Block, Der.
German association of architects formed in Saaleck early
in 1928, in reaction to the avant-garde group Der Ring
and to the emerging Modern Movement in general. The most
prominent members were Paul Schultze-Naumburg, Paul
Schmitthenner, German Bestelmeyer and Paul Bonatz.
Bonatz and Schmitthenner were both supposed to take part
in the exhibition of the Deutscher Werkbund in Stuttgart
in 1927, and even prepared a layout plan for the
Weissenhofsiedlung, the showpiece of the exhibition.
Their design was, however, rejected in favour of the
modernist design by Mies van der Rohe. Schultze-Naumburg
from the early years of the century had propagated a
return to organic and traditional forms of architecture,
for example in his series of books Kulturarbeiten
(1902–17). He was the leading theorist of the
Heimatschutz movement, which advocated the preservation
and continuation of German traditions and values.
Bestelmeyer, Schmitthenner and Bonatz were among the
most prominent architects of southern Germany, all
holding influential teaching posts in Munich and
Stuttgart. Der Block wanted to retain traditional skills
and lifestyles and rejected functional, modern
architecture with its emphasis on internationalism.
Their ‘Manifesto’ appeared in Baukunst 4 (v
(1928), pp. 128–9; repr. in Teut, p. 29); its polemic,
enriched with an emphasis on ‘German-ness’, was
eventually to evolve into the fierce opposition and
persecution by the Third Reich of the ‘cultural
bolshevism’ of the architecture and architects of the
Modern Movement. As a group, however, Der Block was
shortlived, active only into 1929.
Paul Bonatz. University of Tubingen library
