Industrial Cathedrals: The Architecture of Peter Behrens

John K. Peck on the local architectural legacy of Peter Behrens…

Considered by some to be the world’s first industrial designer, Peter Behrens (1868-1940) is also one of the giants of modern German architecture. His legacy looms especially large in Berlin, where his two most famous building complexes, Moabit’s Turbinenfabrik and Wedding’s AEG Humboldthain campus, tower monumentally over their respective neighborhoods.

Numerous other buildings by Behrens have made their mark on the city, and despite nearly all being built prior to WWII, a surprising number—either through sheer luck or their colossal scale—have survived into the modern era. The greatest of Behrens’ buildings combine a nascent modernism with minimalist neoclassicism, and project power and strength while retaining a workmanlike simplicity.

Though his legacy is inextricably linked to Berlin, Behrens’ connection to the city was never a sure thing. Born in Hamburg into considerable wealth, Behrens was orphaned at a young age and raised by the Sievekings, a family in the upper echelons of Hamburg society. He showed an early interest in painting, and after studying in Hamburg, Karlsruhe, and Düsseldorf, he settled in Munich in 1889, where he began creating work in earnest.

He became involved with the Munich Secession, producing numerous paintings and woodcuts that were often large in scale and featured elements of symbolism, realism, and Art Nouveau. In 1896, Behrens visited Italy for the first time, and the country’s art and culture, and in particular its architecture, had a profound effect on him and became a core influence in his work.

Der Kuss / The Kiss, a 6-colour woodcut from 1898

Behrens also began to branch out into product design and interior decoration, creating porcelain tea sets, silverware, furniture…even clothing. This shift from fine art to handicraft brought him to the attention of Grossherzog Ludwig von Hessen, who invited him to be part of the Darmstadt Künstlerkolonie, a showcase of art, architecture, and performance that the grand duke sought to build and curate via a hand-picked team of creators. It was as part of the Darmstadt Kolonie that Behrens made the transition from interior design and decoration to architecture, designing and overseeing the construction of a house on the Mathindenhöhe. 

Behrens House, Darmstadt

Though it was his first attempt at a full construction, the end result was highly successful, merging a traditional, almost Tudor-style house with curves that hinted at Art Nouveau arabesques, and an overall synergy between elements both within and without.

Over the next several years, Behrens parlayed the overall success of his work at the Kunstlerkolonie into further architectural projects. He also began developing his own typefaces, including the elegant Behrens-Schrift, a Fraktur-adjacent script with Art Nouveau flourishes similar to Eckmann, as well as Kursivs, Antiquas, and sans-serifs. The period from 1900 to 1907 was one of exponential development for Behrens, in which he began to cultivate a cohesive style that would ultimately help shape the Berlin landscape.

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