Erich Mendelsohn
Encyclopedia
Erich Mendelsohn was a Jewish German architect
, known for his expressionist architecture
in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism
in his projects for department stores and cinemas.
(Olsztyn), East Prussia
, Mendelsohn was the fifth of six children; his mother was a hatmaker and his father a shopkeeper. He attended a humanist Gymnasium
in Allenstein and continued with commercial training in Berlin.
In 1906 he took up the study of national economics at the University of Munich. In 1908 he began studying architecture
at the Technical University of Berlin
; two years later he transferred to the Technical University of Munich
, where in 1912 he graduated cum laude. In Munich
he was influenced by Theodor Fischer
, an architect whose own work fell between neo-classical
and Jugendstil, and who had been teaching there since 1907; Mendelsohn also made contact with members of Der Blaue Reiter
and Die Brücke
, two groups of expressionist artists.
From 1912 to 1914 he worked as an independent architect in Munich. In 1915 he married the cellist
Luise Maas. Through her, he met the cello-playing astrophysicist
Erwin Finlay Freundlich. Freundlich was the brother of Herbert Freundlich
, the deputy director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie (now the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
in the Dahlem district of Berlin). Freundlich wished to build a suitable astronomical
observatory
to experimentally confirm Einstein
's Theory of Relativity
.
Through his relationship with Freundlich, Mendelsohn had the opportunity to design and build the Einsteinturm ("Einstein Tower
"). This relationship and also the family friendship with the Luckenwalde
hat manufacturers Salomon and Gustav Herrmann helped Mendelsohn to an early success.
From then until 1918, what is known of Mendelsohn is, above all, a multiplicity of sketches of factories and other large buildings, often small format or in letters from the front to his wife.
, he settled his practice in Berlin. The Einsteinturm and the hat factory in Luckenwalde established his reputation. As early as 1924 Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst (a series of monthly magazines on architecture) produced a booklet about his work. In that same year, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
and Walter Gropius
, he was one of the founders of the progressive architectural group known as Der Ring
.
His practice grew. In its best years, it employed as many as forty people, among them, as a trainee, Julius Posener
, later a famous architectural historian. Mendelsohn's work encapsulated the consumerism of the Weimar Republic
, most particularly in his shops: most famously the Schocken Department Stores
. Nonetheless he was also interested in the socialist experiments being made in the USSR
, where he designed the Red Banner Textile Factory
in 1926 (together with the senior architect of this project, Hyppolit Pretreaus). His Mossehaus
newspaper offices and Universum cinema were also highly influential on art deco and Streamline Moderne
.
During this time, Mendelsohn was successful both professionally and financially. In 1926, not even forty years old, he was able to buy himself an old villa. In 1928 planning began for his Rupenhorn house, nearly 4000 m², which the family occupied two years later. With an expensive publication about his generously proportioned new home, adorned with the work of Amédée Ozenfant
among others, Mendelsohn became the subject of envy.
As a Jew, seeing the rise of antisemitic tendencies in Germany, he emigrated in the spring of 1933 to England. His not inconsiderable fortune was later seized by the Nazis
, his name was struck from the list of the German Architects' Union, and he was excluded from the Prussian Academy of Arts
.
In England he began a business partnership with Serge Chermayeff
, which continued until the end of 1936. Mendelsohn had long known Chaim Weizmann
, later President of Israel
. At the start of 1934 he began planning on Weizmann's behalf a series of projects in Mandate Israel under British rule and in 1935 opened a bureau in Jerusalem, where he greatly influenced the local Jerusalem International Style, all facades fashioned in limestone. In 1938, having already dissolved his London office, he took UK citizenship, shortening his English forename to "Eric".
From 1941 until his death, Mendelsohn lived in the United States and taught at the University of California, Berkeley
. Until the end of World War II
his activities were limited by his immigration status to lectures and publications. However, he also served as an advisor to the U.S. government. For instance, in 1943 he collaborated with the U.S. Army
and Standard Oil
in order to build "German Village
", a set of replicas of typical German working-class housing estates, which would be of key importance in acquiring the know-how and experience necessary to carry out the firebombing
of Berlin. In 1945 he established himself in San Francisco. From then until his death in 1953 he undertook various projects, mostly for Jewish communities.
Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a Jewish German architect
, known for his expressionist architecture
in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism
in his projects for department stores and cinemas.
(Olsztyn), East Prussia
, Mendelsohn was the fifth of six children; his mother was a hatmaker and his father a shopkeeper. He attended a humanist Gymnasium
in Allenstein and continued with commercial training in Berlin.
In 1906 he took up the study of national economics at the University of Munich. In 1908 he began studying architecture
at the Technical University of Berlin
; two years later he transferred to the Technical University of Munich
, where in 1912 he graduated cum laude. In Munich
he was influenced by Theodor Fischer
, an architect whose own work fell between neo-classical
and Jugendstil, and who had been teaching there since 1907; Mendelsohn also made contact with members of Der Blaue Reiter
and Die Brücke
, two groups of expressionist artists.
From 1912 to 1914 he worked as an independent architect in Munich. In 1915 he married the cellist
Luise Maas. Through her, he met the cello-playing astrophysicist
Erwin Finlay Freundlich. Freundlich was the brother of Herbert Freundlich
, the deputy director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie (now the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
in the Dahlem district of Berlin). Freundlich wished to build a suitable astronomical
observatory
to experimentally confirm Einstein
's Theory of Relativity
.
Through his relationship with Freundlich, Mendelsohn had the opportunity to design and build the Einsteinturm ("Einstein Tower
"). This relationship and also the family friendship with the Luckenwalde
hat manufacturers Salomon and Gustav Herrmann helped Mendelsohn to an early success.
From then until 1918, what is known of Mendelsohn is, above all, a multiplicity of sketches of factories and other large buildings, often small format or in letters from the front to his wife.
, he settled his practice in Berlin. The Einsteinturm and the hat factory in Luckenwalde established his reputation. As early as 1924 Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst (a series of monthly magazines on architecture) produced a booklet about his work. In that same year, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
and Walter Gropius
, he was one of the founders of the progressive architectural group known as Der Ring
.
