Theodor Nußbaum

German garden and landscape architect Theodor Nußbaum won a bronze medal for his work Stadtplan Köln: Sportflächen im Stadtgebiet (Town Plan of Cologne – Sport Areas in Cologne) at the 1936 Berlin Olympics within the Art Competitions in the category Architecture, Designs For Town Planning. In total, he submitted eight elements of his project, one of them “hors concours”. He eventually became a municipal construction officer, as a commissioner of city planning in Köln.

He first worked in Leipzig for the cemetery administration and since 1910 for the city of Köln, where he was mainly responsible for sports facilities. During World War I Nußbaum worked in Poland designing and building cemeteries, and he became a specialist for cemetery and sports complex design. In 1920 he became head of the design office of the Köln garden administrative, and in 1928 was appointed head of the municipal planning and building control office. In 1933, he applied in vain for the position of the director of the horticultural office, but was deputy head from 1940-45. After World War II he was suspended, probably because of his previous membership in the Nazi Party.

Nußbaum designed several structures on the left bank of Köln next to vast meadows and a smaller boat pond, including the Adenauer and the Decksteiner ponds, used for rowing, and two other lakes beyond the Luxemburger Straße, both still existing today. At this outdoor facility he designed the Müngersdorfer Stadion used by football club 1. FC Köln and the German Sports University. His influence in the mid-1930s helping design “Maifeld,” a permanent parade ground at the Aachener Weiher, was the high point of his career. In total, he submitted eight segments of his plan, one of them “hors concours”.