RABITZ ON THE ROOF

Today in Berlin: April 10,1891

On this day in 1891 in Berlin master bricklayer and building contractor Carl Rabitz died a respected and wealthy man.

Rabitz’s greatest - or rather best-known - professional achievement was the Rabitz-Wand - a “Rabitz wall”, now almost completely superseded by drywall construction, consisted of plastered wire mesh. Anyone who ever tried to hang a picture on the wall in an old Berlin flat and failed might have already encountered one. You are bound to fail.

But at the time when Carl Rabitz drew a patent on this form of wall construction - he was granted a patent No. DRP 3789 - it caused quite a revolution. Not only did it allow people to divide rooms into smaller units at a much lower cost - Rabitz-Bauweise proved to be very sturdy and longlasting as well as meeting high fire-proofing requirements.

But Carl Rabitz proved to be a visionary, too.