His practice grew. In its best years, it employed as many as forty people, among them, as a trainee, Julius Posener
, later a famous architectural historian. Mendelsohn's work encapsulated the consumerism of the Weimar Republic
, most particularly in his shops: most famously the Schocken Department Stores
. Nonetheless he was also interested in the socialist experiments being made in the USSR
, where he designed the Red Banner Textile Factory
in 1926 (together with the senior architect of this project, Hyppolit Pretreaus). His Mossehaus
newspaper offices and Universum cinema were also highly influential on art deco and Streamline Moderne
.
During this time, Mendelsohn was successful both professionally and financially. In 1926, not even forty years old, he was able to buy himself an old villa. In 1928 planning began for his Rupenhorn house, nearly 4000 m², which the family occupied two years later. With an expensive publication about his generously proportioned new home, adorned with the work of Amédée Ozenfant
among others, Mendelsohn became the subject of envy.
As a Jew, seeing the rise of antisemitic tendencies in Germany, he emigrated in the spring of 1933 to England. His not inconsiderable fortune was later seized by the Nazis
, his name was struck from the list of the German Architects' Union, and he was excluded from the Prussian Academy of Arts
.
In England he began a business partnership with Serge Chermayeff
, which continued until the end of 1936. Mendelsohn had long known Chaim Weizmann
, later President of Israel
. At the start of 1934 he began planning on Weizmann's behalf a series of projects in Mandate Israel under British rule and in 1935 opened a bureau in Jerusalem, where he greatly influenced the local Jerusalem International Style, all facades fashioned in limestone. In 1938, having already dissolved his London office, he took UK citizenship, shortening his English forename to "Eric".
From 1941 until his death, Mendelsohn lived in the United States and taught at the University of California, Berkeley
. Until the end of World War II
his activities were limited by his immigration status to lectures and publications. However, he also served as an advisor to the U.S. government. For instance, in 1943 he collaborated with the U.S. Army
and Standard Oil
in order to build "German Village
", a set of replicas of typical German working-class housing estates, which would be of key importance in acquiring the know-how and experience necessary to carry out the firebombing
of Berlin. In 1945 he established himself in San Francisco. From then until his death in 1953 he undertook various projects, mostly for Jewish communities.
Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a Jewish German architect
, known for his expressionist architecture
in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism
in his projects for department stores and cinemas.
(Olsztyn), East Prussia
, Mendelsohn was the fifth of six children; his mother was a hatmaker and his father a shopkeeper. He attended a humanist Gymnasium
in Allenstein and continued with commercial training in Berlin.
In 1906 he took up the study of national economics at the University of Munich. In 1908 he began studying architecture
at the Technical University of Berlin
; two years later he transferred to the Technical University of Munich
, where in 1912 he graduated cum laude. In Munich
he was influenced by Theodor Fischer
, an architect whose own work fell between neo-classical
and Jugendstil, and who had been teaching there since 1907; Mendelsohn also made contact with members of Der Blaue Reiter
and Die Brücke
, two groups of expressionist artists.
From 1912 to 1914 he worked as an independent architect in Munich. In 1915 he married the cellist
Luise Maas. Through her, he met the cello-playing astrophysicist
Erwin Finlay Freundlich. Freundlich was the brother of Herbert Freundlich
, the deputy director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie (now the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
in the Dahlem district of Berlin). Freundlich wished to build a suitable astronomical
observatory
to experimentally confirm Einstein
's Theory of Relativity
.
Through his relationship with Freundlich, Mendelsohn had the opportunity to design and build the Einsteinturm ("Einstein Tower
"). This relationship and also the family friendship with the Luckenwalde
hat manufacturers Salomon and Gustav Herrmann helped Mendelsohn to an early success.
From then until 1918, what is known of Mendelsohn is, above all, a multiplicity of sketches of factories and other large buildings, often small format or in letters from the front to his wife.
, he settled his practice in Berlin. The Einsteinturm and the hat factory in Luckenwalde established his reputation. As early as 1924 Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst (a series of monthly magazines on architecture) produced a booklet about his work. In that same year, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
and Walter Gropius
, he was one of the founders of the progressive architectural group known as Der Ring
.
His practice grew. In its best years, it employed as many as forty people, among them, as a trainee, Julius Posener
, later a famous architectural historian. Mendelsohn's work encapsulated the consumerism of the Weimar Republic
, most particularly in his shops: most famously the Schocken Department Stores
. Nonetheless he was also interested in the socialist experiments being made in the USSR
, where he designed the Red Banner Textile Factory
in 1926 (together with the senior architect of this project, Hyppolit Pretreaus). His Mossehaus
newspaper offices and Universum cinema were also highly influential on art deco and Streamline Moderne
.
During this time, Mendelsohn was successful both professionally and financially. In 1926, not even forty years old, he was able to buy himself an old villa. In 1928 planning began for his Rupenhorn house, nearly 4000 m², which the family occupied two years later. With an expensive publication about his generously proportioned new home, adorned with the work of Amédée Ozenfant
among others, Mendelsohn became the subject of envy.
As a Jew, seeing the rise of antisemitic tendencies in Germany, he emigrated in the spring of 1933 to England. His not inconsiderable fortune was later seized by the Nazis
, his name was struck from the list of the German Architects' Union, and he was excluded from the Prussian Academy of Arts
.
In England he began a business partnership with Serge Chermayeff
, which continued until the end of 1936. Mendelsohn had long known Chaim Weizmann
, later President of Israel
. At the start of 1934 he began planning on Weizmann's behalf a series of projects in Mandate Israel under British rule and in 1935 opened a bureau in Jerusalem, where he greatly influenced the local Jerusalem International Style, all facades fashioned in limestone. In 1938, having already dissolved his London office, he took UK citizenship, shortening his English forename to "Eric".
From 1941 until his death, Mendelsohn lived in the United States and taught at the University of California, Berkeley
. Until the end of World War II
his activities were limited by his immigration status to lectures and publications. However, he also served as an advisor to the U.S. government. For instance, in 1943 he collaborated with the U.S. Army
and Standard Oil
in order to build "German Village
", a set of replicas of typical German working-class housing estates, which would be of key importance in acquiring the know-how and experience necessary to carry out the firebombing
of Berlin. In 1945 he established himself in San Francisco. From then until his death in 1953 he undertook various projects, mostly for Jewish communities.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, known for his expressionist architecture
Expressionist architecture
Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement that developed in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts....
in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...
in his projects for department stores and cinemas.
