IV - The Ludwig Brothers in Bozen

On beginning their activity in Bozen, the architectural work of the Ludwig Brothers was more influenced by the Munich Baroque style – probably because this better suited the ideas of their clients. They opened a branch of their office around 1908 having won the competition to build what is now the primary school and kindergarten in Gries (built between 1908 and 1910, it was then known as the Kaiser-Franz-Joseph-Jubiläumsschule und Kindergarten). 

The following years saw them very busy working on the Waltherplatz, significantly influencing its current appearance. More precisely, they worked their way from the Laurinstrasse, where they built the Hotel König Laurin between 1909 and 1911, to the Waltherplatz. In the period 1911–1914 they built a residential and commercial building (Bahnhofsallee 3), a building for the Austrian Credit Institution for Trade and Commerce (Waltherplatz 8), the charming “terrace building with office space” and dome on the residence of the Princess Campofranco (Waltherplatz 11) and converted an existing school into today’s Stadthotel/Hotel Città (Waltherplatz 21). It is of note that the Waltherplatz was already one of Bozen’s urban spaces and that it did not lack German national symbolism. In the 19th century, the notion – based on circumstantial evidence – had spread that the great poet Walther von der Vogelweide was from South Tyrol, possibly from the area around Bozen.

A white marble fountain was therefore erected in his honour on the square in 1889. His statue, placed in the centre, ostentatiously faced south, positioning the poet as a defender of the predominant “Germanness” of Bozen, located on the border of the Italian cultural area. Against this backdrop, the Baroque-style architectural language used by the Ludwig Brothers on the Waltherplatz can be seen as a further sign of the townspeople’s attachment to Germanness. In addition to the Ludwig Brothers, another well-known Munich architect was also active in the city: Max Littmann (1862–1931), who specialised in the building of theatres (among other structures) designed – with interruptions during the First World War – Bozen’s Municipal Theatre, opened in 1918 but now no longer in existence. Littmann’s career path crossed that of the Ludwig Brothers in the Munich district of Bogenhausen, where their respective firms built residential buildings in green surroundings for a high-class clientele. 

Bettina Schlorhaufer 

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From Munich to Meran