ARCHITECTURE
Lviv vs. Berlin: Interwar Modernism
Remarkable Modernist buildings in Germany’s capital and the top tourist city of Ukraine
These two cities — Lviv and Berlin — don’t seem related, except for the fact I know both of them pretty well. I used to live in Lviv for 5 years, and I’ve been living in Berlin for 3 years now. And what I love about them is modernist architecture, especially unfairly overlooked places.
Modernism emerged in the early 20th century and flourished between the two world wars (hence the term Interwar Modernism). It’s an architectural style itself but also an umbrella term for many sub-genres.
- Functionalism prioritized the purpose of the building and tried to marry convenience with aesthetics. It was popular in Denmark, Poland, Finland, and former Czechoslovakia. Lviv was part of the Second Polish Republic at that time.
- Expressionism was an approach that embraced hybrid solutions and emotional effects. It tended towards Gothic (towers, vertical lines) and Romanticism (themes of caves, rocks, and crystals). Brick Expressionism was especially popular in Germany.
- International Style abandoned decoration in favor of rectangles, light, volume, and weightless spaces. This style grew out of the work of Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in Germany (the famous Bauhaus school) and Le Corbusier in France.
And a small remark before we start our journey: my goal is not to compare the cities; Berlin undeniably is the King of Modernism. But it’s fascinating to see how the spirit of the epoch materialized in different places.
Chapter 1. Administrative buildings
🇩🇪 Berlin: Lenzhaus (1928–1929)
Honestly, after I had taken photos of this gorgeous building, I struggled to fit it into this article because Lenzhaus belongs to… Art Deco. As an architecture newbie, I always thought it was quite modernist-ish. But no worries! Art Deco was Modernism’s predecessor and looked much more minimalistic than previous architectural styles. At the end of the 1930s, Art Deco was nearing its decay, and more strictly functional styles of modern architecture took its place.
Lenzhaus bears the name of its first user — Lenz & Co. It was designed by Heinrich Straumer, whose other famous creation is the 145-m high Funkturm (Radio Tower) in the western part of the city, on the exhibition grounds of Messe Berlin.
With only nine floors, Lenzhaus became the first office high-rise in Berlin; its construction even required a special permit.
🇺🇦 Lviv: Sprecher’s Office Building (1929–1931)
Just like Lenzhaus in Berlin, Sprecher’s Building used to be the tallest high-rise in Lviv. It was designed by Ferdinand Kassler for millionaire Jonah Sprecher who also owned another (lavishly decorated) high-rise in a 5-minute walk from here.
This 7-story building dominates the avenue and is a manifesto of the latest architectural ideas of that time. It’s twice higher than all the surrounding houses and even stands perpendicular to them. Today, it’s the headquarter of the regional Association of Trade Unions.
The minimalist facade of Sprecher’s Building stands out among richly decorated buildings in the Historicist style. So, people with a conservative taste often criticize it and wouldn’t mind if it was replaced with something more conventional for the old town.
🇩🇪 Berlin: Haus des Deutschen Metallarbeiterverbandes (1928–1930)
The House of the German Metalworkers’ Association (a.k.a. IG-Metall-Haus) was designed by Erich Mendelsohn and built when the Association decided to move its headquarters from Stuttgart to Berlin.
During the Nazi time, the building was confiscated and given to the German Labor Front. At the end of the Second World War, it burned down and stood empty until the 1952 reconstruction.
🇺🇦 Lviv: Building of Municipal Electrical Institutions (1935–1936)
This four-story building was initially built for the Administration of Municipal Electrical Institutions. But after the Soviets occupied Ukraine, it housed the local branch of the NKVD (secret police, prisons, and labor camps agency). And during the Second World War, the Gestapo (German equivalent of NKVD) was based here.
In 1970–1985, the building was elongated, but one can hardly notice where the original part ends and the extension starts. People call this building “Titanic” because it resembles a cruise ship.
Today the building is used by the regional branch of the Ukrainian Security Service. When I was taking photos of the fantastic modernist doors and waiting until the tram reflected in the glass, some guy in a military uniform approached me and asked me not to take any pictures. Anyway, I was lucky enough to shoot at least one decent photo.
Like historical architecture? Then follow my Instagram with architecture photos every day — from 🏰 Gothic to 🏢 Modernism.
