Clemens Holzmeister was a prominent Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n architect and stage designer of the early twentieth century. The Austrian Academy of Fine Arts listed his life's work as containing 673 projects. He is the father of Judith Holzmeister

Judith Holzmeister

Judith Maria Holzmeister was an Austrian actress. Her performances included Kunigunde opposite Ewald Balser in Franz Grillparzer's König Ottokars Glück und Ende at the reopening of the famed Vienna Burgtheater in 1955....

.

Holzmeister was born in the village of Fulpmes

Fulpmes

Fulpmes is a village in Tyrolese Stubaital, Austria, with a population of approximately 4000...

 in the Tyrol

Tyrol (state)

Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...

 state of Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. He attended the Vienna University of Technology

Vienna University of Technology

Vienna University of Technology is one of the major universities in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Founded in 1815 as the "Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute" , it currently has about 26,200 students , 8 faculties and about 4,000 staff members...

 and earned a doctorate in architecture in 1919. After submitting a prize-winning design, he became the Head of the Architecture Department of Austria's Academy of Fine Arts in 1924. In 1926 he oversaw the remodelling of the Festival Theatre in Salzburg

Salzburg

-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...

, then spent several years erecting government buildings in Ankara

Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

.

In 1931 Holzmeister became the Director of the Austrian Academy of Fine Arts. Besides building projects in Austria, Germany and Turkey, he remained the Director of the Academy until being removed from this post during the Anschluss

Anschluss

The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....

 by the new German government in 1938. Although his offices, journals and papers were seized by the Nazis, he had the good luck to be in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 on another commission at the time; during which he designed the current Turkish Parliament building (1938) as well as numerous other state buildings. He remained in Turkey until 1954, then returned to Austria, where his 1950s commissions include the Großes Festspielhaus

Großes Festspielhaus

The Großes Festspielhaus was designed by the architect Clemens Holzmeister in 1956 for the Salzburg Festival in Austria...

.

His body of work includes a large number of public and semi-public buildings and churches. Among the awards Holzmeister received during his life are the Grand State Prize of Austria (in June, 1953) and the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (in 1957).

Holzmeister repeatedly worked as a stage designer beginning in the 1930s in collaboration with Max Reinhardt

Max Reinhardt

----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...

 for whom he created the Faust-City for the Salzburg Festival

Salzburg Festival

The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...

. In the 1950s Holzmeister returned to stage design and again worked for the Salzburg Festival (Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...

) as well as the Vienna State Opera

Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...

 (Fidelio

Fidelio

Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...

, 1955, for the opening of the renovated State Opera) and the Burgtheater

Burgtheater

The Burgtheater , originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world.The Burgtheater was created in 1741 and has become known as "die Burg" by the...

. Holzmeister's stage designs always respected the requirements of stage productions but never concealed the architectonic background of their creator.

He is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in Salzburg

Salzburg

-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...

.