1933 Democracy is abolished under Reichs Chancellor Hitler. As a symbol of so-called “cultural Bolshevism”, the Bauhaus must close its doors, not least due to its excessively international orientation. – The repression of dissidents prompts a wave of emigration among intellectuals, including almost the entire Bauhaus faculty and numerous proponents of Neue Sachlichkeit. – Hitler forges contacts with the Vereinigte Werkstätten (United Workshops), which decorate a number of rooms for prominent Nazi figures. The vestibule of the “Führer’s Apartment” in the Old Reichs Chancellery is the first “Third Reich” interior designed to inspire awe and fear.

 

1934 The book Die Schöne Wohnung is issued yet again in the 1931 edition. – Hitler demands “simplicity” and a “dignified stance” as features of a “German style”, which never actually comes into being due to general confusion as to who is in charge.

 

1935 Wilhelm Wagenfeld is the first artist to join corporate management, at the Lausitz Glassworks. The functionalist, who made glass popular in the household, is the most prominent example of the astounding continuity of Modernism during the Nazi period. Numerous Bauhaus students also find a niche in the regime. – Sales figures for tubular steel furniture rise significantly during the 1930s. Zeppelins, as emblems of the Reich, continue to be furnished with these modern pieces. – Hitler’s “Berghof” on Obersalzberg Mountain is praised as an ideal “German home”. The interior was designed by the Vereinigte Werkstätten in a style oscillating between farmer’s parlour, symbols of power and a relapse into historicism. Echoes of Neuschwanstein are hard to overlook.

 

1936 At the Olympic Games in Berlin, the regime makes a show of cosmopolitanism. Swing music sets the scene in the Berlin bars. The athletes sit on the lightweight plywood chair 2200 Frankfurter Stuhl. – Most filling stations and rest stops along the new, aesthetically orchestrated autobahns are built in “homeland preservation style”. The interiors look just as rustic. – The blood and earth ideology leads to a preference for arts & crafts, which however remain a marginal phenomenon. The numerous feature films produced by UFA and Hollywood are more to the public’s taste.

 

1937 The German Pavilion at the World Exposition in Paris is a prime example of the brute architecture of dictatorship.

 

1939 In Deutsche Warenkunde (The Book of German Goods), a comprehensive almanac of exemplary objects of daily use published by the Ministryof Propaganda, products by émigré artists are also  recommended, such as the Oranier Stove by Walter Gropius. The authors include modernists like Hermann Gretsch and Hans Schwippert. – An accompanying show at the Leipzig Trade Fair once again shows Deutsches Wohnen (German Design for Living), for a long time giving this descriptor a Nazi tinge and rendering it unusable. – The Second World War begins.

 

1940 In a mood of sure victory, Germany launches a domestic education offensive. How-to guides recommend a moderate form of Modernism. The five-volume work Hausrat, der zu uns passt. Ein Wegweiser für alle, die sich zeitgemäß einrichten wollen (Today’s Household. A Guide to Contemporary Home Furnishing) is published by Hermann Gretsch, who holds several official posts and also furnishes the training compounds of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front). – Construction begins on the concentration camp in Auschwitz. – The first air attacks destroy residential areas.

 

1941 Various state offices publish how-to guides for domestic surroundings, such as Deutscher Hausrat (German Household Goods), a model collection from the Reichsheimstättenamt (Reichs Department of Housing), which also receives the seal of approval of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront. – In the new edition of Die Schöne Wohnung, the standard work for interior designers, a veiled Modernism likewise prevails. With some exceptions: On a tubular steel table by Josef Hillerbrand stand Urbino dishes by Trude Petri.

 

1945 World War II is over. In Berlin alone, over half a million homes have been destroyed.