Haselhorst Reich Research Housing Development (1930 –1935)

Hidden Gem of Modern Housing – “First the kitchen, then the facade!,” demanded Marie- Elisabeth Lüders, an assemblywoman during the Weimar Republic. She initiated the building of this housing development by the “Reich Research Society for Economic Efficiency in Building and Housing.” The society’s aim was to build affordable apartments with functional floor plans, and also to research efficient construction methods and inexpensive raw materials. The result was the largest state-sponsored housing development of the Weimar Republic, designed by Fred Forbát, Otto Bartning, Paul Mebes, and Paul Emmerich. The inexpensive construction was a success: 37% of the tenants were manual laborers, 42% were office workers. The Reich Research Society was dissolved in 1931 for political reasons, but the Gewobag property company was able to continue working on the housing development until 1935.

TIP: Visit a historic apartment at the Haselhorst Development, Burscheider Weg 21 | 13599 Berlin: gewobag.de/soziales-engagement/stadtteilinfos/spandau haselhorst/museumswohnung/