Wilhelm Kreis (left) honoured by Joseph Goebbels, 1943
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 foundation of the Federal Republic.
Kreis was born in Eltville am Rhein in Hesse-Nassau. He first came to prominence with his 1896 submission for the Völkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig, although the commission went to Bruno Schmitz. Around the turn of the century, Kreis designed 58 of the Bismarck Towers, a number of civic projects in Dresden, the 1924 William Marx house, and other significant projects. The 1926 Rheinhalle (today:Tonhalle Düsseldorf) in Düsseldorf was his first major cultural project, followed by the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden. As opposed to the modernist movement then emerging, Kreis was among those architects like Heinrich Tessenow and Paul Bonatz who continued to work in a historical, conservative style.[1]
Kreis was dismissed from the presidency of the League of German Architects (BDA) in 1933 and he saw his commissions dry up as a result. But within two years he was again working, under the direction of Albert Speer, for war projects in Dresden and the gigantic plans for Berlin, notably the design for the massive Soldiers Hall. Employing the respected Kreis brought Speer some legitimacy; Kreis responded by becoming an active supporter of National Socialism. He was named as one of the Reich's most important artists in the Gottbegnadeten list of September 1944.
In the postwar period, Kreis continued to receive commissions despite his advanced age.
Luftwaffe-Luftgaukommando IV in Dresden, 1935–1938
Detail: Relief with Icarus, Vulcan and warriors, 1937
Museum for hygiene in Dresden, 1930
Kaufhaus Tietz in Wuppertal, 1911–1912
Museum for Protohistory in Halle (Saale), 1911–1913
The 1904 Bismarck Tower in Stuttgart
Exhibition hall 16 at Alte Messe in Leipzig (1913)
^For example, the Saxon Ministry of the Interior demanded that the architect Otto Paul Burghardt revise his design for the Europahaus in Leipzig under the guidance of Wilhelm Kreis. See: Peter Leonhardt, Moderne in Leipzig. Architektur und Städtebau 1918 bis 1933 (Modernism in Leipzig. Architecture and Urbanism 1918 to 1933), Pro Leipzig 2007, ISBN 978-3-936508-29-1 , p. 37 (in German)
WilhelmKreis (17 March 1873 – 13 August 1955) was a prominent German architect and professor of architecture, active through four political systems in...
Look up Kreis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Kreis is the German word for circle. Kreis may also refer to: Kreise, or Circle (administrative division)...
and has 13 floors above ground level. The architect was WilhelmKreis. It was named after Wilhelm Marx, who was mayor of Düsseldorf in the early 20th century...
where he concentrated on sculpture, studying under Hubert Netzer and WilhelmKreis. He first visited Paris in 1924, shortly before finishing his studies...
Studentenverbindung fraternities chose one of the designs submitted by the architect WilhelmKreis in an 1899 architecture competition. The award-winning Götterdämmerung...
have a monumental tomb (designed by sculptor Arno Breker and architect WilhelmKreis) but, due to Germany's declining fortunes, it was never built. Heydrich's...
order to provide a wider opening for river traffic. It was designed by WilhelmKreis and Theodor Klette. Three tram lines of the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe...
The Oberbergischer Kreis (Kölsch: Boverbärjische Kreiß) is a Kreis (district) in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are...
architect Hermann Giesler (1898–1987), "Reichskultursenator" architect WilhelmKreis (1873–1955) architect and critic Paul Schultze-Naumburg (1869–1949)...
annexes were erected along Bendlerstraße according to plans designed by WilhelmKreis. From 1938 the enlarged "Bendlerblock" again was used by the Seekriegsleitung...
Socialist architecture, particularly buildings designed by Albert Speer and WilhelmKreis. The grand plaza in To the Unknown Painter (1983) specifically refers...
headed by Eugen Hönig from 1933, by Adolf Ziegler from 1936, and by WilhelmKreis from 1943 Reichstheaterkammer, headed by Rainer Schlösser 1935–1938...
structures were added in 1908/09, based on an overall design by architect WilhelmKreis. The stairs lead up from a small landing to the statue from the front...
Born in Aachen, Fahrenkamp came to Düsseldorf to work in the office of WilhelmKreis from 1909 to 1912. He became an assistant, then professor, at the Düsseldorf...
this type of architecture later served as a model worthy of emulation. WilhelmKreis chose for his Soldiers' Hall at the Army High Command headquarters in...
Klerk (Amsterdam) WilhelmKreis (Rhineland and Westphalia) Paul Mebes (Berlin, Eastern Germany) Hans Poelzig (Berlin, Breslau) Wilhelm Riphahn (Cologne)...
(Bochum Savings Bank) is a town landmark designed by the architect WilhelmKreis. It opened in 1928 and was emblematic of the modern era. It was heavily...
and 22 December of the same year, with first prize this time going to WilhelmKreis. Bruno Schmitz, an architect from Berlin who had earlier designed both...
Fischer Leonhard Gall Hermann Giesler Wilhelm Grebe Johann Friedrich Höger Eugen Hönig Clemens Klotz WilhelmKreis Werner March Konrad Nonn Ludwig Ruff...
Within this project the largest and most significant orders were for WilhelmKreis' Soldiers' Hall (Soldatenhalle) project, beginning in 1940. Increasing...
monuments were built. In 1899 (i.e. one year after Bismarck's death), WilhelmKreis created a fundamental tower design, known as Götterdämmerung ("Twilight...
Global Information
Luftwaffe-Luftgaukommando IV in Dresden, 1935–1938
Detail: Relief with Icarus, Vulcan and warriors, 1937
Museum for hygiene in Dresden, 1930
Kaufhaus Tietz in Wuppertal, 1911–1912
Museum for Protohistory in Halle (Saale), 1911–1913
The 1904 Bismarck Tower in Stuttgart
Exhibition hall 16 at Alte Messe in Leipzig (1913)
