The corner of the original building (by
Cremer & Wolffenstein) housing the headquarters of Berlin newspaper tycoon Rudolf Moss
was damaged in the First World War. Mendelsohn, responsible for a number of streamlined
buildings in Berlin in the 1920s, was commissioned to reconstruct and enlarge the
building. Mendelsohn grafted a new corner and top onto the existing, conventional
structure.
Mendelsohn’s buildings explored the dynamic
of movement; while they became increasingly influenced by modernism, they retained their
distinctive expressive qualities. The emphasized horizontal lines and celebrated curved
corner give the building an aerodynamic feeling, helping the building to seem elongated in
perspective.
The building was damaged in World War II and was
renovated in 1992-93 (Peter Kolb, Bernd Kemper, Dieter Schneider) as the center of a new
publishing district.
Jay Berman 1999
How to visit
Take the Ubahn U2 or U6 either to Stadtmitte
(and walk south along Friedrichstrasse, then east on Schutzenstrasse) or to Kochstrasse
(and walk north along Friedrichstrasse, then east on Schutzenstrasse).
A number of Mendelsohn’s other buildings in
and near Berlin are also worth a visit:
Metal Worker’s Union Building, Alte
Jakobstrasse 148-155, Berlin-Kreuzberg
