Theodor Pabst (15 January 1905 – 4 October 1979) was a German architect, civil servant and professor.

Early life and education

Theodor Pabst was born in Passau, the son of

Royal Bavarian State Railways The Royal Bavarian State Railways (''Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen'' or ''K.Bay.Sts.B.'') was the state railway company for the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was founded in 1844. The organisation grew into the second largest of the German ...

surveyor Theodor Pabst. In 1910, his father was transferred to Regensburg, where the family would experience

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and the post-war period. In 1921, the family moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. In the winter of 1924, Pabst began studying architecture at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

under professors

Theodor Fischer Theodor Fischer (28 May 1862 – 25 December 1938) was a German architect and teacher. Career Fischer planned public housing projects for the city of Munich beginning in 1893. He was the joint founder and first chairman of the Deutscher Wer ...

and

German Bestelmeyer German Bestelmeyer (8 June 1874 – 30 June 1942) was a German architect, university lecturer, and proponent of Nazi architecture. Most of his work was in South Germany. Life and career Bestelmeyer was born in Nuremberg, the son of a militar ...

. He graduated in 1929.

Career

After graduating, Pabst worked as a construction trainee at the Munich under Oberbaurat . There he completed the government builder state exam in 1931. Unable to find work, he moved to the office of his fellow student in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

. On May 1, 1933, Pabst joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

, allegedly to be able to participate in competitions and improve his chances of finding employment. He was a caretaker and block helper for the

National Socialist People's Welfare The National Socialist People's Welfare (german: Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt, NSV) was a social welfare organization during the Third Reich. The NSV was originally established in 1931 as a small Nazi Party-affiliated charity active loca ...

. He was drafted into military service several times in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. From 1941 to 1945, he was a major in the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

Building Council in Russia. In his memoirs, Pabst did not speak on his exact activities as a construction officer for the Luftwaffe.

Later life

In 1948, on the recommendation of

Ernst Neufert Ernst Neufert (15 March 1900 – 23 February 1986) was a German architect who is known as an assistant of Walter Gropius, as a teacher and member of various standardization organizations, and especially for his widely disseminated reference book '' ...

, Pabst became a substitute architecture professor at the

Technische Universität Darmstadt The Technische Universität Darmstadt (official English name Technical University of Darmstadt, sometimes also referred to as Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly known as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmstadt ...

. He received a full time teaching position on 17 June 1949, and taught at the TU Darmstadt until 1972. Pabst died in Munich on 4 October 1979.

Selected works

*1933–1934: Fliegerhorst

Göppingen Göppingen ( Swabian: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the b ...

*1934:

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

Mustersiedlung in

*1954–1955: Institut für Massivbau at the

*1950–1951: Merckhaus in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

*1950–1951: Galeria Kaufhof in Munich *1953: Haus Schlotter in Darmstadt *1953–1957: Neue Maxburg in Munich (with

Sep Ruf Sep Ruf (full name Franz Joseph Ruf; 9 March 1908, in Munich – 29 July 1982, in Munich) was a German architect and designer strongly associated with the Bauhaus group. He was one of the representatives of modern architecture in Germany a ...

) *1956–1957: Kunsthalle Darmstadt *1960–1965: Neustädter Rathaus in

Hanau Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its station is a major railway junction and it has a port on the rive ...

*1964–1966:

Mannheimer Mannheimer is a German language surname, meaning a person from Mannheim. Spelling variants include Manheimer and Mannerheim. It may refer to: * Albert Mannheimer (1913–1972), American writer *Anna Mannheimer (born 1963), Swedish journalist *Cari ...

Kunstverein

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pabst, Theo 1905 births 1979 deaths German architects 20th-century German architects Bavarian architects Architects from Munich Nazi Party members Architects in the Nazi Party Technical University of Munich alumni Academic staff of Technische Universität Darmstadt