Erich Mendelsohn: The Berlin years, 1918-1933

The built work of Erich Mendelsohn from 1918-1933, the years in which he practiced in Berlin, has been interpreted as Expressionist, and thus marginal to the development of the International Style. Drawing upon unpublished papers and contemporary periodical articles, this dissertation recreates the climate of architectural production and criticism in Germany during the years of the Weimar Republic, establishing Mendelsohn\u27s independent position within Expressionism and his later importance by the mid twenties as a modernist. An examination of key examples of the architect\u27s work, including the Einstein Tower, the Steinberg, Hermann hat factory, the three Schocken department stores, the Universum cinema, and Columbushaus, offers insight into Weimar-era conditions of patronage, construction, and urban planning, especially those that enabled modern architects in Germany, led by Mendelsohn, to create a viable commerical style. The Netherlands, the United States, and the Soviet Union, countries to which Mendelsohn traveled in the mid twenties, are discussed as sources for the German images of modernity and the architect\u27s personal style. During the twenties and early thirties Mendelsohn received more private commissions than any other modern architect in Germany. This popularity stemmed from his ability to design eyecatching structures which could be built for very little money, and which were notable examples of efficient planning. Enlivened by advertising instead of ornament, and deftly sited so to minimize their often intrusive new scale, these buildings were among the most urbane and influential built during the period