Erich Mendelsohns Offices – International Networks of a Jewish Architect of the 20th Century

• Applicants: Privatdozent Dr. Andreas Brämer; Privatdozent Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Knufinke; Professorin Dr. Regina Rose Stephan
• Subject Area: Art History ; Architecture, Building and Construction History, Construction Research, Sustainable Building Technology ; Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 546536228

Born in 1887 in Allenstein (today: Olsztyn, Poland), Erich – from 1939 Eric – Mendelsohn is one of the most important representatives of modern architecture. He was one of the most successful architects in Germany during the Weimar Republic. After emigrating to Great Britain in 1933, he continued to work in the British Mandate of Palestine and in the USA, where he was able to realize important projects with his offices, incorporating the respective climatic and local conditions into his designs and thus creating specific, sustainable modernist architecture with his office partners and employees. This interdisciplinary project, which focuses on architectural and contemporary history, places Erich Mendelsohn's office partners and employees at the center of research for the first time. So far, we have only little knowledge of who worked for Mendelsohn, where, for how long, in what function and on which building projects. The project will also investigate how the work for Mendelsohn is embedded in the biographies and careers of the employees and how they continued their careers after working for Mendelsohn and possibly formed networks themselves. The project is also the first to systematically investigate engineers, artists, designers and garden and open space designers with whom Mendelsohn cooperated. It is also of central importance to clarify how he built up the network of clients that helped him to obtain commissions even during his emigration. The aim of the project is to describe Mendelsohn's international entourage as a paradigmatic network of modernism. At the same time, the research will also provide the first insights into the significance of being Jewish for Mendelsohn's work. To what extent were his networks "Jewish networks"? What significance did Jewish colleagues have at what time? And how important were they after the forced emigration and for their attempts to regain a foothold in Germany after 1945? How did relationships between persecuted and surviving architects and those who were able to successfully continue their career under National Socialism develop after 1945? The project is the first to investigate the question of relationships between those persecuted and those who profited from National Socialism in the history of architecture. These questions will be examined in three sub-projects, taking into account the phases of Mendelsohn's work. The result will be a three-part monograph. The contents of the biographical project database will be available for online publication; a link to the Erich Mendelsohn Archive (EMA) of the Berlin Art Library and the Getty Research Center, Los Angeles, is in preparation. The contributions to the international conference planned for the third year of the project are to be published in a separate volume.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel, USA
• Co-Investigator: Professorin Dr. Ulrike Fauerbach
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Maristella Casciato; Vladimir Levin, Ph.D.