In the Wake of War: The Reconstruction of German Cities after World War IIIn 1945 Germany's cities lay in ruins, destroyed by Allied bombers `hat left major architectural monuments badly damaged and much of the housing stock reduced to rubble. At the war's end, observers thought that it would take forty years to rebuild, but by the late 1950s West Germany's cities had risen anew. The housing crisis had been overcome and virtually all important monuments reconstructed, and the cities had reclaimed their characteristic identities. Everywhere there was a mixture of old and new: historic churches and town halls stood alongside new housing and department stores; ancient street layouts were crossed or encircled by wide arteries; old city centers were balanced by garden suburbs laid out according to modern planning principles. In this book, Diefendorf examines the questions raised by this remarkable feat of urban reconstruction. He explains who was primarily responsible, what accounted for the speed of rebuilding, and how priorities were set and decisions acted upon. He argues that in such crucial areas as architectural style, urban planning, historic preservation, and housing policy, the Germans drew upon personnel, ideas, institutions, and practical experiences from the Nazi and pre-Nazi periods. Diefendorf shows how the rebuilding of West Germany's cities after 1945 can only be understood in terms of long-term continuities in urban development. |
Contents
Work Amidst the Rubble | |
Architectural Style | |
The Role of Historic | |
The Housing Problem | |
Town Planning to 1945 | |
Planning and Planners after 1945 | |
Reconstruction and Building Law | |
Organizing Reconstruction | |
Conclusion | |
Other editions - View all
In the Wake of War: The Reconstruction of German Cities after World War II Jeffry M. Diefendorf No preview available - 1993 |
In the Wake of War: The Reconstruction of German Cities After World War II Jeffry M. Diefendorf No preview available - 1993 |
Common terms and phrases
Albert Speer Altstadt American Arbeitsstab architects areas argued Aufbau Bauhaus Bauhelfer Baukunst und Werkform Bavaria Berlin bombed cities Bonatz Bremen building administration building law building materials building office city planners city planning city’s Cologne damage Deutscher Deutscher Werkbund Deutschland Dittus Düsseldorf example expropriation Federal Fischer Frankfurt functions German cities Germany’s Göderitz Gropius Gutschow Hamburg Hannover Hans Scharoun Hans Schwippert historic preservation Hitler housing construction ideas industrial inner city Jahre Karl Köln Konstanty Gutschow labor land Landesplanung Lübeck Martin Wagner ministry modernist monuments Munich Münster NA/RG Nazi Neue Bauwelt Neugestaltung Niels Gutschow old city organizations Paul Bonatz political population postwar prewar property owners proposed rebuilding reconstruction planning regional planning Reich Rudolf Hillebrecht Rudolf Schwarz SAM/Bürgermeister Scharoun social housing Speer Stadtbauwelt Städte Städtebau Städtetag Stadtplanung streets Stuttgart style town planning traditional Träume in Trümmern urban planning Walter Gropius West Berlin Wiederaufbau Wilhelm Wohnungsbau zone