Gustav August Munzer (9 January 1887, Oerlsdorf – 23 August 1973) was a German architect. One of his works was the Laboe Naval Memorial near

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

Earlier life

Munzer grew up on a farm near Föritz in Saxe-Meiningen (now southern

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

). He received his basic education in the small settlement of Mupperg, and later became a bricklayer, working on several construction sites in the area. After becoming a trained

stonecutter Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

he visited the Baugewerbeschule in Coburg from 1904 till 1907. He worked for the architect Willrath in

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

in 1907 and 1908, and then for the architect Thaysen in Tondern. In 1910, he started studying at the

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for thes ...

(school of arts and crafts) in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, where

Wilhelm Kreis Wilhelm Kreis (17 March 1873 – 13 August 1955) was a prominent German architect and professor of architecture, active through four political systems in German history: the Wilhelmine era, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the founda ...

was professor at that time. Having graduated in 1913, Munzer planned several buildings in Düsseldorf, and during the

First World War 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 ...

he also did planning for industry buildings. In 1915 he married. In the 1920s he also worked in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

planning, including shipyards in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Laboe Naval Memorial

In December 1926, Munzer participated in a contest held by the Bund Deutscher Marineverein for the design of the Laboe Naval Memorial near

.Zukowsky, John. ''Building in Germany between the World Wars''. Thames & Hudson, 1994. He was declared the winner of the contest on 15 May 1927 although his design concept, a 72 meter tall tower, was considered too expensive. The cornerstone for the memorial was laid on 8 August 1927, but it took until 1929 for the formal starting of the tower's construction. The tower was finished in the summer of 1930, and then the construction of the memorial was stopped for three years. Following the completion of the memorial, the opening ceremony was held on 30 May 1936. Apart from the opening ceremony, no official Nazi events were held at the site. The monument was confiscated by the British Army after

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 opposin ...

. In 1954, it was transferred back to the Bund Deutscher Marineverein, and Munzer was responsible for its restoration and modification. In addition, he was also continuing his work as an architect until 1970. Munzer died in Düsseldorf on 23 August 1973.

Earlier life

Laboe Naval Memorial

References

Further reading