Josef Franke (12 March 1876 – 16 January 1944) was a German architect. He created a number of

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

and

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

buildings in the

Ruhrgebiet The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a wikt:polycentric, polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/k ...

, particularly in Gelsenkirchen. He is noted for his work in the 1920s in the brick- expressionist style.

Life

After leaving school, Franke studied at the Höxter Baugewerkschule (English: building trade school) and then at the Technical University of Charlottenburg as a guest student. After completing his training he first was employed at the council structural engineering office 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 ...

, and later in the architect's office of

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

and Carl Anton Meckel in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

. In 1904 he set up on his own in Gelsenkirchen. Frankes second own house, completed in 1909, is located in Gelsenkirchen in the Robert-Koch-Straße. In recent years, Frankes work in Gelsenkirchen has been rediscovered and re-evaluated by exhibitions and publications. His daughter is the

Interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

er and

Artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Margarete Franke.

Architectural style

Franke's most popular buildings were designed in the Brick- expressionist style, which was common in the 1920s Germany. They are characterized by the use of reddish brown brick and its setting to patterns and plastic elements on Facades, added to mostly rhythmic surface schemes. Playing with the angular, raw stone leads to a special charm, completed by carefully balanced total composition. Also the contemporary liking for

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

and

parabola In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is Reflection symmetry, mirror-symmetrical and is approximately U-shaped. It fits several superficially different Mathematics, mathematical descriptions, which can all be proved to define exactl ...

forms reflects in his designs of this period.

Buildings (selected)

*House for the painter Andreas Wilhelm Ballin, 1925, Gelsenkirchen-Bulmke *Blumendelle housing scheme, 1926, Gelsenkirchen-Schalke *Tram Depot for the Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahnen AG, 1927, Gelsenkirchen-Mitte *"Ring-Eck" residential building with shops, 1928, Gelsenkirchen-Mitte *Catholic parish church "Heilig-Kreuz", 1929, Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf *"Aloysianum" girls' high school, today " Ricarda Huch Gymnasium", 1930, Gelsenkirchen-Bulmke

External links

*
private homepage about Josef Franke (in German)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franke, Josef 1876 births 1944 deaths 19th-century German architects Expressionist architects 20th-century German architects People from Bochum

Life

Architectural style

Buildings (selected)

Further reading

External links