Siemensstadt Housing Development (1921–1930)

Escape from the Urban Jungle – The housing shortage after WWI was massive. In order to provide its workers with a place to live, Siemens founded its own property company. This and all subsequent Siemens housing developments were built as an escape from the dreariness of the tenements. Company architect Hans Hertlein built apartments and townhouses for white-collar workers. For the standards of the time they were pure luxury, with a bathroom in every apartment. Heating, lighting, and ventilation were also state of the art. Hertlein was influenced by the garden city movement and Reform architecture, as can also be seen in his design of the open spaces. Of note: the development’s streets and squares are named after engineers, inventors, and physicists whose work paved the way for Siemens’s success.