Metropolis Berlin: 1880–1940

659 Pages·2012·4.707 MB·English

by  Iain Boyd Whyte, David Frisby (eds.)

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support
of the Fletcher Jones Foundation Humanities Endowment Fund
of the University of California Press Foundation, which was
established by a major gift from the Fletcher Jones Foundation.
Metropolis Berlin
WEimar and noW: GErman CUltUral CritiCism
Edward dimendberg, martin Jay, and anton Kaes, General Editors
Metropolis Berlin
1880–1940
Edited by
Iain Boyd Whyte and David Frisby
University of California press
Berkeley Los Angeles London
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University of California Press
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© 2012 by The regents of the University of California
library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
metropolis Berlin : 1880–1940 / edited by iain Boyd Whyte and david
Frisby. — 1 [edition].
pages. cm. — (Weimar and now : German cultural criticism ;
46)
includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978–0-520–27037–4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Public spaces—Germany—Berlin. 2. Berlin (Germany)—History—
sources. i. Whyte, iain Boyd, 1947–, editor of compilation. ii. Frisby,
david, editor of compilation.
NA9053.s6m48 2012
711'.40943155—dc22 2012006370
manufactured in the United states of america
20 19 18 17 16 1 5 14 13 12
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
in keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible
and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on
rolland Enviro100, a 100 percent postconsumer fiber paper that is FsC
certified, deinked, processed chlorine-free, and manufactured with re-
newable biogas energy. it is acid-free and Ecologo certified.
Contents
List of Illustrations xiii
Preface xv
General introduction 1
part one. BoomIng metropolIs
1. The metropolitan Panorama 9
1. Jules laforgue, Berlin: The Court and the City (1887) 13
2. Wilhelm loesche, Berlin North (1890) 16
3. mark twain, The German Chicago (1892) 17
4. Heinrich schackow, Berolina: A Metropolitan Aesthetic (1896) 19
5. alfred Kerr, Berlin and London (1896) 25
6. alfred Kerr, The Transformation of Potsdamer Strasse (1895, 1897) 27
7. max osborn, The Destruction of Berlin (1906) 30
8. Werner sombart, Vienna (1907) 31
9. robert Walser, Good Morning, Giantess! (1907) 33
10. august Endell, The Beauty of the Great City (1908) 35
11. oscar Bie, Life Story of a Street (1908) 41
12. robert Walser, Friedrichstrasse (1909) 41
13. max Weber, Speech for a Discussion (1910) 44
14. Vorwärts, [town Hall tower Panorama] (1902) 44
15. Ernst Bloch, Berlin, Southern City (1915–16) 46
2. Building and regulating the metropolis 49
16. Theodor Goecke, Traffic Thoroughfares and Residential Streets (1893) 52
17. rudolf adickes, The Need for Spacious Building Programs in City
Expansions and the Legal and Technical Means to Accomplish This (1895) 55
v
vi     Contents
18. Vorwärts, [deforestation around Berlin] (1908) 57
19. Die Bank, [speculation in tempelhof] (1910–11) 57
20. P. A. A. [Philip a. ashworth], Berlin (1911) 59
21. Walter lewitz, Architectural Notes on the Universal Urban Planning
Exhibition, Berlin (1911) 62
22. Various authors, The Greater Berlin Competition 1910: The Prize-Winning
Designs with Explanatory Report (1911) 64
23. Cornelius Gurlitt, Review of Greater Berlin and The Greater Berlin
Competition 1910 (1911) 69
24. sigmund schott, The Agglomeration of Cities in the German Empire:
1871–1910 (1912) 72
25. Patrick abercrombie, Berlin: Its Growth and Present State (1914) 73
3. Production, Commerce, and Consumption 77
26. Georg simmel, The Berlin Trade Exhibition (1896) 80
27. albert Hoffmann, The Wertheim Department Store in Leipziger
