Germany's most famous family of architects: The Böhms

With its sharp corners, Gottfried Böhm's Mary Queen of Peace pilgrimage church in Neviges near Dusseldorf resembles a jagged mountain. He is the only German to have won the prestigious Pritzker Prize, awarded in 1986 for this tour de force. Böhm is the third generation of master architects in the family, which are now the subject of a new documentary by Maurizius Staerkle-Drux and Raphael Beinder.

Like the pilgrimage church in Neviges, Gottfried Böhm's City Hall in Bensberg near Cologne, one of his greatest masterpieces, is also a kind of walk-in sculpture. Its highlight is the bizarre stairwell tower that reaches toward the sky. Böhm's rhythmic use of form is full of angles that offer unusual perspectives and often lend his works a calming sense of directness.

From antiquity until today, our buildings have always reflected the zeitgeist. They visually manifest the abstract thoughts that impact our cultures. For visionaries like Gottfried Böhm, who used to sketch church windows while sitting in his father's office as a child, lending meaning to form sometimes meant taking a leap of faith. At age 95, he takes regular swims, as the film reveals.

The City Hall ensemble in Bensberg forms a ring. Like many of Gottfried Böhm's designs, numerous buildings, including a church, are grouped around a central square. Pictured is the Bethanian Children's Village in Bergisch-Gladbach, which was completed in 1968.

In 1948, Böhm married the architect Elisabeth Haggenmüller. They had four sons: Stephan, Paul and Peter (picture, from left) have continued the family's tradition of architecture, while Markus is an artist. The filmmakers accompanied the family for two years, focusing not only on their career successes, but also on their close bond.

Peter Böhm, now 60, designed the University of Television and Film in Munich. The school's workshops, technical rooms and studios are housed in a monolithic concrete structure. In addition to young cinematic talents, the Egyptian Museum can also be found behind the rather inconspicuous, austere façade.

Consisting of a spectacular round structure and a long orthogonal building, there is plenty of spatial tension at the training center for the Cologne Fire Department. Stephan Böhm, 64, was responsible for the design, which was completed in 2005. The eldest of Gottfried Böhm's four sons, he has been involved in architectural projects as far afield as China.

This colossus of steel, concrete, glass, and wood rises majestically over Cologne. But Germany's largest mosque, designed by Paul Böhm, 55, won't be completed. Construction was stalled due to a political row and then legal strife. With prayer rooms, a library, offices and even a bazaar, the house of worship was intended to be both a cultural and spiritual center for Muslims in Germany.

Built in 2006, the Hans Otto Theater in Postdam consists of five floors. In an airy gesture, the stacked bowl-shaped roofs stretch toward the Havel River. Gottfried Böhm used a mix of concrete, glass and steel - and even integrated a pre-existing landmarked gasometer into the structure.

Gottfried Böhm is indisputably one of Germany's most significant architects. As the son of a recognized church builder, Böhm is now the patriarch of the family of designers. However, his sons have long since stepped out of their father's shadow and established themselves. An influential architect herself, Elisabeth Böhm (pictured right) passed away in 2012.