The architect

Zell is an architect of historicism and Heimatstil.

He studied at the Technical University in Munich, which was founded in 1868 as the "Polytechnische Schule München" (Munich Polytechnic College) under King Ludwig II (1845-1886). Through his studies, including with Friedrich von Thiersch (1852-1921), he mastered the historicist stylistic repertoire of his time. In addition, he discovered regional folk art for himself as another stylistic form of historicism. His documentation of local folk art in sketchbooks and photographs became his model. Zell successfully developed his architectural language in Heimatstil.

"That the type of construction cultivated in recent decades cannot be satisfactory and that we, with all due regard for our modern advances in construction, must nevertheless also take our domestic type of construction into account and adhere to it when creating new buildings," demanded Zell in 1902 in an article in the Süddeutsche Bauzeitung.

Heimatstil is a continuation of the regionally-based, rural and middle-class building style of the 18th and 19th centuries. It is a traditional, rather conservative architectural style that was highly popular in Munich after 1900.

Zell’s architecture shows the successful combination of regional and historicist constructions with contemporary developments and technical innovations. He himself writes in his notes that from 1908 onwards "[...] my architecture firm was one of the busiest in Munich." From 1901 to 1912 Zell taught "popular architectural construction" at the Königliche Baugewerkschule München (a forerunner of today’s university of applied sciences).

Zell designed hotels, guest and country houses, schools, churches, castles and administrative buildings, especially in rural areas. Even at the age of 80, he was still responsible for reconstruction in Munich, Augsburg and Salzburg. The Munich press celebrated Zell in 1956, on the occasion of his 90th birthday, describing him as "one of the most versatile architects in our city".

Michaela Thomas