Art and Science on Track

Abstract

Abstract In this speech to the parliament of the German Democratic Republic, Walter Ulbricht, First Secretary of the ruling Socialist Unity Party, advocates a “new German architecture” based on stripped classical forms, which, according to Ulbricht, breaks with both “formalist” architecture of the West and fascist architecture. According to Ulbricht, this architecture also recalls the “worthy traditions” of German architecture, and is therefore the appropriate form for rebuilding Berlin–in turn, a symbol of the social reconstruction of East Germany.