Constructing and Reconstructing History in Twentieth-Century German Architecture

The battle in architecture between the internationalist voices of modernism and the localized resistance, which favored traditional technologies and regional precedents, reflected in microcosm the violent and complex histories of twentieth-century Germany. The chapters in this book span the years from 1902 to 1991 and interrogate the ways in which architecture constructed and reconstructed these histories, with a primary focus on those voices that were opposed to the dogmas of modernism. All translated into English for the first time, the chapters reflect the changing eras and contours of the German nation. They were written in the German Empire (1871–1918); the Weimar Republic (1918–1933); the Third Reich (1933–1945); the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic (GDR), which both existed from 1949 to 1990; and, finally, the reunified Germany that came into being in 1990 when the former GDR and the reunified Berlin joined the Federal Republic of Germany.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Art in Translation.

Alexander Luckmann is a Ph.D. student specializing in histories of architecture, preservation, and landscape. His primary research focus is twentieth-century German religious architecture. Additional research interests include historic preservation, American churches and real estate, California modernism, and the German-American monk and architect Cajetan Baumann.

Volker M. Welter is an architectural historian specializing in modern architecture from the nineteenth century onwards, mainly in California but also in Great Britain and Germany. His research interests center on domestic architecture; émigré architects; patronage, histories of modernism, revival styles, and sustainable architecture.