German Sonntag Tribute Page: "German" by Bert

Monday, December 10, 2007

"German" by Bert

As the Christmas season approaches, and it is in the air, I'm thinking
about how German Dad was. His childhood was totally German, as his father
was an immigrant. Every Christmas, the old Kindlichkeit of the Germans
would surround Dad in that mythical house in Jose Paz he always spoke
about. Of course, that part of his Germanity he always took very lightly.
Like Onkle Christian in Thomas Mann's "Buddenbrooks," he laughed at the
Christmas carols as something for old ladies and awed little kids. But his
Germanity went far beyond this. He had his Goethe and his Schiller always
around, though I wonder whether he ever read one of those plays all the way
through. He loved Wagner, and what is more German than that? He loved the
castles on the Rhine, where his mother's family was from: St. Goarshausen
am Rhein. He loved the serious music of the Germans, beyond Wagner, in
Bach and Beethoven, Bruckner, not to mention that 'great German
philosopher, Johann Strauss' who composed his favorite 'Fledermaus.' He
always dropped German phrases. He had German gestures, like the pouf! the
Germans blow through their cheeks when they're not quite convinced of
something. When you pointed at someone and said 'look! it's so and so!' he
would say 'Oh yeah? "Prosit Neujahr!" At one time, he ate like a Saxon.
In Buenos Aires, people in the family would always recount stories about
his appetite, about how he ordered a whole 'parrillada' just for himself.
That's Saxon. But he laughed at the Saxons, particularly the jokes about
the last King of Saxony, August der Starke, who was reputedly always drunk.
I am amazed, as I think back, about how German Dad was. I think I always
overlooked this for some reason.
Just thought I'd share some thoughts.
Berto
Albert R. Sonntag
berto55@earthlink.net

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German's Obituary

German C. Sonntag, architect, interior designer, beloved brother, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away on Sunday, December 9, 2007, in San Diego.

He was born on January 5, 1920, in Buenos Aires, the youngest of three children. His father was an immigrant from Leipzig; his mother was born in Argentina. He was educated at the Buenos Aires Germania Schule. He married Iliana Redlich in 1944, and they had seven children, who were born in Argentina between 1945 and 1958.

German received his degree in Architecture from the University of Buenos Aires in 1950. Licensed both as an architect and an engineer, he was Director of Works (Director de Obras), for the City of Buenos Aires before deciding to emigrate to the United States in 1960, and settle in Los Angeles. Here he worked initially for the architectural firm of Smith, Powell & Morgridge in the city. Thereafter, his interests turned towards design and In-Architektur, and he became the Director of Design for the General Fireproofing Company of Youngstown, Ohio. In 1969 he took on commercial and residential design as an independent, and founded his own firm under the name of Classicus, Inc. In the nineteen seventies, he undertook, under this name, several distinguished projects in Los Angeles. He designed the offices of Boyd Jeffries & Co., in the Union Bank building at Figueroa and Fifth; various offices for the Sullivan Insurance Group; Hotchkiss & Wiley; and Max Factor, Hollywood, among many others.

German taught at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), first introducing history as a subject in the training of designers, and in 1979 became Chairman of the Interior Design Department. He would frequently lead his students through walks along the streets of downtown Los Angeles, pointing out to them the significant architectural details, the arches, gavottes and architraves of the old office buildings, the now famous Art Deco, Jugendstil and neo-Gothic structures of our downtown city.

His range of talent spanned several areas of design and interior architecture, in addition to commercial interiors, and he designed private residences in Laguna Beach, Santa Monica, Malibu, Glendale, and Pasadena. German was a regular and enthusiastic participant in the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts (PSHA) program throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. To the end, he refused to abandon his work and his outreach activities. He continued to design well into his eighties. As recently as the year 2004, he won the design challenge contest on the HGTV television show, “Designers’ Challenge.”
German was active in several professional associations, especially the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), serving on the Board from 1968-1990, including several years as First Vice President and Historian of the Los Angeles Chapter. German was also an active member of the International Furnishings Design Association (IFDA), the Institute of Business Designers (IBD), the Society of Architectural Historians, the Decorative Arts Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and was an Associate Member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He published several articles in local and national magazines such as Designers West and Interior Design.

Santa Monica became his beloved home in the early 1970s, and he lived there for close to thirty-five years. He was a passionate lover of music, particularly that of the great German classics, and he loved the visual arts with equal fervor. His eye for beauty was as certain as the eagle's on his prey. An avid reader, German collected thousands of books and magazines on a diverse range of topics, which are now placed in various academic and public libraries. He traveled widely in the United States, Europe and Latin America. He was fluent in German and French, as well as his native Spanish. A cosmopolitan and cultured man – indeed, a true romantic – German will be sincerely missed by many.

German Sonntag is survived by his seven children, Albert, Fred, Alec, Iliana, Gabriela Morris (Gary), Mariana Whitmer (George), and Paul; thirteen grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; his sister Gerda Anderson and her family in Argentina; as well as various cousins scattered throughout the old German cities of Leipzig, Bonn, Luebeck, Koeln, and Mainz, with whom he remained in friendly contact throughout his life.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, January 6^,2008 from 2:00-4:00pm at Throop Memorial Church, 300 S. Los Robles, Pasadena.