Karl Nikolaus Bonatz (1882–1951) was a German architect, best known for designing a

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

in 1943 that is now an art gallery.

Life & Work

He was the younger brother of fellow architect

Paul Bonatz Paul Bonatz (6 December 1877 – 20 December 1956) was a German architect, member of the Stuttgart School and professor at the technical university in that city during part of World War II, and from 1954 until his death. He worked in many styl ...

. The brothers presented a plan for modernising the Hôpital civil de Strasbourg and were commissioned by the city, their then hometown, to carry out the plans. After completing successively the clinic for epidemic diseases (1906), the general technical buildings (1909), the pediatric clinics (1910), the maternity clinic (1911), the neurological clinic (1912), the surgical clinic B, the medical clinic B, the radiological department and the baths (1914) Karl was recruited in 1915 to serve in World War One. Thereafter he returned to

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and in 1919 he opened an architectural firm of his own, before being expelled from France in 1921. After several stations, among others in Merseburg working in public service of the

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

he changed position and served as Magistratsoberbaurat, one of Berlin's several equally ranked high city officials for construction, between 1927 and 1937. In 1940 he was employed by

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...

in his office of inspector general for constructions in Berlin. Bonatz designed several bunkers, among them the Reichsbahnbunker (railway bunker), built in

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuz ...

, Berlin, that could house 3,000 people. Planning began in 1943, under the supervision of

. Bonatz succeeded

Hans Scharoun Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (; 20 September 1893 – 25 November 1972) was a German architect best known for designing the (home to the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important exponent of Organic arc ...

as chief planner of

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

. Both intended the reconstruction of the Berliner Schloss, which was later demolished by the socialist regime.Maether: ''Die Vernichtung des Berliner Stadtschlosses.'' 2000, S. 41–44.

References

External links

*Thomas Lautenschlag
''Karl Bonatz (1882–1951), Architect.''
Flickr.com 1882 births 1951 deaths 20th-century German architects People from Haut-Rhin {{Germany-architect-stub