German Sonntag Tribute Page

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Today Mom and I drove up Mt. Wilson, almost to the very top. We drove as far as we could drive. Unfortunately there was a big locked gate blocking the road to the very top, so we were not able to go through there and park in the place where we were supposed to meet Berto, Gabi and Gary. (None of us knew that the observatory is closed until April!) Not knowing where the big parking lot was, we just parked in the nearest parking lot we could find.

The mountain was awesome. I rarely get to see a sight like this. It was a stunningly clear day, beautiful and bright. The wind was cold up there on the mountain, but the scent of pines is the sweetest scent in the world.

We went to scatter your ashes, Grandpa, and to say a last farewell. This was Berto's thought, and for this I am grateful to him. We did not scatter all of your ashes into the wind because of the mix-up. But still, we gave you a nice moment.

Mom and I drove until we found a perfect vantage point where we released some of the ashes. The dust blew into the wind and over the treetops. We said, “Goodbye, Dad,” and “Goodbye, Grandpa.”

Here is the view where we let your ashes disappear and become part of the universe.

(Click on the images to see larger size.)

And here are just a few more images that I am posting in order to share the experience we had on the mountain. Mom and I took these pictures while we waited and while we looked around for Gabi, Gary and Berto. It was sad to us that we could not meet up with them like we wanted to. Mom was in a sad mood on the drive home, down the mountain. I don't want you to think that we were entirely cheerful. However, we felt that we would make the best of it and enjoy the gorgeous views and natural wonders. Regarding locations, the two close-ups of Mom and me were taken near where we had parked our car, by the Red Box Picnic Area... And the others were taken when we were driving and looking around - we stopped at a trailhead where we explored a little, while we talked to other hikers about the trails leading up the mountain.

I couldn't help but enjoy the wonders of the sight I was seeing, and appreciate the day. Grandpa, I believe that you would have appreciated it too... As Mom and I discussed today, we both feel that we inherited your tendency to be in a good mood, most of the time, naturally!

We love you. We miss you. No matter how many days or months (or years) pass since you left us, we will be thinking of you!!!

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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.