Byzantinistik, Byzantinische Kunstgeschichte und Neogräzistik

The course will survey the transfer of architectural and urban planning ideas and practices between Germany and Greece from the foundation of the modern Greek state in 1830 to the 1960s. Taking as our point of departure the phenomenon of Neoclassicism in both countries, we will continue with a discussion of three principal periods: the interwar years (Neues Bauen, Athens Charter), the Third Reich (distortions of the classical/neoclassical ideal by the National Socialists) and the Modern Movement of the first post-war decades (1940-1960). Rather than merely detecting and concentrating on the formal affinities between buildings designed in both countries, our focus will be on the historical and social context of this cultural transfer.