Franz Ehrlich. Biography and Catalog of Works
Final Report Abstract
The architect and designer Franz Ehrlich (1907–1984) studied at the Bauhaus Dessau. He was involved in the anti-fascist resistance, which is why he was taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1937. He worked there as a prisoner, and after his release he worked as a civilian employee for the SS-Neubauleitung (construction management) of the concentration camp and designed furniture, decorative objects and buildings - including the famous lettering "To each his own" in the gate to the prison camp. From 1941-1943 he worked as an architect in the SS-Wirtschaftsverwaltungshauptamt (Economic and Administrative Main Office) in Berlin; The resistance fighter had become a collaborator, if not an accomplice. After the war he wanted to take part in the development of socialism in the GDR. His best-known architectural work is the Rundfunkhaus Nalepastrasse in Berlin, the headquarters of the GDR radio until 1990, and his best-known piece of furniture is the widespread furniture series 602, which was manufactured by the Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau. The research process revealed that many bodies of knowledge about Ehrlich that have been spread over decades do not stand up to critical scrutiny. A greatly inflated image of Ehrlich has become established both in the GDR of the 1980s and in the reunified Germany of the 1990s. The professional career conveyed by Ehrlich himself was uncritically adopted and works were repeatedly attributed to him, of which, according to the archives, he was obviously not the author. A key research result of the project is to deconstruct prevailing narratives - one could also say: myths - about Ehrlich. Through extensive archival research, a more realistic picture of Ehrlich's biography and work could now be created. The research results are summarized in a comprehensive biography that was published by Suhrkamp Verlag under the title Gefangen in der Titotalitätsmaschine in 2022. The results were made available to the general public in the installation Denkmal über Ehrlichkeit that was shown by the Klassik Stiftung Weimar in the exhibition “Bauhaus and National Socialism” in 2024 and can also be viewed in the Bauhaus Museum Weimar further on. The discussion with Ehrlich is not based on the artistic quality of his work, but on his complex life path, which was significantly influenced by the highly symbolic poles “Bauhaus” and “Buchenwald”. Ehrlich takes us to the depths of German history in the 20th century; The ambivalent relationship between Bauhaus and National Socialism, modernity and totalitarian rule becomes tangible in his life and work.
Publications
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»Franz Ehrlich. Architekt, Designer, Künstler«, in: Lerchenfeld, Februarheft 2016, S. 17-19
Borries, Friedrich von & Fischer, Jens-Uwe
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»Hommage an Franz Ehrlich«, in: die architektin, 2018, Heft 3, S. 76-77
Borries, Friedrich von & Fischer, Jens-Uwe
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»Franz Ehrlich. Ein Bauhäusler im antifaschistischen Widerstand und im Konzentrationslager«, in: Bauhaus Sachsen, herausgegeben von Olaf Thormann im Auftrag des Grassi-Museum Leipzig, Stuttgart: Arnoldsche, S. 387-391. (ISBN 978-3-89790-553-5)
Borries, Friedrich von & Fischer, Jens-Uwe
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Gefangen in der Titotalitätsmaschine. Der Bauhäusler Franz Ehrlich, Berlin: Suhrkamp. (ISBN 978-3518128015)
Borries, Friedrich von & Fischer, Jens-Uwe
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Franz Ehrlichs Werk in 43 Stichworten. Gestaltung zwischen Bauhaus, Buchenwald und Sozialismus, Hamburg: Promotionsschrift HFBK Hamburg
Fischer, Jens-Uwe
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»Franz Ehrlich. Zwischen Widerstand und Kollaboration«, in: Bauhaus und Nationalsozialismus, herausgegeben von Anke Blümm, Elizabeth Otto und Patrick Rössler, München: Hirmer, S. 78-81. (ISBN 978-3-7774-4337-9)
Fischer, Jens-Uwe
