Rudolf Hildebrand

Rudolf Hildebrand was originally an Austrian architect, active mainly in Prague in the interwar period. He studied architecture in Graz and then in Munich under Professor Theodor Fischer, who was formative for Hildebrand's architecture, as shown in particular in the consistent rationality and emphasis on the functionality of the building. Hildebrand's practice also began in Munich, in the office of Herbert & Kurz and later with the architect Wöhler in Düsseldorf. In 1913, he moved permanently to Prague, working first as a personal assistant to the architect Karel Járay at the German Technical School, and after the First World War, also as head of his architectural office. The main clients of Jaray's office included, for example, the Czech Eskompt Bank (Česká eskomptní banka) with branches in Jihlava and Ústí nad Labem, the firearms ammunition manufacturer Sellier & Bellot, the German delicatessen shop Josef Lippert, and Julius Meinl.

After Jaray's departure for Vienna in 1926, Hildebrand continued his design activities independently. He bought out Jaray's office and took over some of the staff and the aforementioned clientele. He designed company headquarters, bank branches, factories, family and tenement houses (Villa Ritter in Chomutov, the tenement house at the corner of Kostelní and Kamenická Streets in Prague-Holešovice) as well as interior reconstructions. His most significant building – the Czech Eskompt Bank Na Příkopě (Česká eskomptní banka), on which he collaborated with Karel Járay again, dates back to the beginning of the 1930s. His architecture can be described as conservative, drawing in many ways on traditional forms. Rationalism and emphasis on the functionality of buildings, however, gives many of his projects a modern aspect. Besides Prague, Hildebrand's buildings can also be found in Benešov, Chomutov, Lovosice, Jihlava, Ústí nad Labem, and Žatec.

Because of his Austrian origins, Hildebrand experienced a decline in commissions during the 1930s. Under the Protectorate, however, his design activity boomed, thanks also to his cooperation with the occupation administration. Whether Hildebrand was sympathetic to the Nazi regime or not is unclear. At the end of the war, he fled Czechoslovakia to his native village, where he died of tuberculosis two years later.

LVo