An Oral History of Development in Berlin

Berlin is certainly a fascinating city – one can see the layers of history while walking through the city. The different architectural styles exhibit the political and social goals of the time and represent particular groups or ideology – I think more so than in the US.

The urbanism throughout time has been excellent from the traditional to the modern. There was a relatively brief period during the 1970s that the “towers in the park” were built, but for the most part the street life was kept.

Here’s some of the oral history that I learned from my host family, Regina and Klaus:

Most of the buildings are about five stories high because they could not be built higher than a particular church for a long time. They front the street with the stores on the ground floor and apartments above. Most tend to be rather narrow and in many parts, so that a branch extends back from the front and other perpendicular to the part fronting the street, forming C, E, F or other shapes. The back part of the building that extends up the full height and is similar to the rest of the buildings is often called the “hinterhaus.” A hinterhaus can also refer to small brick structures that are a little bit similar to shed or barn. In the 1800s when Berlin was growing quickly, many of these hinterhausen of both types were built. The higher parts were nicer with some sort of bathroom for a whole floor or two floors. The shed-like parts had the least light and the most people – maybe 20-30 packed in. Tuberculosis was a problem in many of these places.

One of the more positive outcomes of WWI and WWII was that most of the smaller hinterhausen were destroyed (and not rebuilt) and the taller hinterhausen were thinned out so that the ones that remained or rebuilt had more light and fresh air. So yes, it reduced the density, but in this case that was pretty good outcome.

The Bauhaus movement that began in the 1930s was also of the same attitude: a nicer apartment that a typical person can afford with modern sanitary conveniences like running water, toilets and along with separated bedrooms, kitchens and living room that also had more light and windows for fresh air. The architects of the Bauhaus movement shunned the ornamentation of the past to put their money into more space and the other modern conveniences.