Jewish Paths into Architecture. German-Jewish Architects in the First Half of the 20th Century

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Andreas Brämer
• Subject Area: Architecture, Building and Construction History, Construction Research, Sustainable Building Technology ; Modern and Contemporary History ; Religious Studies and Jewish Studies
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 321062067

The project explores the paths taken by Jews seeking to enter the professional field of architecture in Germany in the first half of the 20th century, along with its pre-history in the 19th century extending into the period of persecution and emigration after 1933 within the German Reich. The prime focus of this study is on the pathways of training and professionalization taken by Jewish architects during the 1920s. The generation born in the 1880s, who completed their education in the final years of Imperial Germany, was of exceptional importance for the development of architecture in the 20th century. Contemporaries often observed that numerous architects with Jewish backgrounds played a notable role.The project is guided by questions focusing on the history of the profession, while also considering the context of the more general history of architecture. What approaches were chosen by young Jews wishing to become professional architects? What were their personal and family backgrounds and what were their goals? Where did they study and receive practical training? What were the percentages involved of Jews to non-Jews? Did specific networks exist among Jewish architects? What were their connections to non-Jewish colleagues where they studied and trained, as well as to professional associations? What role was played by the relations between architects and contracting parties and employers, both Jewish and non-Jewish, privately or in public? What contracts did Jewish architects obtain and how did they position themselves in the contemporary debates on architecture? What were the reactions by non-Jewish fellow students and professional colleagues to their Jewish competitors or partners? Finally: what channels of exchange existed over and beyond the borders of the German Reich, and what was the impact of these relations during the period of persecution and annihilation after 1933?Investigation of professionalization, architecture and the market and its connections to political culture requires an approach that takes into account biographical and contemporary historical aspects, as well as aspects of institutional history and architectural history. Given the fact that the history of training and career trajectory in the field of architecture is largely under-researched, a study of the Jewish participants in this field will provide not only new knowledge on the history of Jewish architecture but also for the broader history of the profession as a whole. However, in the case of the “group“ of Jewish architects, an additional key question involves the self-ascriptions of Jewish identities by those architects themselves or such ascriptions of Jewish identity by others. This raises questions for the period before 1933 and for the period of persecution and emigration. Examination of the paths taken by German-Jewish architects into and within emigration allows us to draw conclusions on their continuing activity both after 1933 and after 1945.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants