Otto Meitinger (8 May 1927 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

– 9 September 2017) 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

preservationist Preservationist is generally understood to mean ''historic preservationist'': one who advocates to preserve architecturally or historically significant buildings, structures, objects, or sites from demolition or degradation. Historic preservation us ...

. From 1987 to 1995 he was president of the

Technical University Munich 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 ...

Life

Meitinger was born as son of the first municipal architect of Munich Karl Meitinger. He studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

at the Department of Architecture of the

, finished his

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists, psychotherapists and jurists (i.e., lawyers, judges, publi ...

and got his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

on the building history of the Munich Residenz. From 1953 to 1963 he was Director of the Residenz Building Offices and in charge of the reconstruction of the Munich Residenz, including the

Cuvilliés Theatre The Cuvilliés Theatre (german: link=no, Cuvilliés-Theater) or Old Residence Theatre (''Altes Residenztheater'') is the former court theatre of the Residenz in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. History Elector of Bavaria Maximilian III Joseph (reg ...

, court chappel, treasure chamber and Ornate Rooms (Reichen Zimmer). At that time the reconstruction of the Residenz was considered as example for the reconstruction of war-destroyed historical buildings all over Europe. From 1963 to 1976 he was head of the building department of the Max Planck Society and responsible for over 60 new institute buildings, domestic and abroad. In 1976 he became

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

for Design and

Preservation Preservation may refer to: Heritage and conservation * Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible * ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...

at the Technical University of Munich. In 1987 he was elected President of the University and stayed in office until his retirement in 1995. "He took the chance of generation change and won first class professors to secure the leading position of the TU in teaching and research." Meitinger was member of a variety of professional societies and committees, i.e., at the German Academy of town planning (Deutschen Akademie für Städtebau), the Bavarian State Architectural Art Committee (Bayerischen Landesbaukunstausschuss), the State Memorial Committee (Landesdenkmalrat), the selection committees of the Bavarian State Foundation and the Hypo-Art-Foundation (Bayerischen Landesstiftung/Hypo-Kulturstiftung) and the board of trustees of the Philip Morris Foundation (Kuratorium der Philip Morris Stiftung).

Important work

* Recreation of the

Residenz Residenz () is a German word for "place of living", now obsolete except in the formal sense of an official residence. A related term, Residenzstadt, denotes a city where a sovereign ruler resided, therefore carrying a similar meaning as the modern ...

, Munich * Palazzo Zuccari, Rome * Kaulbach-Villa, Munich * Rebuilding of

Hammerschmidt Villa Hammerschmidt Villa (german: Villa Hammerschmidt) is a villa in the German city of Bonn that served as the primary official seat and primary official residence of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1950 until 1994. President Ri ...

, Bonn * Rebuilding of Bellevue Palace, Berlin * Marstallplatz, Munich

Honours and distinctions

* Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art (1991) *

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 ...

* Commanders Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz) * Medal ''Bene Merenti'' in Silver of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (1959) * Commanders Cross of the Etoile noir of the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

* Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester, * Golden Honorary Coin of the City of Munich (1995) (Goldene Ehrenmünze der Stadt München). *

Honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of the city of Munich (2005) * Founding Member of the

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 37 Nobel Prize laur ...

(1990)

Literature

* Lehrstuhl für Entwerfen und Denkmalpflege TU München: ''Otto Meitinger : Architekt - Denkmalpfleger - Hochschullehrer'' München 1997

External links

*
"Professor Dr. Otto Meitinger neuer Münchner Ehrenbürger" (in German)
Press notice, City of Munich, 2005.
Professor Dr.-Ing. Otto Meitinger wird 80 (in German)
Bayerische Ingenieurekammer-Bau, 2007.
Otto Meitinger wird 80 (in German)
Press Notice. TU Munich. 30 April 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meitinger, Otto 1927 births 2017 deaths 20th-century German architects Architects from Munich Technical University of Munich alumni Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich Presidents of the Technical University of Munich Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Knights of the Order of St. Sylvester Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts