Introduction
Oskar Adolf Marmorek (Hebrew: אוסקר מרמורק; 9 April 1863 – 7 April 1909) was an Austria-Hungarian architect and Zionist.
Architecture
Political activism
In 1895, Marmorek met the Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist who founded modern political Zionism, Theodor Herzl. The publication of Herzl's book Der Judenstaat in 1896 and the first World Zionist Congress, organized together with Theodor Herzl and Max Nordau in 1897, formed a break in Marmorek's life. Oskar then decided to dedicate himself completely to the Zionism. In May 1901, the architect, acting as Secretary of the Actions Committee, traveled to Istanbul with Theodor Herzl and David Wolffsohn, Chairman of the Jewish Colonial Trust to meet the Sultan Abdul Hamid II. For his utopian novel Altneuland ("Old New Land") considered as one of Zionism’s establishing texts, Herzl modeled the character of "Dr Steineck" on his friend and collaborator Oskar Marmorek.
After the death of his friend in 1904, Oskar Marmorek was appointed by the Greater Actions Committee of the World Zionist Organization to act as Chairman until the election of David Wolffsohn as new President in 1905.
Major works
- Exhibition Alt-Wien, 1894
- Venedig in Wien, 1895
- Villa and Palais Egyedi, Budapest, 1896
- Annex Sanatorium in Zuckmantel (Czech: Zlaté Hory), 1897
- Nestroyhof, Wien, 1898
- Rüdigerhof, Wien, 1902
- Windmühlgasse 32, Wien, 1902