Early life
Born in AllensteinOlsztyn
Olsztyn is a city in northeastern Poland, on the Łyna River. Olsztyn has been the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in the Olsztyn Voivodeship...
(Olsztyn), East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, Mendelsohn was the fifth of six children; his mother was a hatmaker and his father a shopkeeper. He attended a humanist Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Allenstein and continued with commercial training in Berlin.
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
at the Technical University of Berlin
Technical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
; two years later he transferred to the Technical University of Munich
Technical University of Munich
The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...
, where in 1912 he graduated cum laude. In Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
he was influenced by Theodor Fischer
Theodor Fischer
Theodor Fischer was a German architect and teacher.Fischer planned public housing projects for the city of Munich beginning in 1893. He was the joint founder and first chairman of the Deutscher Werkbund , as well as member of the German version of the Garden city movement...
, an architect whose own work fell between neo-classical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
and Jugendstil, and who had been teaching there since 1907; Mendelsohn also made contact with members of Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter was a group of artists from the Neue Künstlervereinigung München in Munich, Germany. The group was founded by a number of Russian emigrants, including Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, and native German artists, such as Franz Marc, August Macke and...
and Die Brücke
Die Brücke
Die Brücke was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905, after which the Brücke Museum in Berlin was named. Founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Later members were Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein and Otto Mueller...
, two groups of expressionist artists.
From 1912 to 1914 he worked as an independent architect in Munich. In 1915 he married the cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Luise Maas. Through her, he met the cello-playing astrophysicist
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...
Erwin Finlay Freundlich. Freundlich was the brother of Herbert Freundlich
Herbert Freundlich
Herbert Max Finlay Freundlich FRS was a German chemist.His father was Jewish descendable German, and his mother was from Scotland...
, the deputy director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie (now the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes publicly funded by the federal and the 16 state governments of Germany....
in the Dahlem district of Berlin). Freundlich wished to build a suitable astronomical
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
to experimentally confirm Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's Theory of Relativity
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....
.
Einstein Tower
The Einstein Tower is an astrophysical observatory in the Albert Einstein Science Park in Potsdam, Germany built by Erich Mendelsohn. It was built on the summit of the Potsdam Telegraphenberg to house a solar telescope designed by the astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich...
"). This relationship and also the family friendship with the Luckenwalde
Luckenwalde
Luckenwalde is the capital of the Teltow-Fläming district in the German state of Brandenburg. It is situated on the Nuthe river north of the Fläming Heath, at the eastern rim of the Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, about south of Berlin...
hat manufacturers Salomon and Gustav Herrmann helped Mendelsohn to an early success.
From then until 1918, what is known of Mendelsohn is, above all, a multiplicity of sketches of factories and other large buildings, often small format or in letters from the front to his wife.
Career
At the end of 1918, upon his return from World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he settled his practice in Berlin. The Einsteinturm and the hat factory in Luckenwalde established his reputation. As early as 1924 Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst (a series of monthly magazines on architecture) produced a booklet about his work. In that same year, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
and Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
, he was one of the founders of the progressive architectural group known as Der Ring
Der Ring
Der Ring was an architectural collective founded in 1926 in Berlin. It emerged out of expressionist architecture with a functionalist agenda. Der Ring was a group of young architects, formed with the objective of promoting Modernist architecture. It took a position against the prevailing...
.
Julius Posener
Julius Posener was a German architectural historian, author and higher education teacher....
, later a famous architectural historian. Mendelsohn's work encapsulated the consumerism of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, most particularly in his shops: most famously the Schocken Department Stores
Schocken Department Stores
Schocken Department Stores was a chain of department stores in Germany before the Second World War.The company was found by Simon Schocken and Salman Schocken...
. Nonetheless he was also interested in the socialist experiments being made in the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where he designed the Red Banner Textile Factory
Red Banner Textile Factory
The Red Banner Textile Factory in Leningrad , Pionerskaya ulitsa , 53 was designed by Erich Mendelsohn and later partly redesigned by S. O. Ovsyannikov, E. A. Tretyakov, and Hyppolit Pretreaus...
in 1926 (together with the senior architect of this project, Hyppolit Pretreaus). His Mossehaus
Mossehaus
Mossehaus is an office building on 18-25 Schützenstrasse in Berlin, renovated and with a corner designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1921-3.The original Mosse building housed the printing press and offices of the newspapers owned by Rudolf Mosse, mainly liberal newspapers such as the Berliner Tageblatt...
newspaper offices and Universum cinema were also highly influential on art deco and Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...
.
Amédée Ozenfant
Amédée Ozenfant was a French cubist painter.He was born into a bourgeois family in Saint-Quentin, Aisne and was educated at Dominican colleges in Saint-Sébastien...
among others, Mendelsohn became the subject of envy.
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, his name was struck from the list of the German Architects' Union, and he was excluded from the Prussian Academy of Arts
Prussian Academy of Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts was an art school set up in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Prussia. It had a decisive influence on art and its development in the German-speaking world throughout its...
.
In England he began a business partnership with Serge Chermayeff
Serge Chermayeff
Serge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian born, British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects....
, which continued until the end of 1936. Mendelsohn had long known Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
, later President of Israel
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
. At the start of 1934 he began planning on Weizmann's behalf a series of projects in Mandate Israel under British rule and in 1935 opened a bureau in Jerusalem, where he greatly influenced the local Jerusalem International Style, all facades fashioned in limestone. In 1938, having already dissolved his London office, he took UK citizenship, shortening his English forename to "Eric".
From 1941 until his death, Mendelsohn lived in the United States and taught at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Until the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
his activities were limited by his immigration status to lectures and publications. However, he also served as an advisor to the U.S. government. For instance, in 1943 he collaborated with the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
in order to build "German Village
German Village (Dugway proving ground)
German Village was the nickname for a range of residential houses constructed in 1943 by the U.S. Army in the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, roughly a hundred kilometers southwest of Salt Lake City....
", a set of replicas of typical German working-class housing estates, which would be of key importance in acquiring the know-how and experience necessary to carry out the firebombing
Firebombing
Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs....
of Berlin. In 1945 he established himself in San Francisco. From then until his death in 1953 he undertook various projects, mostly for Jewish communities.
