Sigrid Kressmann-Zschach (1929–1990) 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 ...

, businesswoman, and entrepreneur. Her best known works are the ''Ku'Damm Karrée'' and ''

Steglitzer Kreisel The Steglitzer Kreisel also known as the ÜBerlin Tower is a high-rise residential building in the Steglitz district of Berlin, Germany. Originally built between 1968 and 1980, the building stands at tall with 32 floors and is located in the sou ...

'' buildings in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Biography

Sigrid Zschach was born in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

on 27 July 1929. She graduated with a degree in architecture at the

Technical University of Dresden TU Dresden (for , abbreviated as TUD), also as the Dresden University of Technology, is a public research university in Dresden, Germany. It is the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, the largest university in Saxony a ...

. In the 1950s she moved to Berlin. Kressmann-Zschach married three times and is known to have had several lovers.Gerd Nowakowski
''Der Kreisel-Skandal''
Der Tagesspiegel, 30 May 2005. Retrieved 2012-02-10. She became known as a skillful and wealthy career woman but also for her style, blonde hair and good looks.
Der Spiegel, 19 July 1971. Retrieved 2012-02-10. Kressmann-Zschach's second marriage was to Willy Kressmann, mayor of the affluent

Berlin-Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990, it has ...

district. It allowed her to enter Berlin 'society' and she was able to obtain first hand information about new construction projects. Kressmann-Zschach heard of plans to build a new subway system to

Steglitz Steglitz () is a boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in Southwestern Berlin, the capital of Germany. is derived from the Slavic languages, Slavic name for the European goldfinch, similar to the German . ...

and produced designs for a 30-storey office block, with a subway station in the basement and Germany's first shopping mall. She secured a DM180 million contract for the scheme, which became known as the ''Steglitzer Kreisel''. The project caused continual scandal as costs escalated and eventually Kressman-Zschach's development company went bankrupt. Kressmann-Zschach ultimately employed over 300 people. In 1971, when she employed 200 people, it was reported she resisted the election of a works council, complaining that her employees spent a third of their time in discussion rather than working. She sacked three ringleaders and demoted another. However, in the same year Kressmann-Zschach took her staff on an expenses-paid trip to New York, in return for their commitment to stay with the company for a certain period. Kressmann-Zschach died from cancer aged 61, on 28 October 1990.Obituary: Sigrid Kressmann-Zschach-Losito
Der Spiegel, 12 November 1990. Retrieved 2012-02-10. Her obituary credited her with having given Berlin a piece of '

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

' or '

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Notable works

* Jerusalemer Kirche,

Friedrichstadt Friedrichstadt (; ; ; ; ) is a town in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the river Eider approx. 12 km (7 miles) south of Husum. History The town was founded in 1621 by Dutch settlers. Duk ...

, Berlin (1968) * Steglitzer Kreisel, Steglitz, Berlin (1968–1974) * Kurfürstendamm Square, Berlin

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kressmann-Zschach, Sigrid 1929 births 1990 deaths 20th-century German architects German women architects Architects from Leipzig 20th-century German women artists