The German architect Franz Joseph Ruf known as Sep Ruf (March 9th, 1908 - July 29th, 1982) was born in Munich. With his seemingly light and transparent buildings he helped to shape the architectural landscape in Germany after WWII. The German Pavilion of the World Expo in Brussels in 1958 which he designed together with fellow architect Egon Eiermann, received international acclaim as an architectural expression of a new democratic Germany, and his design of the official Chancellor's bungalow in Bonn (1963 - 64) became a symbol of the Bonn Republic, presenting itself in a modern and cosmopolitan style.

Although the glass pavilion, which accommodated almost every German chancellor from Ludwig Erhard to Helmut Kohl and received their visitors, had sparked a debate about an adequate representation of the Federal Republic, it ultimately played a major role in the understanding of modern architecture with a majority of the population.