Paul Schneider-Esleben

His early designs, including the Hanielgarage [de]—a multi-storey carpark constructed in 1951, and the building that made him famous[3]—followed the principles of the New Objectivity movement of the 1920s.

In 1955 he won a competition to design the expansion of Mannesmann-Hochhaus [de], Mannesmann's head office in Düsseldorf,[1] which was the first German building to be constructed with a steel frame structure and curtain walls.

[4] He worked with artist members of Zero—Günther Uecker, Heinz Mack, Josef Piene and Joseph Beuys—in 1957–1961 to design the Rolandschule [de].

[8] He received the North Rhine-Westphalia State Prize for Architecture in 1956, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1968 and 1987, and an honorary doctorate from RWTH Aachen University in 1993.

[6] Schneider-Esleben married Evamaria van Diemen-Meyerhof (1922–2007), a writer of Jewish descent, in 1946, against the will of his father, who remained a loyal Nazi.