Buildings (selected)
- Work hall of the Herrmann hat factory, Luckenwalde (1919-1920)
- Einsteinturm (solar observatory on the Telegraphenberg) in PotsdamPotsdamPotsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, 1917 or 1920-1921 (building), 1921-1924 (technical equipment). The building, its expressionistic form giving the impression of concreteConcreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
as a building material, was mostly built in brick and then covered with plaster. Mendelsohn explained this was because of delivery problems; however, it is presumed that the real reason for the choice of building materials was problems with constructing the casing. - Steinberg hat factory, Herrmann & Co, Luckenwalde (1921-1923) with a strict, angular form
- MossehausMossehausMossehaus is an office building on 18-25 Schützenstrasse in Berlin, renovated and with a corner designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1921-3.The original Mosse building housed the printing press and offices of the newspapers owned by Rudolf Mosse, mainly liberal newspapers such as the Berliner Tageblatt...
, conversion of the offices and press of Rudolf Mosse, Berlin (1921-1923) - Schocken department store, NurembergNurembergNuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
(1925-1926) - Red Flag Textile Factory, LeningradLeningradLeningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
, 1926. Mendelsohn authored the building of the power station of the factory; the other buildings were authored by S. O. Ovsyannikov, E. A. Tretyakov, and Hyppolit Pretreaus, who was the senior architect of this project. The complex of buildings of this factory is included in the List of the objects of historical and cultural heritage issued by the government of Saint-Petersburg in 2001 (with additions of 2006). - Extension and conversion of Cohen & Epstein department store, DuisburgDuisburg- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
(1925-1927) - Schocken department storeSchocken Department Store StuttgartThe Schocken Department Store was a department store in the south German town of Stuttgart....
, StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
(1926-1928). The department store, together with the Tagblatt-TurmTagblatt-TurmThe Tagblatt-Turm was one of the earliest German high-rises. This landmark is located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg; its address is Eberhardstraße 61....
(1924-1928) of Ernst-Otto Oßwald across the way, constituted an impressive ensemble of modern architecture, and was damaged only lightly in World War II. In 1960, the city of Stuttgart demolished both, despite international protest. In its place today stands Egon EiermannEgon EiermannEgon Eiermann was one of Germany's most prominent architects in the second half of the 20th century....
's unremarkable department store building (Galeria Kaufhof, previously Horten). - Exhibition pavilion for the Rudolf Mosse publishing house at the Pressa in CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
(1928) - Woga-Komplex and Universum-KinoSchaubühneThe Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz is a famous theatre in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin, located at almost the middle of the famous Kurfürstendamm. It is a conversion of the Kino Universum, designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1926. This was perhaps the first Modernist cinema built in the world, as...
(cinema), Berlin (1925-1931) - Schocken department store, ChemnitzChemnitzChemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
(1927-1930), known for its arched front with horizontal strips of windows. - His own home, Am Rupenhorn, Berlin (1928-1930)
- ColumbushausColumbushausThe Columbushaus was a nine-storey modernist office and shopping building in Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, designed by Erich Mendelsohn and completed in 1932...
, Potsdamer PlatzPotsdamer PlatzPotsdamer Platz is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
, Berlin (1928-1932), not to be confused with the "Columbia-Haus" in Berlin-Tempelhof, which was torn down in 1938 - Jewish youth center, EssenEssen- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
(1930-1933) - The De La Warr PavilionThe De La Warr PavilionThe De La Warr Pavilion is an International Style building constructed in 1935 and designed by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff; considered by some to be in an Art Deco style. Some claim it to be the first major Modernist public building in Britain, although in fact it was...
, Bexhill-on-SeaBexhill-on-SeaBexhill-on-Sea is a town and seaside resort in the county of East Sussex, in the south of England, within the District of Rother. It has a population of approximately 40,000...
, SussexSussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England (1934). In collaboration with Serge ChermayeffSerge ChermayeffSerge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian born, British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects....
. - Cohen House, ChelseaChelsea, LondonChelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, London (1934-1936). In collaboration with Serge Chermayeff. - Weizmann HouseWeizmann HouseThe Weizmann House was the home of the first President of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, and first First Lady, Vera Weizmann. The house sits atop a hill in Rehovot, and is now part of the Weizmann Institute of Science...
, Weizmann Institute campus, RehovotRehovotRehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...
near Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
(1935-1936) - Built around the same time: a cluster of three buildings on the Weizmann Institute campus, presently housing high-resolution NMRNMR spectroscopyNuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy, is a research technique that exploits the magnetic properties of certain atomic nuclei to determine physical and chemical properties of atoms or the molecules in which they are contained...
, biological MRI, and the Kimmel Center for Archeology, respectively - Hebrew University, Jerusalem (1934-1940)
- SynagogueSynagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
B'Nai Amoona, now Center of Creative Arts, University City, MissouriUniversity City, MissouriUniversity City is an inner-ring suburb in St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 35,371 in 2010 census. The city was shaped by Washington University in St. Louis, whose campus abuts the city to the southeast....
(1946-1950) - Maimonides Hospital, San Francisco (1946-1950)
- Park SynagoguePark SynagogueThe Park Synagogue, or Anshe Emeth Beth Tefilo, is a Conservative synagogue with campuses in Cleveland Heights and Pepper Pike, Ohio, suburbs of Cleveland. It is one of the oldest congregations in Ohio. Senior Rabbi Joshua Skoff began his 22nd year with the congregation in August,...
, Cleveland Heights, OhioCleveland Heights, OhioCleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, a suburb of Cleveland. The city's population was 46,121 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Cleveland Heights is located at ....
(1947-1951) - Russell House, San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
(1951)
Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a Jewish German architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, known for his expressionist architecture
Expressionist architecture
Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement that developed in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts....
in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...
in his projects for department stores and cinemas.
Early life
Born in AllensteinOlsztyn
Olsztyn is a city in northeastern Poland, on the Łyna River. Olsztyn has been the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in the Olsztyn Voivodeship...
(Olsztyn), East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, Mendelsohn was the fifth of six children; his mother was a hatmaker and his father a shopkeeper. He attended a humanist Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Allenstein and continued with commercial training in Berlin.
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
at the Technical University of Berlin
Technical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
; two years later he transferred to the Technical University of Munich
Technical University of Munich
The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...
, where in 1912 he graduated cum laude. In Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
he was influenced by Theodor Fischer
Theodor Fischer
Theodor Fischer was a German architect and teacher.Fischer planned public housing projects for the city of Munich beginning in 1893. He was the joint founder and first chairman of the Deutscher Werkbund , as well as member of the German version of the Garden city movement...
