to fight in World War II. In October 1947, he became a freelance architect after returning home from being a prisoner of war. He sought to preserve and restore Passau by becoming a member of the Donau-Wald-Gruppe, an association of local visual artists. In 1990, he founded the Museum of Modern Art in Passau, which he began by displaying his father's artwork, and remained connected to it until his death in 2014 at the age of 98.

Selected awards

In 1977, Wörlen was awarded the

Federal Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

, upgraded to the Commander's Cross in 1997. In 1995, he was awarded the

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

References

1915 births 2014 deaths 20th-century German architects German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Architects from Mannheim Technical University of Munich alumni German military personnel of World War II {{Germany-architect-stub