Willy Graf

Willy Graf (from 1919 known as William Ritter von Graf) was a German architect based in Stuttgart. During World War I, Graf served in the Prussian army and was ennobled for his heroism. His firm Graf & Roeckle designed a number of notable buildings in Germany, including synagogues. He also designed a plaque honoring Jewish soldiers from Stuttgart who had fought in World War I. The august synagogue he designed in Mainz, erected on Hindenburgstrasse in 1911–1912, included a central, circular nave with a large dome and side wings housing a weekday synagogue, community rooms, wedding hall, and a Museum of Jewish Antiquities. It was looted and burned on Kristallnacht in 1938. Graf continued to live and work in Germany during the Nazi period and afterward.