The team of Koschany + Zimmer Architects KZA mourns the loss of their office founder Günter Koschany. The architect and bearer of the Great Cross of Merit  died suddenly and unexpectedly on 2 December. He was 87 years old.

Koschany led his office, founded by him in Essen in 1959, to the handover to the next generation in 1998. During this time he left many architectural traces in his city, which bear his signature – always conscious of his responsibility as a builder of the built environment and his builders’ trustee. Many of them remained faithful to him for years.

Avid citizen

In addition, he was an avid citizen of Essen: For many years, he was a board member of the Circle of Friends of the theatre and philharmonic orchestra and the Essen Theatre Ring. With his ideas he also coined the social projects of the Lions club Essen-Ludgerus, which he co-founded in 1986.

A matter close to his heart was the life of the children in the city. In 1970 he founded the association „More Space for Children“, resulting in the establishment of the group „Essen – City for Children“ in 1988. In 2006, he was the initiator of the „Kinderstiftung Essen“, in whose board of trustees he committed himself as honorary chairman until the end. In 2004, Günter Koschany received an award for his special merits for the children of his city, and in 2016 the honorary badge of Essen.

Sense of adequate solutions

His sense of adequate solutions, in planning for his clients as in talking to his partners and employees, characterized him, as well as his high standards of his profession and human interaction. Until two years ago, he was a member of the advisory board of the KZA office. He remains in memory as a man with whom one could always have a friendly and open conversation.