Panel Discussion titled: Eastern European Modernism – Contribution of Jewish Architects
The starting point for the second event in Exercising [Eastern] Modernity lecture series is the book ”Osteuropäische Moderne – Beiträge jüdischer Architekten und Architektinnen“”*. The publication is the first of its kind to address the significance of Jewish architects from Eastern European countries for the reform movements of the early 20th century in architecture and urban planning and for the development of European modernism. This geographical focus of the book is a further attempt to correct the “East-West asymmetry” (Martin Kohlrausch) that has characterised the international reception of modernism for a long time. This also plays an important role because the identity of many cities in the newly formed nation states of Eastern Europe was decisively shaped by the planning and building of Modernism in the years between 1918/19 and 1939. Jewish architects were exponents of this development until the racist Nazi policy became more and more prevalent in these countries from the end of the 1930s onwards and drove this group of people into flight, exile or death.
PD Dr. Habil. Zuzana Güllendi-Cimprichová
Dr. Romuald Loegler
Dr. Günter Schlusche
Moderation: Dr. Tomasz Kurianowicz
Recording of the discussion is below:
The panel discussion focused on the rediscovery of the work of Jewish architects in the respective Eastern European countries. Deeper questions was also discussed: Why were the contributions of Jewish architects pushed out of the broader consciousness? Why was their work absent from the historiography of Eastern European modernism for many years?
The discussion was held in German.
*The publication, based on an international conference held in the context of the Triennale der Moderne 2019, contains contributions by 14 renowned authors from 10 countries.