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Emil Fahrenkamp (November 8, 1885, Aachen – May 24, 1966,
on the Shell House in Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahrenkamp, Emil 1885 births 1966 deaths 20th-century German architects People from Aachen
Emil Fahrenkamp (November 8, 1885, Aachen – May 24, 1966, Ratingen-Breitscheid
Breitscheid is a quarter of the city Ratingen in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous me ...
) was a German architect and professor. One of the most prominent architects of the period between the first and second World Wars, he is best known for his 1931 Shell-Haus
The Shell-Haus (Shell House) is a classical modernist architectural masterpiece that stands overlooking the Landwehrkanal in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany. It was designed by Emil Fahrenkamp and was built in 1930–31.
Buildin ...
in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
.
Life and career
Born in Aachen, Fahrenkamp came toDüsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
to work in the office of Wilhelm Kreis from 1909 to 1912. He became an assistant, then professor, at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art. His work in the 1920s and early 1930s was an integration of progressive Neues Bauen—simplified forms, flat roofs, repeated window patterns—with features of traditional styles.
The Shell-Haus is widely considered Fahrenkamp's masterpiece, and one of the most significant office block designs of the Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
. It didn't escape criticism, however: One of the only times Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
inveighed against a specific building in Berlin, as opposed to modern urban architecture in general, was when he told Fahrenkamp, "You're the man who committed the crime of the Shell Building." Despite this, Fahrenkamp received Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
commissions for exhibition buildings, and had dealings with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels; Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
, the head of the Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
and the Four Year Plan
The Four Year Plan was a series of economic measures initiated by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany in 1936. Hitler placed Hermann Göring in charge of these measures, making him a Reich Plenipotentiary (Reichsbevollmächtigter) whose jurisdiction cut a ...
; and Albert Speer, Hitler's favorite architect and later Minister of Armaments and War Production. When Fahrenkamp was "de-Nazified" after the war, he remained active as an architect but withdrew from public life.
He died on May 24, 1966, leaving behind a wife and two daughters.
See also
* DenazificationReferences
External links
*on the Shell House in Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahrenkamp, Emil 1885 births 1966 deaths 20th-century German architects People from Aachen