The architect Franz Zell – His life’s work in Heimatstil. The film

On 28 February 2016, BR showed the ten-minute documentary "Der Architekt Franz Zell – Lebenswerk im Heimatstil" (The architect Franz Zell – his life’s work in Heimatstil) on the occasion of Franz Zell’s 150th birthday.

Georg Antretter, a television author who has already made other historical portraits, such as the 30-minute documentary on "Annette Thoma - die Grande Dame des geistlichen Volkslieds" (Annette Thoma – the grande dame of the sacred folk song), set out to trace Zell’s life and work in January 2016.

Antretter looked at how many areas Zell has been "involved" in and for how long. Franz Zell’s contacts read like a "who’s who" of Bavarian folklore for the filmmaker. The diversity of Zell’s buildings, from churches to the dance venues and his building projects from Neu-Ulm to Hungary surprised him.

The filmmaker received research tips from:

• Bärbel Kleindorfer Marx, who wrote her dissertation on "Volkskunst als Stil. Entwürfe von Franz Zell für die Chamer Möbelfabrik Schoyerer" (Folk art as a style. Designs by Franz Zell for Chamer Möbelfabrik Schoyerer) in 1994;
• Dr Constanze Werner, the director of the Oberammergau Museum. Zell designed this museum as an architect and furnished it with his knowledge of folk art.
• Michaela Nenninger (now Thomas), who wrote about Zell’s architecture in 1990 and 1992;
• ... and from Zell’s great-granddaughter and great-grandson: Marlene Kulisch and Christian Hiltl.

Michaela Thomas