His Master´s Voice

A sad loss indeed. He was a gifted and facinating man but with none of the haughty arrogance of quite a few 'big name ' architects I could mention. I had the great pleasure and privilege of interviewing Edgar Wisniewski a couple of years ago and as we sat together in the main auditorium of the philharmonie listening to a young violinist practising I felt that i was not only being treated to a private concert but also one of those rare moments where history comes alive from the mouth of someone who was not only there but was an active protagonist. He told me about how the building came about, how he as a young architect - who happened to sing in the choir - came to be a mediator and partner in the construction of what has to be one of the most successful examples of modern public architecture in Germany - if not the world. Because Wisniewski's talents lay as much in music as in architecture he was a vital link between Scharoun and Karajan. I have no doubt that the Philharmonie would not have been half the building it became without him. I also have no doubt that his part in the design process was far greater than his modesty allowed to tell - even all those years later. He told me of how they worked out the acoustics in the round - without the benefit of computers to calculate if it would work at all. He told me of how the Wall went up during building and how the workers came to work through the sewer pipes. He told me about when Scharoun and Mies first met ( he was there) and how they discussed Paul Klee to avoid having to talk about architecture. He told me about talks with Karajan and singing in the choir. And about how he became Scharoun's partner and continued the building of the kulturforum - and how his greatest wish was to see its completion and how local politics and fashion changes got in the way. He was one of Berlin's great treasures and it saddens me when I think that not many people really realised what he achieved and how much of 'Scharoun's' work should actually be credited to him. But on the other hand he was a gentleman and probably wouldn't have had it any other way.

Ich bin dem Herrn Wisniewski einige (wenige) Male begegnet, und konnte nie den Eindruck vermeiden, mit jemanden von einer anderen Größenordnung zu tun. Nicht nur buchstäblich (meine Hand versank immer in seiner), sondern auch in seiner Aufrichtigkeit. Die Architektur lasse ich fürs Erste beiseite, darüber kann es verschiedene Auffassungen, auch die meinige - sie tuen nichts zum Thema. Denn: Traut sich jemand unsereins zu, seinem Meister, seiner Idee aus Pflicht und Überzeugung lange Dienstjahre und auch nach dem Tode zu folgen? Man mag dazu stehen wie man will (ich habe schon zu seinen Lebzeiten Stimmen hören, die "mehr Wisniewski" verlangt haben und weniger "zweit-Scharoun" - doch lassen wir sie sein), doch alleine für diese Aufrichtigkeit gehört er aufs Podest gehoben. Mein Wehmutstropfen ist ein anderes, sinngemäß wie beim Abschied Ruegenbergs (auch einer aus der Scharouns Riege). Damals hieß es "Bauen hätte er sollen". Hier - "Schüler hätte er verdient"...