Erna Grigkar

The annexation of Austria by the German Reich in 1938 meant that her employer Liane Zimbler and her family had to flee to the USA because of their Jewish roots and the studio was closed. Erna Kapinus was then assigned to the construction department of Luftgaukommando XVII, where she worked as an architect and construction manager. She mainly planned the interiors of casinos, farm buildings, offices of the air fleet commander and other military buildings. She was also responsible for preparing cost estimates.

From 1 July 1945, after the war, she worked as a freelance architect with her home and work address at Ferstelgasse 6. In the same year, she became a member of the newly founded Berufsvereinigung der bildenden Künstler Österreichs (Professional Association of Austrian Visual Artists), an organisation representing the interests of all visual artists such as painters, graphic artists, sculptors, architects and craftspeople residing in Austria. The Zentralvereinigung der Architekten (Central Association of Architects) was probably a sub-association within the professional association during these years.

Two years later, both professional and private events changed the architect’s life. In May 1947, she married the architect Rudolf Grigkar and on 27 June 1947, she successfully passed the civil engineering examination. On 12 February 1948, she obtained her licence as an architect. This made her a member of the Chamber of Engineers and for this reason she resigned from the Central Association of Architects in March 1948. However, just two years later, in 1950, she resigned her licence as an architect until 1954. In her application to the Federal Ministry of Trade and Reconstruction, Erna Grigkar cited ‘compelling family reasons’ as the reason for her resignation. Further details are not known. As an architect in Vienna, Grigkar designed several housing estates for the municipality of Vienna, both alone and in collaboration with other architects, including the Breitenfurterstraße 555-557 housing estate (1973-1975) with 24 flats in two-storey blocks. In this project, she skilfully combined architecture and open space by planning balconies for each flat and creating generous open spaces around the blocks. The complex was given a special touch by a playground sunk into the ground, which offered the children a protected space to play. The earth wall around the playground was intended to give the children a sense of security. Erna Grigkar’s husband was also a self-employed architect working in residential construction for the city.

Erna Grigkar lived in her home town all her life and left behind numerous testimonies to her commitment as an architect.

1  The Frauenakademie, originally called the Kunstschule für Frauen und Mädchen, was an art school for women in Vienna. It was founded in 1897, when it was not yet possible for women to study art at the Academy of Fine Arts – this was only possible from 1920 onwards.