, an architect whose own work fell between neo-classical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
and Jugendstil, and who had been teaching there since 1907; Mendelsohn also made contact with members of Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter was a group of artists from the Neue Künstlervereinigung München in Munich, Germany. The group was founded by a number of Russian emigrants, including Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, and native German artists, such as Franz Marc, August Macke and...
and Die Brücke
Die Brücke
Die Brücke was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905, after which the Brücke Museum in Berlin was named. Founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Later members were Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein and Otto Mueller...
, two groups of expressionist artists.
From 1912 to 1914 he worked as an independent architect in Munich. In 1915 he married the cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Luise Maas. Through her, he met the cello-playing astrophysicist
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...
Erwin Finlay Freundlich. Freundlich was the brother of Herbert Freundlich
Herbert Freundlich
Herbert Max Finlay Freundlich FRS was a German chemist.His father was Jewish descendable German, and his mother was from Scotland...
, the deputy director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie (now the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes publicly funded by the federal and the 16 state governments of Germany....
in the Dahlem district of Berlin). Freundlich wished to build a suitable astronomical
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
to experimentally confirm Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's Theory of Relativity
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....
.
Einstein Tower
The Einstein Tower is an astrophysical observatory in the Albert Einstein Science Park in Potsdam, Germany built by Erich Mendelsohn. It was built on the summit of the Potsdam Telegraphenberg to house a solar telescope designed by the astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich...
"). This relationship and also the family friendship with the Luckenwalde
Luckenwalde
Luckenwalde is the capital of the Teltow-Fläming district in the German state of Brandenburg. It is situated on the Nuthe river north of the Fläming Heath, at the eastern rim of the Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, about south of Berlin...
hat manufacturers Salomon and Gustav Herrmann helped Mendelsohn to an early success.
From then until 1918, what is known of Mendelsohn is, above all, a multiplicity of sketches of factories and other large buildings, often small format or in letters from the front to his wife.
Career
At the end of 1918, upon his return from World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he settled his practice in Berlin. The Einsteinturm and the hat factory in Luckenwalde established his reputation. As early as 1924 Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst (a series of monthly magazines on architecture) produced a booklet about his work. In that same year, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
and Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
, he was one of the founders of the progressive architectural group known as Der Ring
Der Ring
Der Ring was an architectural collective founded in 1926 in Berlin. It emerged out of expressionist architecture with a functionalist agenda. Der Ring was a group of young architects, formed with the objective of promoting Modernist architecture. It took a position against the prevailing...
.
Julius Posener
Julius Posener was a German architectural historian, author and higher education teacher....
, later a famous architectural historian. Mendelsohn's work encapsulated the consumerism of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, most particularly in his shops: most famously the Schocken Department Stores
Schocken Department Stores
Schocken Department Stores was a chain of department stores in Germany before the Second World War.The company was found by Simon Schocken and Salman Schocken...
. Nonetheless he was also interested in the socialist experiments being made in the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where he designed the Red Banner Textile Factory
Red Banner Textile Factory
The Red Banner Textile Factory in Leningrad , Pionerskaya ulitsa , 53 was designed by Erich Mendelsohn and later partly redesigned by S. O. Ovsyannikov, E. A. Tretyakov, and Hyppolit Pretreaus...
in 1926 (together with the senior architect of this project, Hyppolit Pretreaus). His Mossehaus
Mossehaus
Mossehaus is an office building on 18-25 Schützenstrasse in Berlin, renovated and with a corner designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1921-3.The original Mosse building housed the printing press and offices of the newspapers owned by Rudolf Mosse, mainly liberal newspapers such as the Berliner Tageblatt...
newspaper offices and Universum cinema were also highly influential on art deco and Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...
.
Amédée Ozenfant
Amédée Ozenfant was a French cubist painter.He was born into a bourgeois family in Saint-Quentin, Aisne and was educated at Dominican colleges in Saint-Sébastien...
among others, Mendelsohn became the subject of envy.
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, his name was struck from the list of the German Architects' Union, and he was excluded from the Prussian Academy of Arts
Prussian Academy of Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts was an art school set up in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Prussia. It had a decisive influence on art and its development in the German-speaking world throughout its...
.
In England he began a business partnership with Serge Chermayeff
Serge Chermayeff
Serge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian born, British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects....
, which continued until the end of 1936. Mendelsohn had long known Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
, later President of Israel
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
. At the start of 1934 he began planning on Weizmann's behalf a series of projects in Mandate Israel under British rule and in 1935 opened a bureau in Jerusalem, where he greatly influenced the local Jerusalem International Style, all facades fashioned in limestone. In 1938, having already dissolved his London office, he took UK citizenship, shortening his English forename to "Eric".
From 1941 until his death, Mendelsohn lived in the United States and taught at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Until the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
his activities were limited by his immigration status to lectures and publications. However, he also served as an advisor to the U.S. government. For instance, in 1943 he collaborated with the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
in order to build "German Village
German Village (Dugway proving ground)
German Village was the nickname for a range of residential houses constructed in 1943 by the U.S. Army in the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, roughly a hundred kilometers southwest of Salt Lake City....
", a set of replicas of typical German working-class housing estates, which would be of key importance in acquiring the know-how and experience necessary to carry out the firebombing
Firebombing
Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs....
of Berlin. In 1945 he established himself in San Francisco. From then until his death in 1953 he undertook various projects, mostly for Jewish communities.
Buildings (selected)
- Work hall of the Herrmann hat factory, Luckenwalde (1919-1920)
- Einsteinturm (solar observatory on the Telegraphenberg) in PotsdamPotsdamPotsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, 1917 or 1920-1921 (building), 1921-1924 (technical equipment). The building, its expressionistic form giving the impression of concreteConcreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
as a building material, was mostly built in brick and then covered with plaster. Mendelsohn explained this was because of delivery problems; however, it is presumed that the real reason for the choice of building materials was problems with constructing the casing. - Steinberg hat factory, Herrmann & Co, Luckenwalde (1921-1923) with a strict, angular form
- MossehausMossehausMossehaus is an office building on 18-25 Schützenstrasse in Berlin, renovated and with a corner designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1921-3.The original Mosse building housed the printing press and offices of the newspapers owned by Rudolf Mosse, mainly liberal newspapers such as the Berliner Tageblatt...
