The Modern and the Local: The Architecture of Bohemian Germans 1891–1918

Around 1900, modernism was gaining ground on the art scene in Bohemia. The process of Czech national emancipation was reaching its peak and self-confident Czech art was opening up more to the Western world. In contrast, German artists in Bohemia, still belonging to the broad German cultural circle, were only beginning to realise their distinctive identity. They are thus competing with their Czech colleagues to be the first to join the international development of modernism, but at the same time their own uniqueness and belonging to the cultural tradition of the Czech country is important for their work. How did these seemingly incompatible intentions manifest themselves in the architectural production of the time? Today, we tend to view the architecture of the Czech Germans as less modern compared to the Czech production. But isn't this view distorted by our tendency to look primarily for manifestations of modernity in Czech art, whereas in the art of the Czech Germans we notice primarily evidence of nationalism and traditionalism? It is not the task of this book to assess to what extent the work of Czech-German architects around 1900 was modern. Rather, the aim is to present it as an integral part of contemporary European discourse. We want to show that its traditionalism was not necessarily driven by nationalistic intentions, but by a desire to return to pre-industrial simplicity, simplicity and naturalness. Modern architecture at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries had a double face: it turned to its roots and natural domestic tradition, as well as following the needs of the new age. The individual chapters deal first with the more general questions of the relationship between the modern and the traditional in architectural discourse around 1900 and then discuss the problematic situation of German art in Bohemia. Subsequently, the book focuses on leading figures of Prague and regional Czech-German architecture, whose work illustrates the various ways in which they related to the modern and the local. The publication is accompanied by numerous illustrations consisting mainly of historical photographs and archival materials.