Werner Hegemann and the Search for Universal Urbanism by Christiane Crasemann CollinsWerner Hegemann (1881-1936): Stadtplanung, Architektur, Politik by Caroline Flick

Abstract

MLR, I02.3, 2007 90I attempted something similar, notably those edited byMaurice Gode, Ingrid Haag, and Jacques Le Rider (Wien - Berlin: deux sitesde lamodernite/ZweiMetropolen der Moderne (I900-I930) (Lyon: Universite Lumiere,g g3)) and by Bernhard Fetz and Hermann Schlosser (Wien -Berlin (Vienna: Zsolnay, 200I)), thisvolume isvaluable inpresenting a cross-section of scholarship specifically focused on the inter-waryears, inwhich the legend ofViennese 'backwardness' seems to have hindered dissemina tion of a more nuanced picture, as noted by Frank Trommler in a useful account of the parallels and interaction between urban planners in 'Das rote Wien und das sachliche Berlin' (p. I85). Other essays examine the construction of the image and reputation of the two capitals, in, forexample, thework of an individual (Bernhard Fetz on Stefan Grossmann), across a range of journalistic (Jiger) and literary texts (David Midgley), and in the self-consciously artificial deployment of stereotypes in a film (Thomas Elsaesser onWalter Reisch). This is a rich and illuminating volume, with a very useful index, but there is room, perhaps inevitably, for some minor criticism. As is often the case with conference volumes (the conference was inLondon inDecember 200I), not every essay bears close individual scrutiny as new research, and there is some overlap in the ground covered, particularly in the chapters on theatre and music. These topics are perhaps over-represented, and the very limited discussion of film represents a real gap in the volume's coverage of its theme.Given this, the frequent disregard for the stated chronological limits of the volume is also a little irritating,though the choice of pa rameters that only make sense in a German context is,perhaps, partly responsible for this.These areminor complaints, and this is a volume that should prove useful to anyone with a broad interest in the period as well as to scholars of the individual names and subjects covered in the essays. ROYALHOLLOWAY,UNIVERSITY OF LONDON JON HUGHES Werner Hegemann and theSearch for Universal Urbanism. By CHRISTIANE CRASE MANN COLLINS. New York: Norton. 2005. 4I7 PP. $50; ?35. ISBN 978-0 393-73I56-9. Werner Hegemann (I88I-I936): Stadtplanung, Architektur, Politik. By CAROLINE FLICK. (Einzelveroffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission zu Berlin, 84) Munich: Saur. 2005. 2 vols; xxii+ I262 pp. ?I98. ISBN 978-3-598-23228-2. As recently as a decade ago, itwas difficult to find substantial and reliable informa tion about the life and writings ofWerner Hegemann. He was known to have had a high profile in the Weimar Republic as a contributor toprominent journals of the liberal leftand as editor of the architectural journal Der Stddtebau. On thenotorious occasion inMarch I93I, for example, when the Schutzverband Deutscher Schrift steller celebrated Heinrich Mann's sixtieth birthday and themain address was given by Gottfried Benn, itwas Hegemann who analysed the event inDas Tage-Buch, noting how Benn had sought to deflect attention from Mann's stature as a figure head of theRepublic and warning of the drift towards Fascism thatwas apparent in Benn's sentiments. His book Das steinerneBerlin (I930)-which acquired cult sta tus in the i990S when the redevelopment ofBerlin following reunificationwas being fiercelydebated-contains an impassioned indictment of thecity's inhumane housing conditions and of thehistorical legacy thathad brought them about, an aspect which promptedWalter Benjamin, inhis review, todub Hegemann a latter-dayJacobin. And a series of publications during the I920S designed toundermine the popular legends surrounding the figureof Frederick theGreat made him a target forNazi agitation, leading to the ceremonial burning of his books in I933, along with those of Emil 902 Reviews Ludwig, for 'falsifyingour history and disparaging itsgreat figures' (see Christoph Gradmann, Historische Belletristik: Populare historischeBiographien inderWeimarer Republik (Frankfurt a.M.: Campus, 1993), p. 58). But he had died inobscurity inNew York in I936, and it isonlywith these publications by Christiane Crasemann Collins and Caroline Flick that a fulland coherent picture ofHegemann's career emerges. Hegemann was born in Mannheim in I88 I and educated at theprestigious board ing school of Plon. His university studies included history, philosophy, and politics inBerlin, a course at the Institute of Law and Political Science in Strasbourg, and a doctoral thesis inMunich under Lujo Brentano. He also studied social economy inParis with the...