, conversion of the offices and press of Rudolf Mosse, Berlin (1921-1923) - Schocken department store, NurembergNurembergNuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
(1925-1926) - Red Flag Textile Factory, LeningradLeningradLeningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
, 1926. Mendelsohn authored the building of the power station of the factory; the other buildings were authored by S. O. Ovsyannikov, E. A. Tretyakov, and Hyppolit Pretreaus, who was the senior architect of this project. The complex of buildings of this factory is included in the List of the objects of historical and cultural heritage issued by the government of Saint-Petersburg in 2001 (with additions of 2006). - Extension and conversion of Cohen & Epstein department store, DuisburgDuisburg- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
(1925-1927) - Schocken department storeSchocken Department Store StuttgartThe Schocken Department Store was a department store in the south German town of Stuttgart....
, StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
(1926-1928). The department store, together with the Tagblatt-TurmTagblatt-TurmThe Tagblatt-Turm was one of the earliest German high-rises. This landmark is located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg; its address is Eberhardstraße 61....
(1924-1928) of Ernst-Otto Oßwald across the way, constituted an impressive ensemble of modern architecture, and was damaged only lightly in World War II. In 1960, the city of Stuttgart demolished both, despite international protest. In its place today stands Egon EiermannEgon EiermannEgon Eiermann was one of Germany's most prominent architects in the second half of the 20th century....
's unremarkable department store building (Galeria Kaufhof, previously Horten). - Exhibition pavilion for the Rudolf Mosse publishing house at the Pressa in CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
(1928) - Woga-Komplex and Universum-KinoSchaubühneThe Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz is a famous theatre in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin, located at almost the middle of the famous Kurfürstendamm. It is a conversion of the Kino Universum, designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1926. This was perhaps the first Modernist cinema built in the world, as...
(cinema), Berlin (1925-1931) - Schocken department store, ChemnitzChemnitzChemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
(1927-1930), known for its arched front with horizontal strips of windows. - His own home, Am Rupenhorn, Berlin (1928-1930)
- ColumbushausColumbushausThe Columbushaus was a nine-storey modernist office and shopping building in Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, designed by Erich Mendelsohn and completed in 1932...
, Potsdamer PlatzPotsdamer PlatzPotsdamer Platz is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
, Berlin (1928-1932), not to be confused with the "Columbia-Haus" in Berlin-Tempelhof, which was torn down in 1938 - Jewish youth center, EssenEssen- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
(1930-1933) - The De La Warr PavilionThe De La Warr PavilionThe De La Warr Pavilion is an International Style building constructed in 1935 and designed by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff; considered by some to be in an Art Deco style. Some claim it to be the first major Modernist public building in Britain, although in fact it was...
, Bexhill-on-SeaBexhill-on-SeaBexhill-on-Sea is a town and seaside resort in the county of East Sussex, in the south of England, within the District of Rother. It has a population of approximately 40,000...
, SussexSussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England (1934). In collaboration with Serge ChermayeffSerge ChermayeffSerge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian born, British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects....
. - Cohen House, ChelseaChelsea, LondonChelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, London (1934-1936). In collaboration with Serge Chermayeff. - Weizmann HouseWeizmann HouseThe Weizmann House was the home of the first President of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, and first First Lady, Vera Weizmann. The house sits atop a hill in Rehovot, and is now part of the Weizmann Institute of Science...
, Weizmann Institute campus, RehovotRehovotRehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...
near Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
(1935-1936) - Built around the same time: a cluster of three buildings on the Weizmann Institute campus, presently housing high-resolution NMRNMR spectroscopyNuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy, is a research technique that exploits the magnetic properties of certain atomic nuclei to determine physical and chemical properties of atoms or the molecules in which they are contained...
, biological MRI, and the Kimmel Center for Archeology, respectively - Hebrew University, Jerusalem (1934-1940)
- SynagogueSynagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
B'Nai Amoona, now Center of Creative Arts, University City, MissouriUniversity City, MissouriUniversity City is an inner-ring suburb in St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 35,371 in 2010 census. The city was shaped by Washington University in St. Louis, whose campus abuts the city to the southeast....
(1946-1950) - Maimonides Hospital, San Francisco (1946-1950)
- Park SynagoguePark SynagogueThe Park Synagogue, or Anshe Emeth Beth Tefilo, is a Conservative synagogue with campuses in Cleveland Heights and Pepper Pike, Ohio, suburbs of Cleveland. It is one of the oldest congregations in Ohio. Senior Rabbi Joshua Skoff began his 22nd year with the congregation in August,...
, Cleveland Heights, OhioCleveland Heights, OhioCleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, a suburb of Cleveland. The city's population was 46,121 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Cleveland Heights is located at ....
(1947-1951) - Russell House, San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
(1951)
Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a Jewish German architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, known for his expressionist architecture
Expressionist architecture
Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement that developed in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts....
in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...
in his projects for department stores and cinemas.
Early life
Born in AllensteinOlsztyn
Olsztyn is a city in northeastern Poland, on the Łyna River. Olsztyn has been the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in the Olsztyn Voivodeship...
(Olsztyn), East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, Mendelsohn was the fifth of six children; his mother was a hatmaker and his father a shopkeeper. He attended a humanist Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Allenstein and continued with commercial training in Berlin.
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
at the Technical University of Berlin
Technical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
; two years later he transferred to the Technical University of Munich
Technical University of Munich
The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...
, where in 1912 he graduated cum laude. In Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
he was influenced by Theodor Fischer
Theodor Fischer
Theodor Fischer was a German architect and teacher.Fischer planned public housing projects for the city of Munich beginning in 1893. He was the joint founder and first chairman of the Deutscher Werkbund , as well as member of the German version of the Garden city movement...
, an architect whose own work fell between neo-classical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
and Jugendstil, and who had been teaching there since 1907; Mendelsohn also made contact with members of Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter was a group of artists from the Neue Künstlervereinigung München in Munich, Germany. The group was founded by a number of Russian emigrants, including Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, and native German artists, such as Franz Marc, August Macke and...
and Die Brücke
Die Brücke
Die Brücke was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905, after which the Brücke Museum in Berlin was named. Founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Later members were Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein and Otto Mueller...
, two groups of expressionist artists.
From 1912 to 1914 he worked as an independent architect in Munich. In 1915 he married the cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Luise Maas. Through her, he met the cello-playing astrophysicist
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...
