Arthur Corazza

   

  • architect, builder

    Arthur Corazza

  • Date of birth

    15. 2. 1883 Antonsthal, now a local part of Breitenbrunn, Saxony, Germany

  • Date of death

    28. 1. 1947 Innsbruck, Austria
Son of the builder Florian Corazza (born 5. 12. 1840 Brez, South Tyrol, Italy, died 17. 2. 1922, Jablonec nad Nisou) and Hermina, néeGaschütz (born 16. 4. 1851, Tragnitz, Saxony, Germany, died 5. 8. 1924, Jablonec nad Nisou). He had five siblings – Oscar (born 10. 11. 1870 Vejprty, Chomutov district, died 19. 5. 1930 Jablonec), Rudolf (born 9. 1. 1872 Vejprty, deported 18. 8. 1946), Elsa (born 8. 3. 1880 Lauter, now Lauter-Bernsbach, Saxony), Max (born 20. 6. 1885 Teplice) and Walther (born 15. 4. 1887, Jablonec nad Nisou, deported 7. 7. 1945 to Germany). The family was of the evangelical faith. Given the birthplaces of his children, it can be assumed that Florian Corazza was a bricklayer and later ran his building business in various places on the border between Bohemia and Saxony. He settled in Jablonec nad Nisou in the second half of the 1880s. Three of his sons also followed their father's footsteps – the builder Ing. Oscar Corazza, the master bricklayer Rudolf Corazza, and Ing. Arthur Corazza. His youngest son, Walther Corazza, was an electrical engineer and ran a freight forwarding company in Jablonec.

Arthur Corazza was a graduate of the State Technical School in Liberec. In 1901–1906, he worked in his father's company in Jablonec nad Nisou, which primarily specialised in the design and construction of tramways, industrial, forest, and field railways, and railway sidings; among other things, the company made a bid for the construction of an electric railway in Jihlava in 1907. He came to Jihlava in 1906. On 25 July 1907 in Liberec, he married Rosa Konschitzky (born 10. 8. 1885 Liberec, died 29. 1. 1953 Innsbruck, Austria), with whom he had two sons, Heinz (born 11. 6. 1908 Jihlava, died 2. 8. 1970 Berlin, Germany, art historian, writer) and Erich (born 21. 5. 1911 Jihlava, died 27. 9. 2000 Innsbruck, Austria, architect).

After arriving in Jihlava, Arthur Corazza worked as a teacher from 1. 9. 1906 to 1. 8. 1911 at the German Advanced Training School (Deutsche Fortbildungsschule), and from 15. 12. 1906 to 1. 5. 1909, he worked for the Municipal Building Authority in Jihlava. From 25 May 1908 to 30 March 1914, he operated under a building permit there. In spite of his relatively short period of activity, he left behind several interesting and distinctive buildings in the Art Nouveau and Neo-Classical styles – besides his own villa on today's Jiráskova Street, of note are the savings bank building at the corner of Masarykovo Square and Křížová Street and the cardboard factory, later a printing house, on Srázná Street. It is a pity that his company ended in bankruptcy, probably as a result of overestimating its own capabilities in the construction of the municipal savings bank.

From 1 April to 31 July 1914, Corazza worked at the State Stud Farm in Radautz (Státní hřebčín v Radautz) in Bukovina, and then served in the army from 1914 to 1918. On 29 April 1919, he was granted another building permit for Jihlava. At that time, however, he was already living and working in Střekov and Ústí nad Labem. Until the middle of 1922, his family, which he regularly visited, lived in Jihlava in a villa that had been foreclosed upon. In 1926, Arthur Corazza obtained a building permit for Ústí nad Labem, and in 1927, he moved with his family to Liberec, where he probably worked until the end of World War II. In the 1930s, his company also had a branch in Jablonec. Given the scope of his projects in Jihlava, it is surprising that no buildings are attributed to him in North Bohemia, although the interwar architecture in the cities where he worked, i.e. Ústí nad Labem, Liberec, and Jablonec nad Nisou, has been thoroughly mapped. Presumably, he mainly dealt with construction and legal matters, expert appraisals, and so on. After all, it is also indicated by the name and focus of his company's activities in the 1930s – his letterhead read "Ingenieur Arthur Corazza, Bauanwalt B.T.A., Reichenberg, Gablonz a/d N. ”, while in the printed Liberec directory for 1933, where he is listed in the section titled "Architekten. a) freischaffende anwalttätige (nicht Unternehmer)" it reads:"Corazza Arthur, Ing., Architekt, Bauanwalt, B. T. A., Kanzlei für Aussen- und Innenarchitektur sowie Städtebau, Bauberatungsstelle, Entwürfe, Bauleitungen, Anbots- und Rechnungsprüfungen, Schätzungen, Organisation, Gerichtsfachverft. für Hoch-, Tief- und Städtebau, Fasanggase 3". For Johann Liebieg und Comp., he compiled a detailed list of houses which served as the basis for property insurance (Versicherungstechnische Hochbau-Vorschätzung auf Grund der Geltenden Versicherungsbedingungen, verfasst durch Bauanwalt B.T.A. Ing. Arthur Corazza Arch. Reichenberg. Anlage, bzw. Unternehmen Johann Liebieg und Comp., Reichenberg Woll und Baumwollwarenfabrik Wohnhäuser, Reichenberg 1940, 897 p.).

Arthur Corazza was a member of the Schlaraffia association in Ústí nad Labem and Liberec and probably of other associations as well. From the mid-1930s, he was an ordinary member of the SdP, while his sons and wife were actively involved in the nationalist movement. After the war, Mr and Mrs Corazza lived in Innsbruck, Austria, where their younger son Erich worked as an architect. Whether they were deported or managed to escape before the end of the war thanks to their sons' contacts has not yet been established.

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