Chapter 2. Blocks of flats
🇩🇪 Berlin: Siedlung Zeppelinstraße (1926–1927)
But let’s switch to something different. Here is a stunning example of Expressionism. This residential complex stands at the intersection of Zeppelinstraße and Falkenseer Chaussee, quite far from any touristic place in Berlin, a couple of kilometers from the city border.
This 3-story estate was designed by Richard Ermisch. It stretches about one kilometer from north to south and comprises 500 small apartments.
The main visual motifs are zigzags and colorful jagged details. Walking past different parts of the complex, you’ll notice alternating colors and patterns on the doors, walls, and windows.
A signature element of this estate is the corner towers at the intersection of Zeppelinstraße and Falkenseer Chaussee; the towers are adorned with spiked, slate-covered “crowns.” Unfortunately, all four towers are also “decorated” with signboards and ads.
🇩🇪 Berlin: Appartementhaus Hohenzollerndamm 35–36 (1929–1930)
Hard to believe that the elaborate, colorful houses above were built in the same decade as the minimalistic snow-white apartment complex I’ll show you next. The house on Hohenzollerndamm was designed by the famous architect Hans Scharoun, the author of the Berlin Philharmonic and “Armored cruiser” house in the Siemensstadt district (part of the UNESCO World Heritage).
This residential building included mid-size apartments targeted at couples without large families and young people busy with their careers. Nothing luxurious, but quite elegant and functional.
Look at the semicircular balconies between the street-facing facades — they resemble a door hinge! I always admire how modernists managed to create original spatial effects with minimal methods of expression.
🇺🇦 Lviv: House on Kalicha Hora 22 (the 1930s)
This 4-story residential building is a great example of Lviv Functionalism. Beata Obertynska, the daughter of Polish poet Marila Wolska and oil producer Vaclav Wolski, commissioned it for rent; her family lived in a villa right next to this house.
The house is surrounded by a garden: modernists always cared about arranging green areas around buildings. The facade is divided into three sections; vertical and horizontal lines on the plaster add strictness and rhythm. And like in the Berlin building above, this house features sticking-out rounded balconies, too.
🇺🇦 Lviv: Houses on Doroshenka Street 47–59 (1935–1936)
This residential complex was built for Polish and Jewish investors and consisted of two parts — one facing the street and the other facing the garden. These houses were considered one of the most prestigious residential projects in Lviv at that time.
Houses on Doroshenka Street are decorated in a typical Functionalist fashion: with porthole and ribbon windows, curved balconies, and geometric patterns. One of the most striking motifs is the rounded risalites — large parts of the building sticking out of the main facade.
All apartments had wonderful layouts and rich interiors. Interesting fact: each flat had a telephone by the Swedish brand Ericsson, usually in the corridor. Designers showed incredible creativity in the variety of tile patterns and colors on the floors. Most of the stairs, door, and window decoration is preserved by this day.
🇩🇪 Berlin: Bülowplatz residential complex with the “Babylon” cinema (1927–1929)
This building is the only fully survived part of an eight-block perimeter ensemble around former Bülowplatz (now Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz). It’s an exemplary work by Hans Poelzig in the style of New Objectivity — the 1920s German art movement against Expressionism.
The full complex contained 170 apartments and 80 stores. After the Second World War, the triangular block where the cinema “Babylon” was located underwent major reconstruction. However, in 1993, it was cinema was closed due to the danger of collapse.
Since 2001, the “Babylon” is functioning again as an arthouse cinema and events venue. It initially accommodated 1200 spectators in one hall but is currently divided into three halls.
🇺🇦 Lviv: House of Notaries (1939)
This prestigious Functionalist masterpiece was commissioned by the association of the city’s richest lawyers, Notary Chamber, hence the building name. It was supposed to house law offices as well as lawyers’ private residences on the upper floors.
The House of Notaries has an original wavy facade and unusually curved staircase, elevator, and entrance portal.
The house was equipped with a then-modern window-opening system and ventilation. Besides, the house received an advanced German-made heating system with individual temperature adjustments; one can still see the “Siemens & Halske” logo on the batteries.
🇩🇪 Berlin: Salzbrunn House (1928–1929)
This elegant apartment building was designed by Harry Rosenthal, known as the architect of lavish villas at that time. This is Rosenthal’s only surviving multi-story building and a real example of generosity. Although the street-facing facade doesn’t impress, the inner facade gives clues to how large and comfortable the flats really are; it features humongous windows and beautiful loggias.