Erwin Finlay Freundlich. Freundlich was the brother of Herbert Freundlich
Herbert Freundlich
Herbert Max Finlay Freundlich FRS was a German chemist.His father was Jewish descendable German, and his mother was from Scotland...
, the deputy director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie (now the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes publicly funded by the federal and the 16 state governments of Germany....
in the Dahlem district of Berlin). Freundlich wished to build a suitable astronomical
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
to experimentally confirm Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's Theory of Relativity
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....
.
Einstein Tower
The Einstein Tower is an astrophysical observatory in the Albert Einstein Science Park in Potsdam, Germany built by Erich Mendelsohn. It was built on the summit of the Potsdam Telegraphenberg to house a solar telescope designed by the astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich...
"). This relationship and also the family friendship with the Luckenwalde
Luckenwalde
Luckenwalde is the capital of the Teltow-Fläming district in the German state of Brandenburg. It is situated on the Nuthe river north of the Fläming Heath, at the eastern rim of the Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, about south of Berlin...
hat manufacturers Salomon and Gustav Herrmann helped Mendelsohn to an early success.
From then until 1918, what is known of Mendelsohn is, above all, a multiplicity of sketches of factories and other large buildings, often small format or in letters from the front to his wife.
Career
At the end of 1918, upon his return from World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he settled his practice in Berlin. The Einsteinturm and the hat factory in Luckenwalde established his reputation. As early as 1924 Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst (a series of monthly magazines on architecture) produced a booklet about his work. In that same year, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
and Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
, he was one of the founders of the progressive architectural group known as Der Ring
Der Ring
Der Ring was an architectural collective founded in 1926 in Berlin. It emerged out of expressionist architecture with a functionalist agenda. Der Ring was a group of young architects, formed with the objective of promoting Modernist architecture. It took a position against the prevailing...
.
Julius Posener
Julius Posener was a German architectural historian, author and higher education teacher....
, later a famous architectural historian. Mendelsohn's work encapsulated the consumerism of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, most particularly in his shops: most famously the Schocken Department Stores
Schocken Department Stores
Schocken Department Stores was a chain of department stores in Germany before the Second World War.The company was found by Simon Schocken and Salman Schocken...
. Nonetheless he was also interested in the socialist experiments being made in the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where he designed the Red Banner Textile Factory
Red Banner Textile Factory
The Red Banner Textile Factory in Leningrad , Pionerskaya ulitsa , 53 was designed by Erich Mendelsohn and later partly redesigned by S. O. Ovsyannikov, E. A. Tretyakov, and Hyppolit Pretreaus...
in 1926 (together with the senior architect of this project, Hyppolit Pretreaus). His Mossehaus
Mossehaus
Mossehaus is an office building on 18-25 Schützenstrasse in Berlin, renovated and with a corner designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1921-3.The original Mosse building housed the printing press and offices of the newspapers owned by Rudolf Mosse, mainly liberal newspapers such as the Berliner Tageblatt...
newspaper offices and Universum cinema were also highly influential on art deco and Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...
.
Amédée Ozenfant
Amédée Ozenfant was a French cubist painter.He was born into a bourgeois family in Saint-Quentin, Aisne and was educated at Dominican colleges in Saint-Sébastien...
among others, Mendelsohn became the subject of envy.
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, his name was struck from the list of the German Architects' Union, and he was excluded from the Prussian Academy of Arts
Prussian Academy of Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts was an art school set up in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Prussia. It had a decisive influence on art and its development in the German-speaking world throughout its...
.
In England he began a business partnership with Serge Chermayeff
Serge Chermayeff
Serge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian born, British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects....
, which continued until the end of 1936. Mendelsohn had long known Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
, later President of Israel
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
. At the start of 1934 he began planning on Weizmann's behalf a series of projects in Mandate Israel under British rule and in 1935 opened a bureau in Jerusalem, where he greatly influenced the local Jerusalem International Style, all facades fashioned in limestone. In 1938, having already dissolved his London office, he took UK citizenship, shortening his English forename to "Eric".
From 1941 until his death, Mendelsohn lived in the United States and taught at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Until the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
his activities were limited by his immigration status to lectures and publications. However, he also served as an advisor to the U.S. government. For instance, in 1943 he collaborated with the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
in order to build "German Village
German Village (Dugway proving ground)
German Village was the nickname for a range of residential houses constructed in 1943 by the U.S. Army in the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, roughly a hundred kilometers southwest of Salt Lake City....
", a set of replicas of typical German working-class housing estates, which would be of key importance in acquiring the know-how and experience necessary to carry out the firebombing
Firebombing
Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs....
of Berlin. In 1945 he established himself in San Francisco. From then until his death in 1953 he undertook various projects, mostly for Jewish communities.
Buildings (selected)
- Work hall of the Herrmann hat factory, Luckenwalde (1919-1920)
- Einsteinturm (solar observatory on the Telegraphenberg) in PotsdamPotsdamPotsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, 1917 or 1920-1921 (building), 1921-1924 (technical equipment). The building, its expressionistic form giving the impression of concreteConcreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
as a building material, was mostly built in brick and then covered with plaster. Mendelsohn explained this was because of delivery problems; however, it is presumed that the real reason for the choice of building materials was problems with constructing the casing. - Steinberg hat factory, Herrmann & Co, Luckenwalde (1921-1923) with a strict, angular form
- MossehausMossehausMossehaus is an office building on 18-25 Schützenstrasse in Berlin, renovated and with a corner designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1921-3.The original Mosse building housed the printing press and offices of the newspapers owned by Rudolf Mosse, mainly liberal newspapers such as the Berliner Tageblatt...
, conversion of the offices and press of Rudolf Mosse, Berlin (1921-1923) - Schocken department store, NurembergNurembergNuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
(1925-1926) - Red Flag Textile Factory, LeningradLeningradLeningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
, 1926. Mendelsohn authored the building of the power station of the factory; the other buildings were authored by S. O. Ovsyannikov, E. A. Tretyakov, and Hyppolit Pretreaus, who was the senior architect of this project. The complex of buildings of this factory is included in the List of the objects of historical and cultural heritage issued by the government of Saint-Petersburg in 2001 (with additions of 2006). - Extension and conversion of Cohen & Epstein department store, DuisburgDuisburg- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
(1925-1927) - Schocken department storeSchocken Department Store StuttgartThe Schocken Department Store was a department store in the south German town of Stuttgart....
, StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
(1926-1928). The department store, together with the Tagblatt-TurmTagblatt-TurmThe Tagblatt-Turm was one of the earliest German high-rises. This landmark is located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg; its address is Eberhardstraße 61....
(1924-1928) of Ernst-Otto Oßwald across the way, constituted an impressive ensemble of modern architecture, and was damaged only lightly in World War II. In 1960, the city of Stuttgart demolished both, despite international protest. In its place today stands Egon EiermannEgon EiermannEgon Eiermann was one of Germany's most prominent architects in the second half of the 20th century....
's unremarkable department store building (Galeria Kaufhof, previously Horten). - Exhibition pavilion for the Rudolf Mosse publishing house at the Pressa in CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
(1928) - Woga-Komplex and Universum-KinoSchaubühneThe Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz is a famous theatre in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin, located at almost the middle of the famous Kurfürstendamm. It is a conversion of the Kino Universum, designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1926. This was perhaps the first Modernist cinema built in the world, as...
(cinema), Berlin (1925-1931) - Schocken department store, ChemnitzChemnitzChemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
(1927-1930), known for its arched front with horizontal strips of windows. - His own home, Am Rupenhorn, Berlin (1928-1930)
- ColumbushausColumbushausThe Columbushaus was a nine-storey modernist office and shopping building in Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, designed by Erich Mendelsohn and completed in 1932...
, Potsdamer PlatzPotsdamer PlatzPotsdamer Platz is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
, Berlin (1928-1932), not to be confused with the "Columbia-Haus" in Berlin-Tempelhof, which was torn down in 1938 - Jewish youth center, EssenEssen- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
(1930-1933) - The De La Warr PavilionThe De La Warr PavilionThe De La Warr Pavilion is an International Style building constructed in 1935 and designed by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff; considered by some to be in an Art Deco style. Some claim it to be the first major Modernist public building in Britain, although in fact it was...
, Bexhill-on-SeaBexhill-on-SeaBexhill-on-Sea is a town and seaside resort in the county of East Sussex, in the south of England, within the District of Rother. It has a population of approximately 40,000...
, SussexSussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England (1934). In collaboration with Serge ChermayeffSerge ChermayeffSerge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian born, British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects....
. - Cohen House, ChelseaChelsea, LondonChelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, London (1934-1936). In collaboration with Serge Chermayeff. - Weizmann HouseWeizmann HouseThe Weizmann House was the home of the first President of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, and first First Lady, Vera Weizmann. The house sits atop a hill in Rehovot, and is now part of the Weizmann Institute of Science...
, Weizmann Institute campus, RehovotRehovotRehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...
near Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
(1935-1936) - Built around the same time: a cluster of three buildings on the Weizmann Institute campus, presently housing high-resolution NMRNMR spectroscopyNuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy, is a research technique that exploits the magnetic properties of certain atomic nuclei to determine physical and chemical properties of atoms or the molecules in which they are contained...
, biological MRI, and the Kimmel Center for Archeology, respectively - Hebrew University, Jerusalem (1934-1940)
- SynagogueSynagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
B'Nai Amoona, now Center of Creative Arts, University City, MissouriUniversity City, MissouriUniversity City is an inner-ring suburb in St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 35,371 in 2010 census. The city was shaped by Washington University in St. Louis, whose campus abuts the city to the southeast....
(1946-1950) - Maimonides Hospital, San Francisco (1946-1950)
- Park SynagoguePark SynagogueThe Park Synagogue, or Anshe Emeth Beth Tefilo, is a Conservative synagogue with campuses in Cleveland Heights and Pepper Pike, Ohio, suburbs of Cleveland. It is one of the oldest congregations in Ohio. Senior Rabbi Joshua Skoff began his 22nd year with the congregation in August,...
, Cleveland Heights, OhioCleveland Heights, OhioCleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, a suburb of Cleveland. The city's population was 46,121 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Cleveland Heights is located at ....
(1947-1951) - Russell House, San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
(1951)
Publications by Mendelsohn (in German)
- Erich Mendelsohn: Amerika. Bilderbuch eines Architekten (1976) Berlin: Nachdruck Da Capo Press, ISBN 0-306-70830-2
- Erich Mendelsohn: Rußland - Europa - Amerika. Ein architektonischer Querschnitt. (1929) Berlin
- Erich Mendelsohn: Neues Haus - Neue Welt. Mit Beiträgen von Amédée Ozenfant und Edwin Redslob (1932) Berlin. Reprinted, with an afterword by Bruno Zevi (1997) Berlin
Publications about Mendelsohn (in German)
- —, Erich Mendelsohn: Das Gesamtschaffen des Architekten. Skizzen, Entwürfe, Bauten (1930) Berlin, Reprinted by Vieweg-Verlag, Braunschweig/Wiesbaden, 1988, ISBN 3-528-18731-X
- —, Erich Mendelsohn - Dynamik und Funktion, Katalog zur Ausstellung des Instituts für Auslandsbeziehungen e. V. (1999) Hatje Canz Verlag
- Julius Posener: "Erich Mendelsohn". In: Vorlesungen zur Geschichte der neuen Architektur, special issue of Arch+ for the 75th birthday of Julius PosenerJulius PosenerJulius Posener was a German architectural historian, author and higher education teacher....
. Nr. 48, December 1997, 8-13 - Ita Heinze-Mühleib: Erich Mendelsohn. Bauten und Projekte in Palästina (1934-1941)
- Sigrid Achenbach: Erich Mendelsohn 1887-1953 : Ideen - Bauten - Projekte. Catalog for an exhibit on the 100th anniversary of his birth, Beständen der Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Willmuth Arenhövel Verlag, ISBN 3-922912-18-4
External links
- Erich and Luise Mendelsohn papers, 1894-1992. Research Library at the Getty Research Institute. Los Angeles, California. The archive, from the estate of Luise Mendelsohn, comprises the personal correspondence and documents of the Mendelsohn family. Includes transcripts or originals of correspondence between Erich and Luise Mendelsohn (1910-1953) reflecting Erich Mendelsohn's architectural, aesthetic, and political development. Other papers concern Erich's architectural legacy and include manuscripts of Luise's unpublished autobiography and biographical notes on her husband, photographs of family life and architectural projects, microfilm copies of typescripts and drawings, audiotapes of lectures, and five drawings by Erich's students.
