• shows a drawing of various translocated facades from Kockerellstraße on tracing paper, drawn with ink and pencil.
• Translocations, i.e. the relocation of preserved house facades to other locations in the city, were a focus of Leo Hugot's work during his tenure as city conservator.
• Leo Hugot - Aachen architect, city conservator, cathedral architect, building researcher, archaeologist - would have been 100 years old on January 3, 2025.

The Aachen City Archive regularly presents interesting items from its stacks as Archive of the Month. The item with a short accompanying text is presented in a display case in the foyer of the city archive on Reichsweg as well as digitally on the archive's homepage. In January 2025, the Archivale of the month shows a drawing of various translocated facades from Kockerellstraße on tracing paper, drawn with ink and pencil.

On the 100th birthday of Leo Hugot
Leo Hugot was born in Burtscheid on January 3, 1925. At that time, it was not yet clear in what diverse role he would serve his hometown and the cathedral.

After attending the Kaiser-Karls-Gymnasium, he was called up for military service in 1943, even before graduating from high school. He was quickly taken prisoner, from which he only returned to Aachen in 1946. He completed his Abitur in 1948 and began studying architecture at RWTH Aachen University the following year, graduating in 1954.

Parallel to his studies, he worked at the Dombauhütte, initially as a trainee builder. Cathedral master builder Felix Kreusch soon appointed him local site manager. In the years that followed, Leo Hugot was involved in numerous projects, such as the reconstruction of St. Foillan's in 1958 and the installation of the Marienglocke bell in the cathedral tower in the same year. In 1965, he presented his first model of the Palatinate as part of the major Aachen exhibition on Charlemagne, which was supported by the Council of Europe. He was also jointly responsible for the reconstruction of the town hall towers and the reinstallation of the carillon in 1978. He often accompanied his projects himself archaeologically and recorded and described his findings, for example during the construction of his residential building at Hof 9, where he also ran his architectural office.

Preservation of house facades for the cityscape - the translocations
Hugot received his doctorate from RWTH in 1965 with a thesis on Kornelimünster Abbey. Four years later, he was appointed city conservator. In this role, he drove forward the redevelopment of the city center and tried to preserve as many listed buildings and their facades as possible for the cityscape. One of his most important methods here was translocation, i.e. moving preserved house façades to other locations in the city. He received great recognition for his work beyond the city limits and was awarded the NRW Architecture Prize of the Association of German Architects in 1975 and the Albert Steeger Prize of the Rhineland Regional Association a year later.

In April 1974, the cathedral chapter appointed Hugot as master builder of the cathedral. For him, a staunch Aachener, this completed the circle that had begun with an internship in the early 1950s. Hugot researched the cathedral intensively and analyzed the approach of the historical master builders and architects, trying to understand their mathematical calculations, numerical schemes and measurement systems and place them in their context. However, he was not only concerned with the reconstruction, restoration, conversion and furnishing of Aachen Cathedral, but also with the numerous other churches such as St. Gereon and St. Kunibert in Cologne. Hugot was also involved in the new cathedral treasury, which was opened for the 1979 pilgrimage. In this year, Aachen also celebrated the inauguration of Hugot's initiated, modern glazed choir hall windows.

On August 26, 1982, Leo Hugot died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of just 57. This happened during a meeting in his study, which is emblematic of the constant activity that drove Hugot. Hugot's death was commented on as follows by Dr. Heiner Berger, who was head of the city at the time: "What distinguished Dr. Leo Hugot was that he was a gifted architect, a city conservator who stood above the paragons and a unique cathedral architect in terms of historicity."

Leo Hugot, Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, was survived on his death by his wife Dorothea, to whom he had been married since 1956, as well as two daughters and two sons. He is buried in the family vault at the Heißberg cemetery in Burtscheid. His estate can be found in the Aachen City Archives.


Sources:

Stadtarchiv Aachen (StAAc), NLS 50-1136 (picture);

StAAc, ZTG 40-169, Aachener Nachrichten, 27.08.1982;

Christian Raabe/Heinz Günter Horn (eds.): Leo Hugot - Der Mensch. His time. His legacy, Aachen 2014.