Heinrich Tessenow facts for kids

Heinrich Tessenow (born April 7, 1876 – died November 1, 1950) was a famous German architect, a university professor, and a city planner. He was very active during a time in Germany called the Weimar Republic.

About Heinrich Tessenow

Heinrich Tessenow was one of the most important architects in Germany during the Weimar Republic period. He worked alongside other famous architects like Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe.

He was born in Rostock, which was then part of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His father was a carpenter, and Heinrich first learned the carpentry trade. Later, he studied architecture at a building school in Leipzig and at the Technical University of Munich. He later became a teacher at the Munich university.

Tessenow, along with architects Hermann Muthesius and Richard Riemerschmid, helped create the Gartenstadt Hellerau in 1908. This was near Dresden. It was a housing project that showed the first real influence of the English garden city movement in Germany. The idea was to build planned communities with lots of green spaces. This way of planning cities led to many housing projects in Germany in the 1920s. It also influenced city planning in other parts of the world, like India.

Houses in Hellerau Garden City, Dresden

During the years of the Weimar Republic, Tessenow became a member of important architectural groups. These included the Bund Deutscher Architekten and the Deutscher Werkbund. He also received special honorary degrees from the University of Rostock and the Technical University of Stuttgart.

Tessenow taught at the Institute of Technology in Berlin-Charlottenburg from 1926. However, he was fired in 1934 by the government at that time.

One of Tessenow's students was Albert Speer. Speer later became an important government official. Tessenow taught Speer in 1925. Speer's memories describe Tessenow's teaching style as very personal and informal. Tessenow believed in architecture that was simple and showed national culture. He was known for saying, "The simplest form is not always the best, but the best is always simple."

After he was fired, Tessenow lived quietly in his country home until the end of World War II. He spent his time studying how to rebuild cities in the Pomerania and Mecklenburg regions.

After the war, he was asked to teach again at the University of Berlin. He was named an Emeritus Professor, which means he was honored for his past teaching. He spent his last years working on some important projects that were never finished.

Books by Heinrich Tessenow

• Housebuilding and Such Things (written in 1916, translated into English in 1989)

Heinrich Tessenow Medal

The Festspielhaus Hellerau in Dresden, finished in 1911

Since 1962, a special gold medal has been given out in Heinrich Tessenow's honor. It is called the Heinrich Tessenow Medal. The Alfred Toepfer Foundation in Hamburg gives this medal for excellent work in architecture. Each year, the foundation also gives a scholarship, called the Heinrich Tessenow Stipendiat, to a young architect. Some past winners, like Christian Jonasse and Andrés Jaque, have become well-known professionals.

Heinrich Tessenow in Movies and TV

Heinrich Tessenow has been shown by actors in films and TV shows.

• Trevor Howard played him in the 1982 American TV show Inside the Third Reich.

See also

In Spanish: Heinrich Tessenow para niños