Strasse (1898) 84
28. robert Walser, Aschinger’s (1907) 88
29. Karl scheffler, The Retail Establishment (1907) 91
30. leo Colze, The Department Stores of Berlin (1908) 94
31. Erich Köhrer, Berlin Department Store: A Novel from the World City (1909) 97
32. Karl scheffler, Peter Behrens (1913) 98
33. Karl Ernst osthaus, The Display Window (1913) 101
34. Paul Westheim, Nordstern: The New Administration Building
in Berlin-Schöneberg (1915) 104
4. Public transport and infrastructure 107
35. anonymous, The Concourse of the Anhalter Station (1880) 111
36. alfred Kerr, New and Beautiful!—Bülowstrasse? (1900) 112
37. richard Peterson, The Traffic Problems Inherent in Large Cities
and the Means of Solving Them (1908) 115
38. Karl scheffler, The Elevated Railway and Aesthetics (1902) 118
39. august Endell, The Beauty of the Great City (1908) 122
40. anonymous, The Northern Loop: A Journey on the Ring Railway (1913) 125
41. Peter Behrens, The Influence of Time and Space Utilization on Modern
Design (1914) 127
42. Karl Ernst osthaus, The Railway Station (1914) 129
5. The Proletarian City 134
43. Theodor Goecke, The Working-Class Tenement Block in Berlin (1890) 137
44. otto von leixner, Letter Eight: A Suburban Street in New Moabit (1891) 143
45. Heinrich albrecht, The Working-Class Tenement Buildings of the Berlin
Savings and Building Society (1898) 145
46. alice salomon, A Club for Young Working Women in Berlin (1903) 148
Contents     vii
47. Werner sombart, Domesticity (1906) 150
48. albert südekum, Impoverished Berlin Dwellings—Wedding (1908) 153
49. Clara Viebig, Our Daily Bread (1907) 157
50. Karl scheffler, The Tenement Block (1911) 158
51. Käthe Kollwitz, Diary Entry, 16 April 1912 163
52. max Jacob, From Apartment House to Mass Apartment House (1912) 164
53. Victor noack, Housing and Morality (1912) 167
6. Public realm and Popular Culture 172
54. Paul lindau, Unter den Linden (1892) 176
55. anonymous, The New Prison for Berlin at Tegel (1900) 179
56. alfred Kerr, In the New Reichstag (1900) 180
57. Freisinnige Zeitung, [a military Parade] (1900) 181
58. Berliner Tageblatt, [a sunday in Berlin] (1903) 182
59. Hans ostwald, Berlin Coffeehouses (c. 1905) 183
60. Brüstlein, The Rudolf Virchow Hospital in Berlin (1907) 187
61. Jules Huret, Bruno Schmitz’s “Rheingold” for Aschinger (1909) 189
62. anonymous, New Buildings Planned for Museum Island, Berlin (1910) 190
63. Wilhelm Bode, Alfred Messel’s Plans for the New Buildings of the Royal
Museums in Berlin (1910) 192
64. Paul Westheim, Ludwig Hoffmann’s School Buildings in Berlin (1911) 193
65. max Wagenführ, The Admiral’s Palace and Its Bathing Pools (1912) 196
66. Fritz stahl (pseud. siegfried lilienthal), The Berlin City Hall (1912) 199
67. Else lasker-schüler, The Two White Benches on the Kurfürstendamm (1913) 200
68. Bruno taut, The Problem of Building an Opera House (1914) 201
69. anonymous [Joseph adler?], The Opening of the Tauentzien
Palace Café (1914) 204
7. The Bourgeois City 206
70. Theodor Fontane, The Treibel Villa (1892) 210
71. alfred Kerr, Herr Sehring Builds a Theater Dream (1895) 211
72. alfred Kerr, Up and Down the Avenues (1898) 212
73. Walther rathenau, The Most Beautiful City in the World (1899) 214
74. alfred Kerr, New Luxury, Old Squalor (1900) 217
75. Hermann muthesius, The Modern Country Home (1905) 218
76. Edmund Edel, Berlin W. (1906) 221
77. max Creutz, Charlottenburg Town Hall (1906) 223
78. max Creutz, The New Kempinski Building (1907) 225
79. maximilian rapsilber, Hotel Adlon (1907) 229
80. robert Walser, Berlin W. (1910) 230
81. robert Walser, The Little Berlin Girl (1909) 232
82. Walter lehwess, The Design Competition for Rüdesheimer Platz (1912) 237
83. Wilhelm Borchard, The Picnic Season (1914) 239
84. Paul Westheim, Building Boom (1917) 242