Paul Troost
*17. 8. 1878 – Wuppertal, Germany
†21. 1. 1934 – Munich, Germany
Biography
Paul Ludwig Troost was a German neoclassical architect. He studied under Prof. Karl Hofmann and at the Technical University in Darmstadt. After graduating, he first worked for his brother Ludwig Hofmann, who was a builder, and then for Heinrich Metzendorf. In the period from 1901 to 1902, he was the head of the Munich office of Martin Dülfer. From 1904, he worked in Munich as an independent architect. He was also a member of the German Werkbund. In 1917, he was appointed a professor. Between 1912 and 1930, he designed a series of ocean liners for the North German company Lloyd. His works are largely located in Munich. In the fall of 1930, he met Adolf Hitler, for whom he reconstructed an apartment in the Reich Chancellery building. Together with Ludwig Ruff, he shaped the architectural language of the Third Reich. He unexpectedly died in January 1934. His most famous building is the House of German Art (now the House of Art) in Munich, which was completed only in 1937 to host the propagandistic Great German Art Exhibition.
"Paul Ludwig Troost was a tall, slender Westphalian, with a shaved head. In conversation, he was reserved, without gesturing, belonging to a group of architects such as Peter Behrens, Joseph M. Olbrich, Bruno Paul, and Walter Gropius, who before 1914 represented a direction of austere architectural means, almost free of ornamentation, in reaction to ornamental Art Nouveau, merging Spartan traditionalism with elements of modernity. Troost occasionally succeeded in competitions, but he could not reach the top until 1933.
“The Führer's style” did not exist, as the party paper proclaimed. What was declared as the official Reich architecture was merely a neoclassicism mediated by Troost, which was then amplified, altered, or even grotesquely distorted. Hitler valued the timeless character of neoclassicism, especially as he believed that in the Dorian tribe he would find common ground with the Germanic world. It was undoubtedly Hitler's intention when he regularly took me to his architectural consultations in Munich. He evidently wanted to make me Troost's pupil. I was prepared to study and indeed learned a great deal from Troost. The rich, yet restrained architecture of my second teacher, limited to simple formal elements, profoundly influenced me."
Paul Ludwig Troost was a German neoclassical architect. He studied under Prof. Karl Hofmann and at the Technical University in Darmstadt. After graduating, he first worked for his brother Ludwig Hofmann, who was a builder, and then for Heinrich Metzendorf. In the period from 1901 to 1902, he was the head of the Munich office of Martin Dülfer. From 1904, he worked in Munich as an independent architect. He was also a member of the German Werkbund. In 1917, he was appointed a professor. Between 1912 and 1930, he designed a series of ocean liners for the North German company Lloyd. His works are largely located in Munich. In the fall of 1930, he met Adolf Hitler, for whom he reconstructed an apartment in the Reich Chancellery building. Together with Ludwig Ruff, he shaped the architectural language of the Third Reich. He unexpectedly died in January 1934. His most famous building is the House of German Art (now the House of Art) in Munich, which was completed only in 1937 to host the propagandistic Great German Art Exhibition.
"Paul Ludwig Troost was a tall, slender Westphalian, with a shaved head. In conversation, he was reserved, without gesturing, belonging to a group of architects such as Peter Behrens, Joseph M. Olbrich, Bruno Paul, and Walter Gropius, who before 1914 represented a direction of austere architectural means, almost free of ornamentation, in reaction to ornamental Art Nouveau, merging Spartan traditionalism with elements of modernity. Troost occasionally succeeded in competitions, but he could not reach the top until 1933.
“The Führer's style” did not exist, as the party paper proclaimed. What was declared as the official Reich architecture was merely a neoclassicism mediated by Troost, which was then amplified, altered, or even grotesquely distorted. Hitler valued the timeless character of neoclassicism, especially as he believed that in the Dorian tribe he would find common ground with the Germanic world. It was undoubtedly Hitler's intention when he regularly took me to his architectural consultations in Munich. He evidently wanted to make me Troost's pupil. I was prepared to study and indeed learned a great deal from Troost. The rich, yet restrained architecture of my second teacher, limited to simple formal elements, profoundly influenced me."
SPEER, Albert: I Directed the Third Reich, Grada, Prague, p.50
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