The two historical sites I chose to research were the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates and Classical Weimar. I chose the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates because I did not know what kind of a site it would be, I had never heard of this site before this class, and I thought I could personally relate to a housing estate more than a castle. The second historical site in Germany I chose to research was the Classical Weimar because I also had never heard of it before either.
The Berlin Modernism Housing Estates consists of six sites and were built during the years of 1913 and 1934. The main architects, Bruno Taut, Martin Wagner, and Walter Gropius, built these multiple flat buildings in order to help the growing population and help the lesser wealthy individuals of society. All of the estates were built by non profit organizations or cooperatives creating a lower cost for individuals. These estates were advanced for their time and created many new ideas that influenced housing around the world for years to come.
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The estates also provide exceptional examples of new urban and architectural typologies, featuring fresh design
solutions, as well as technical and aesthetic innovations. End Clip, Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
<http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1239> August 30th, 2011.
In 2008 these were added to the UNESCO Heritage Site because of their good condition after world war two. Some repairs were made, but only minor.
The second historical site I looked up was Classical Weimar which became popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The town had great artistic quality throughout the town and wonderful parks which gave it the popularity it still has today. Classical Weimar has twelve popular buildings: Goethe's House (town house), City Church, City Castle, The Dowager's Palace, and multiple parks and castles.
Many famous individuals also lived in Weimar throughout the years.
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German cultural leading figures, in particular the writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832), the
dramatist Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), the philosopher and theologian Johann Gottfried Herder
(1744-1803) and the poet Christoph Martin Wieland (1733-1813), lived and worked in Weimar.
End Clip. "Germany, Classical Weimar" <http://www.leonardfrank.com/Worldheritage/
Weimar.html> August 30th, 2011.
I thought that the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates was more interesting because I enjoyed the architect more than the Classical Weimar and I can relate more to wanting an affordable, classy flat to live in. I also found more information on the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates than Classical Weimar which might have influenced my opinion. Overall, both sites were interesting to learn about and I am glad I chose the two I did.
1. "Braun" <http://www.verlagshaus-braun.de/index.php?id=36&L=1&tx_ttproducts_pi1%5BbackPID %5D=36&tx_ttproducts_pi1%5Bproduct%5D=170&tx_ttproducts_pi1%5Bcat%5D=5&cHash=8b9c7c87ed> August 30th, 2011.
2. "World Heritage Site" <http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/berlinmodernism.html> August 30th, 2011.
3. "Berlin Modernism Housing Estates" <http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1239> August 30th, 2011.
4. "Classical Wiemar" <http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/846> August 30th, 2011.