The building has expressionist features, such as rounded balconies across the corner and amazing staircases. By the way, this house is only 200 meters from where I live. I noticed it when I moved to this district and immediately understood it was a masterpiece.
Chapter 3. Wonderful churches
🇩🇪 Berlin: Kreuzkirche Schmargendorf (1927–1929)
When I learned about this church several years ago during a business trip, I couldn’t even think that someday I would live within a 15-minute walk from it. The Cross Church is quite a rare example of an Expressionist-style sacred building.
The idea to build a new church in the Schmargendorf district appeared because the existing Gothic church was too small at that time. Architect Ernst Paulus won the design competition as early as 1910, but the First World War made construction impossible. When the project was revived after the war, Paulus had to revise the initial design to match the growing parish’s needs.
During the Second World War, the church was considerably damaged, including most of the original glazing. Cracks in the dome, apse, and roof appeared even after the post-war restoration. Renovators tried to follow the original Expressionist concept as much as possible.
The church has a steel-and-concrete skeleton. It consists of three individual structures, which are immediately adjacent to each other: a tower, a cloister, and the 8-sided main hall.
The portal porch with blue glazed ceramics is the signature detail of the Cross Church; sculptor Felix Kupsch created it to resemble an East-Asian pagoda.
🇺🇦 Lviv: Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin (1931–1938)
The Intercession Church that dominates the eastern part of Lviv is an original mixture of the neo-Romanesque and Modernist styles. The church has the form of a basilica with an unusually tall free-standing tower that looks like an Italian campanile.
This is the third temple on this site. Parishioners formed a committee to build a new large church in 1914, but the First World War interrupted their plans. Isn’t it similar to the Cross Church in Berlin?
After the war, architects from Lviv, Krakow, and Warsaw competed to suggest the best church design. But the strict jury rejected all their projects. Instead, they took the most successful proposal and carried out a detailed plan based on it.
In 1939, just one year after completion, the Soviet troops shelled the church and damaged its facade, roof, and tower. Then, in 1941, it was hit by a German aerial bomb. After the Second World War, under the Soviet occupation of Ukraine, the church was used as a warehouse; altars, bells, and other church property were lost.
Chapter 4. Elegant villas
🇺🇦 Lviv: Villa Finkelstein (end of the 1930s)
Initially owned by Adolf Finkelstein, this beautiful villa is a vivid example of luxurious Modernist estates in Lviv. It is located on a hill at the crossroad of two streets and perfectly fits the landscape. The house faces the upper street, and the garage exit is on the lower street.
The villa has a distinctive entrance portal with stairs and a large balcony above the door. The rounded corner and porthole windows are typical for the Streamline Moderne aesthetics popular in the 1930s. And the original fence with geometric patterns surrounds the garden.
In Soviet times, the Communist party elite lived here. When Ukraine restored independence in 1991, the villa served as a presidential residence but was sold to a private owner in 2015.
🇩🇪 Berlin: Villa Luckhardt (1929–1930)
This three-story villa in the Westend district of Berlin was designed by brothers Hans and Wassili Luckhardt for factory director Richard Kluge. The house is an absolute masterpiece of premium Modernist housing in Berlin and is open to visitors and events nowadays.
Villa Luckhardt is an example of “white architecture”; its clean, minimalist surfaces and a roof deck with a flying cornice create a feeling of levitation. The cantilevered terrace is embedded in a natural slope and goes from the living room directly to the garden. The kitchen, garage, and cellar are located on the ground floor; the first floor contains one large living room; bedrooms and bathrooms are on the upper floor.
When the initial owner went bankrupt, the villa was remodeled into two 4-room apartments. In 1939, the Nazis were about to demolish it to free space for the planned university city, but the outbreak of the Second World War hindered their plans. Later the building fell into disrepair. Fortunately, in 1993, the architect couple Christa Kliemke and Robert Wischer campaigned to save the masterpiece; they restored the exteriors and interiors and even won several prizes for monument preservation.
When I was finishing this article, the Russian army kept on targeting Ukrainian critical civilian infrastructure. Blackouts are all over the country.
Please keep on supporting Ukraine. Below are the trusted local organizations for your donations. Thank you!
- Special account of the National Bank of Ukraine — accepts nine currencies, including Euro and U.S. dollar.
- Save Life Fund — works since 2014; accepts Euro, U.S. dollar, and Bitcoin.
- Medical Batallion Hospitallers.
