Gottfried Böhm

Gottfried Böhm (23 January 1920 – 9 June 2021) was a German architect and sculptor. His reputation is based on creating highly sculptural buildings made of concrete, steel, and glass. Böhm's first independent building was the Cologne chapel "Madonna in the Rubble" (now integrated into Peter Zumthor's design of the Kolumba museum renovation). The chapel was completed in 1949 where a medieval church once stood before it was destroyed during World War II. Böhm's most influential and recognized building is the Maria, Königin des Friedens pilgrimage church in Neviges.

In 1986, he became the first German architect to be awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize. Among the most recently completed construction projects involving Böhm are the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam (2006) and the Cologne Central Mosque, completed in 2018.

Personal life
Böhm was married to Elizabeth Haggenmüller, also an architect, until her death in 2012. He met her in 1948 while studying in Munich. She assisted him in several of his projects, mainly through interior design. Together, they had four sons: Stephan, Peter, Paul and Markus. The first three also became architects, while Markus worked as a painter. Böhm turned 100 in January 2020.

Böhm died on the night of 9 June 2021 at his home in Cologne, aged 101. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Notable buildings

• 2017 Cologne Central Mosque
• 1947–50 St. Kolumba, Cologne
• 1962–69 Bensberg City Hall
• 1968–72 Maria, Königin des Friedens pilgrimage church, Neviges
• 1968–70 Christi Auferstehung [de] (Church of Resurrection), Cologne

Awards

• 1968 – Eduard-von-der-Heydt Prize from the city of Wuppertal
• 1971 – Architecture Prize of the Association of German Architects, Düsseldorf
• 1974 – Berlin Art Prize of the Academy of Arts, Berlin
• 1975 – Big BDA award of the Association of German Architects, Bonn
• 1977 – Honorary Professor F. Villareal National University, Lima, Peru
• 1982 – Grande Medaille d'Or d'Architecture, L'Académie d'Architecture in Paris, France
• 1983 – Honorary Membership / Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects AIA
• 1985 – Fritz Schumacher Prize, Hamburg
• 1985 – Honorary doctorate, Technical University of Munich
• 1985/1986 – Price Cret Chair at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
• 1986 – Pritzker Architecture Prize, Chicago, US
• 1987 – Gebhard Fugel Prize, Munich
• 1993 – Rheinischer Kulturpreis