Name Friedrich Zollinger | Role Architect | |
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Died April 19, 1945, Rosenheim, Germany | ||
Friedrich Zollinger, also known as Fritz Zollinger (March 31, 1880 – April 19, 1945) was a German architect, engineer, buildings official and town planner.
Contents
He served as city architect in Merseburg, and developed the "Zollinger roof" (a timber lamella roofing system), and the no-fines concreting process.
Fritz Zollinger was not related to the Swiss architect Otto Zollinger (1886–1970) who worked in Saarbrucken from 1924 to 1944.
Life
Born and raised in Wiesbaden, Zollinger completed his Abitur in 1898 to graduate from secondary school (Stadtischen Oberrealschule). He went on to study architecture and urban planning at the Technical University of Darmstadt (Technische Hochschule Darmstadt). He completed his studies in 1907 with a thesis in the field of urban planning. Following his military service (1907–1908) he went into government service. From 1908 to 1910 he worked for the Building Department in Dieburg, following which he worked for the Ministry of Finance of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in Darmstadt and for the Railway Directorate in Frankfurt am Main. From October 1911 to December 1912 he was city architect in Aschaffenburg, in charge of the building construction department. From the beginning of 1913, Zollinger served as city construction inspector in Berlin-Neukolln. At the beginning of the First World War he served in the military for three months before taking the place of the recently deceased city architect of Berlin-Neukolln.
In 1918 he was appointed city architect in Merseburg. Following the First World War there was a severe housing shortage in the industrial region around Merseburg. As city architect, Zollinger created a general development plan for the city in 1922. At the same time he founded the Merseburg construction company, where he was able to apply his creativity to provide low-cost accommodation. The construction process used streamlined design, poured concrete construction, the Zollinger lamella roof, and also involved the future residents in a number of activities. By following this approach much affordable housing could be constructed in a short time. Between 1922 and 1929 the Merseburg construction company built 1250 housing units. In 1930 Zollinger decided not to extend his contract with the city of Merseburg. In the following years he was self-employed and undertook several educational trips, including to Britain and France.
In 1932 Zollinger finally left Merseburg and until 1934 he taught at the Technical University of Darmstadt, after which he moved to Munich. He died in 1945 in Aising-Kaltmuhl in Southern Bavaria near the border with Austria.