Politics and Architecture. Dietrich Neumann

Dietrich Neumann, professor, architect and historian and expert on Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, offers us a reflection on the complex political context of the genesis and execution of the Pavilion that Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich designed in 1929 and its representative role, and questions whether the Pavilion was the simple representation of the young democracy of the Weimar Republic that is often assumed.

There are very few photos of the 1929 Pavilion, all in black and white, which bear witness to different moments during its few months of existence. Among them we can discover some differences: the red curtain was not there on the day of the inauguration, nor was the word “Germany”, which appeared later by the steps and on the travertine wall opening onto the garden, and the large flags used on the flagpoles of the Pavilion were not always the same.

The flag of Germany, which the country still uses today, had been introduced in 1919 with the founding of the Weimar Republic. However, many conservatives, including members of the German Volkspartei (DVP), still preferred the flag of the previous regime, with its black, white and red stripes, which for them symbolised the strength, achievements and stability of the Kaiserreich that had come to an end in 1918. Dietrich Neumann’s research reveals that both flags (which looked immense) were raised in the German Pavilion.

In this publication, as well as in the homonymous intervention, Dietrich Neumann brings together all the scientific research and the images that support it.