Elisabeth Böhm née Haggenmüller (18 June 1921, in

Mindelheim Mindelheim (; ) is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The town is the capital of the Unterallgäu district. At various points in history it was the chief settlement of an eponymous state. Geography Mindelheim is located on the river Mindel ...

– 6 September 2012 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

) was a German architect who frequently worked together with her husband,

Gottfried Böhm Gottfried Böhm (; 23 January 1920 – 9 June 2021) was a German architect and sculptor. His reputation is based on creating highly sculptural buildings made of concrete, steel, and glass. Böhm's first independent building was the Cologne ...

Biography

Böhm studied architecture at the

Technical University Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a Public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied science, applied and natural sciences. Est ...

where she met Gottfried Böhm whom she married in 1948. Her husband took over the family architecture business in

from his father

Dominikus Böhm Dominikus Böhm (23 October 1880 – 6 August 1955) was a German architect specializing in churches. He built churches in Cologne, the Ruhr area, Swabia, and Hesse. Many of his buildings are examples of Brick Expressionism. Life and career ...

who died in 1955. Initially, Böhm spent most of her time at home raising their four children, only spending short periods at the office. She later returned to more intensive work, developing plans for housing projects and housing estates. Of particular note are her interior designs for the castle of

Godesburg 300px, Godesburg castle in Germany. The Godesburg is a castle in Bad Godesberg, a formerly independent part of Bonn, Germany. Built in the early 13th century on the Godesberg, a hill of volcanic origin, it was largely destroyed following a sieg ...

, near

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

(1959), the town hall of

Bensberg Bergisch Gladbach () is a city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district). Geography Bergisch Gladbach is east of the Rhine and about 10 km east of Cologne. City stru ...

Bergisch Gladbach Bergisch Gladbach () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district). Geography Bergisch Gladbach is east of the Rhine and abo ...

(1969) and for the modern additions to Kauzenburg Castle near

Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke (Bad Kreuznach), Alte Nahebrücke, ...

in the early 1970s. She was also behind the circular foyer designed in connection with the expansion of the Stuttgart Theatre in 1984. Böhm lived and worked in Cologne until her death. Her relationship with her husband and her sons and their reactions to her death is explored in a 2014 documentary titled "Concrete Love — The Böhm Family."

Biography

References

Further reading