Martin Dülfer (1 January 1859, in Breslau – 21 December 1942, in Dresden) was a German architect and professor; best known for designing theatres in the Historical and Art-Nouveau styles.
His own independent career began in 1887; creating designs in the prevailing Neo-Baroque style. Around 1900, he turned to Art-Nouveau; designing mostly apartments and commercial buildings. During this period, he built his first theatre, in Meran, soon followed by four more. Several other designs were created for project competitions, some of which received first place, but they were never implemented due to financial or political issues.
He married Käte Weigand in 1893. The marriage remained childless, but they adopted a nine-year-old boy in 1915. He also admitted to fathering an illegitimate daughter in 1905, during a visit to the United States.[citation needed]
In 1902, he was awarded the honorary title of "Royal Bavarian Professor". Four years later, he was appointed to succeed Karl Weißbach as professor of building design at the Technische Hochschule Dresden (now TU Dresden). From 1912, he served as dean of the construction department then, from 1920 to 1921 as rector and, from 1921 to 1923, as Prorector [de]. He was also a member of several professional associations, serving as chairman of the Association of German Architects. In 1909, he was one of the founding members of the Künstlervereinigung Dresden [de].
Three years later, he died. Käte was killed during the bombing of Dresden, at which time their home and estate, as well as his grave at the Alter Annenfriedhof [de], were also destroyed.
Dieter Klein: Martin Dülfer. Wegbereiter der deutschen Jugendstilarchitektur. (Arbeitshefte des Bayerischen Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege, Vol.8.), 2nd edition, Verlag Lipp, Munich 1993, ISBN3-87490-531-4