Albert Speer (born 1934)

Albert Speer (German pronunciation: [ˈʃpeːɐ̯]; 29 July 1934 – 15 September 2017) was a German architect and urban planner. He was the son of Albert Speer (1905–1981), Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming the office of Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich during World War II.[1][2] His grandfather, Albert Friedrich Speer, was also an architect.

Albert Speer
Albert Speer in 2010
Born(1934-07-29)29 July 1934
Berlin, Nazi Germany
Died15 September 2017(2017-09-15) (aged 83)
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
OccupationArchitect
Parents

Career

Speer claimed that his decision to become an architect had nothing to do with his father.[3] He considered urban planning to be his main area, rather than architecture.[4] He won his first international prize in 1964, and then opened his own architect's office. He worked in Saudi Arabia. In 1977, he became professor of urban planning at the University of Kaiserslautern. His firm has had an office in Shanghai since 2001.[5]

In 1984, he founded the company Büro Albert Speer & Partner in Frankfurt am Main.[6] He was responsible for the design of Expo 2000 in Hanover, design of the Shanghai International Automobile City, and the central axis in Beijing created while serving as lead designer for the 2008 Olympics.[7][8] Speer was part of the architectural firm involved in Munich's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics,[9] and in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. He died on 15 September 2017 at the age of 83 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, after complications with a surgery performed after falling in his home.[10]

  • Masterplan for the EXPO 2000 Hannover
  • BMW-branch Dreieich
  • Victoria-Turm Mannheim
  • Oval am Baseler Platz building in Frankfurt am Main
  • Europaviertel in Frankfurt am Main (Model)

Relationship with his father

As with the other children of Nazi officials, such as Gudrun Himmler and Edda Göring, Speer had to approach the topic of his father's infamy. While Himmler would attempt to rehabilitate her father's image, and Goering tried her best to avoid speaking about it at all, Speer has said that he "tried his whole life to separate himself from his father".[3] Speer is credited with being one of the few children of Nazi leaders to recognize the wrongs of their parent. Speer said that, as a child, his father "was not the kind of father who went over your homework", referring to inattentiveness and mild neglect, but also said that Hitler was "a nice uncle, from my childish perspective."[11] He said he did not hate his father and considered him "a good architect, much more modern than people think today".[12]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-12-28. Retrieved 2012-04-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Khrushcheva, Nina (7 August 2008). "Olympic hubris: Albert Speer's son helped design the architecture of the Beijing games. But the similarities with Berlin 1936 don't end there". London: Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  3. Ewing, Jack (2017-09-21). "Albert Speer Jr., Architect and Son of Hitler Confidant, Dies at 83". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  4. Erling, Johnny. "Prof. Albert Speer Architect, urban planner". Professor Albert Speer. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  5. DW Staff (jp) (20 April 2004). "Architect Sheds Father's Legacy in China". dw-world.de. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  6. "Profile". www.as-p.de. AS&P – Albert Speer & Partner GmbH. Archived from the original on 6 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  7. Smith, Nicola; Bagenal, Flora (12 August 2007). "Hitler architect's son redraws Beijing". www.timesonline.co.uk. London: Times Newspapers Limited. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  8. Klein, Jeff Z. "The Starting Line: From Jacques Rogge to Albert Speer Jr. to Leo Messi to Nude Britons, the Olympics Are Almost Here". olympics.blogs.nytimes.com. Archived from the original on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  9. List of proposed sports facilities to be used for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Munich, including Speer Jr.'s company. – accessed 17 October 2009. Archived October 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "AS+P trauert um Professor Albert Speer". www.as-p.de. AS&P – Albert Speer & Partner GmbH. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  11. AFP and TOI staff. "German architect Albert Speer, who knew Hitler as 'a nice uncle,' dead at 83". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  12. Rogers, Thomas (5 May 2017). "The Complicated Architecture of Albert Speer, Jr". The New Yorker. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
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