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@PHDTHESIS{Knecht:997236,
author = {Knecht, Stefan},
othercontributors = {Naujokat, Anke and Lohmann, Daniel},
title = {"{D}as {W}erk des rheinischen {A}rchitekten {B}ernhard
{R}otterdam als {B}eispiel der {M}ultiplen {M}oderne“},
school = {Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen},
type = {Dissertation},
address = {Aachen},
publisher = {RWTH Aachen University},
reportid = {RWTH-2024-11148},
pages = {1 Online-Ressource : Illustrationen},
year = {2024},
note = {Veröffentlicht auf dem Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen
University 2025; Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische
Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2024},
abstract = {This paper examines the life and work of architect Bernhard
Rotterdam as a representative of Multiple Modernity. Born in
1893 in Immigrath (Langenfeld), Rotterdam contributed to the
shaping of architecture in the Rhineland during the 1920s,
confronted the challenges of the Nazi dictatorship, and
ultimately left a significant mark on the region with
numerous projects following World War II, until his passing
in 1974 in Bensberg (Bergisch Gladbach). Despite his
extensive body of work, which greatly influenced the
architectural landscape of the Rhineland and particularly
the territory of the Archdiocese of Cologne, there remains a
notable absence of comprehensive scholarly research on his
life and oeuvre even fifty years after his death. This paper
aims to address this research gap and provide initial
insights into fundamental questions: Who was Bernhard
Rotterdam? What architectural legacy did he leave behind?
Why is his work significant? The first chapter of this paper
provides a detailed biography of Bernhard Rotterdam,
exploring his origins, family background, and significant
personal, societal, and political events within the context
of his life. It demonstrates that Rotterdam's sustained
success in his architectural career can be primarily
attributed to the support from his father's construction
company in Langenfeld, which prioritized economic interests,
the influence of his teacher Emil Fahrenkamp with his
pragmatic understanding of the profession, Rotterdam's
extensive education in the field of architecture and
construction in Cologne and Düsseldorf, as well as his
ability to cultivate a broad clientele. The second chapter
examines the foundational concepts in Bernhard Rotterdam's
body of work through a comprehensive retroperspective,
elucidating the overarching principles of his architectural
practice and how these evolved over the course of his
career. In this context, it is hypothesized that Rotterdam
pursued three essential design strategies: the strategy of
abstract regionalism, the strategy of abstract power
representation, and the strategy of formal reduction.
Through analysis of realized buildings and consideration of
unrealized designs, it is explained that these seemingly
contradictory tendencies, along with their combinations and
interactions, reveal numerous connections that integrate
individual works into a larger context and illustrate the
shared, albeit not always linear, process of abstraction and
reduction in Rotterdam's fifty-year career. Finally, the
third chapter contextualizes Bernhard Rotterdam's work
within the art and architectural historical context of its
time of creation. Building upon the insights developed
during the survey of his work, it is emphasized that
Rotterdam's highly heterogeneous body of work defies easy
categorization within established frameworks and largely
eludes conventional interpretive patterns. Beyond a brief
discussion of the relationship between modernity and
tradition in German architecture during the interwar and
postwar periods, and an attempt to explain the concept of
another Modernity, this paper connects Rotterdam's work with
the principles of Multiple Modernity borrowed from
sociology. This approach enables, for the first time, a
coherent understanding of the architect's body of work,
highlighting Rotterdam's significance as a crucial mirror of
Rhenish architectural history in the 20th century.},
cin = {217110},
ddc = {720},
cid = {$I:(DE-82)217110_20160502$},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)11},
doi = {10.18154/RWTH-2024-11148},
url = {https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/997236},
}
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