In this mini-series, I gather photos of the architecture made by Hans Heinrich Müller (1879-1951). The work of this man is too forgotten, although he was the mastermind behind dozens of Electricity Stations which were constructed in Berlin’s 1920s and early 1930s. This may be my last post about his work! With this 13th post, I’ve taken photos of 34 creations. Now, I can’t find anymore of his buildings! Only a few have been destructed by the Nazi’s for megalomanic urban planning – or were bombed during the war. Another couple of buildings are hard to find & in too far districts to take the risk of going there without success. However, in my first post – I told you that “when you keep an eye to the ornaments, one will find these details back in his later work”. This moment is now! The octogram, also seen on (for example) the Gemeindedoppelschule (1909) and the Umspannwerk Koppenplatz (1926), is back again!
Kraftwerk Rummelsburg (1925 till ±1935, various expansions)
Umspannwerk Oberschöneweide (1933)
Now, when a German’s career comes to an end in the year of 1933 – alarm bells start ringing. What did the Nazi’s do to him after Hitler took power in January that year? After the enormous productive years Müller had, the nose-dive after 1933 is utterly remarkable. It looks like some party had an intention. Now, was his marriage with the daughter of a former well-known communist already enough to be boycotted? Or did the Nazi’s simply favoured different architecture, which meant a ‘natural death’ for Müller’s work? Perhaps, Müller had the intention not to contribute to the Nazi Empire. In addition regime-change also errorred the professional network of an architect, and Müller may not be bothered in restoring these. It’s proven that in stead of semi-public factories, Müller only build private houses. On the other hand, in 1937/8 – Müller participated in an architectural competition for the Hochschulstadt: a Nazi military school located at the nowadays Teufelsberg. Although Müller didn’t got the assignment, it implies that he didn’t boycott the Nazi’s after all. All summed up, it’s unsure why Müller was not that active as a public architect anymore after 1933. Some party may have had an intention once, but maybe it is coincidence after all…