Departures of note

Roland Korn was born on May 11, 1930, in Saalfeld, Thuringia. After completing training as a mason, he studied civil engineering and began working at VEB Projektierung in Berlin. His early career included work on the planned socialist city of Stalinstadt (later Eisenhüttenstadt).

From 1961 onward, Korn planned significant buildings in Berlin, including the Staatsratsgebäude (State Council Building), the Interhotel Stadt Berlin (now Park Inn), and the Haus des Reisens at Alexanderplatz. These so-called "Gesellschaftsbauten" allowed for individual architectural design within the collective planning system of the GDR and are now recognized as examples of East German modernism.

Korn served as chief architect of East Berlin from 1973 to 1989. In this role, he organized the construction of the large housing estates Marzahn and Hellersdorf, designed to accommodate 250,000 residents. He also ended the policy of demolishing historic quarters, overseeing the reconstruction of the Nikolaiviertel on its historical street network. His later works included the Dom-Hotel at Gendarmenmarkt.

After reunification, Korn worked briefly in the Berlin Senate administration before leaving in 1992. He continued working as a freelance architect until 2000. He received numerous honors including the Goethe Prize of the City of Berlin in 1980 and the Schinkel Medal in 1964. Roland Korn died on July 20, 2026, in Gera at the age of 96.