26 July 2017 will be the 50th anniversary of Josef Ganz’s death. He passed away in his hometown of St Kilda. Later this year, Port Phillip council will honour him in a plaque at Edgewater Towers, the St Kilda apartment block where automotive engineer Josef Ganz lived for a number of years up until his death.
The council’s heritage plaque to be placed on the Marine Parade frontage will note that the 13-storey Edgewater Towers, which has stunning views of St Kilda and Melbourne CBD, was Melbourne’s first privately developed high rise apartment block. It says notable residents include “Joseph Ganz, the Jewish automotive engineer who was the originator of the Volkswagen” and politician and cyclist Sir Hubert “Oppy” Opperman.
The Dutch film team working on the documentary about Josef Ganz will be present at the ceremony.
Further reading: ‘Did St Kilda Man Invent the Volkswagen?‘, The Age, 23 July 2017
