The Shell-Haus (Shell House) is a classical modernist architectural masterpiece that stands overlooking the
Landwehrkanal
The Landwehr Canal (german: Landwehrkanal), is a canal parallel to the Spree river in Berlin, Germany, built between 1845 and 1850 to plans by Peter Joseph Lenné. It connects the upper part of the Spree at the eastern harbour () in Friedric ...
in the
Tiergarten district of
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, Germany. It was designed by
Emil Fahrenkamp
Emil Fahrenkamp (November 8, 1885, Aachen – May 24, 1966, Ratingen-Breitscheid) was a German architect and professor. One of the most prominent architects of the period between the first and second World Wars, he is best known for his 1931 ...
and was built in 1930–31.
Building and design
In 1929 a competition was held between five architects to determine the designer of a prestigious new office block to house the headquarters of the mineral oil company, and
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
subsidiary, Rhenania-Ossag. The victor was the German architect and professor
Emil Fahrenkamp
Emil Fahrenkamp (November 8, 1885, Aachen – May 24, 1966, Ratingen-Breitscheid) was a German architect and professor. One of the most prominent architects of the period between the first and second World Wars, he is best known for his 1931 ...
(1885-1966).
After almost two years in construction, Shell-Haus opened in 1932. At the time the building was noted for its modernist design, for its striking wave-like facade, and for being one of the first
steel-framed high-rise buildings in Berlin. In retrospect it is regarded as Fahrenkamp’s masterpiece and one of the most significant office block designs of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
.
Shell-Haus' simple graceful forms are stylistically reminiscent of the German modern realist movement
New Objectivity
The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, who ...
, but Fahrenkamp also incorporated more traditional aspects to his design.
The most eye-catching feature of Shell-Haus is its main facade, which jumps forward in six gentle waves whilst at the same time increasing in height from six levels (five at the back) to ten. The building itself comprises four wings situated around a four-sided inner courtyard.
History
Before the building of Shell-Haus, the Tiergarten section of Berlin was primarily the location of expensive, elegant and luxurious private residences. Afterwards, and after World War II, the area housed more offices, with some of the former townhouses and villas gone and others having been converted to office use. The street itself became a significant connecting thoroughfare.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Shell-Haus was used by the naval high command and the cellars were converted into a makeshift hospital.
Despite the upper floors being damaged in the
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
After the Vistula– ...
at the close of the war, Shell-Haus was one of Berlin’s few great edifices to survive the widespread destruction of the city relatively unscathed. After clearing away the war damage, in 1946 the Berlin electricity board BEWAG made Shell-Haus its head office.
In 1958 Shell-Haus was designated an historical monument in order to protect it. However, this acknowledgement of its architectural importance did not save the building from post-war dilapidation, and it remained in a degraded state for many years to follow.
Between 1965 and 1967, the Shell-Haus site was extended northwards with the construction of two similarly steel-framed buildings designed by the German architect Paul Baumgarten. Being comparatively conventional and unremarkable in design, they were not included under the original building’s historical monument protection, and a 1995 application to rectify this was squashed.
Renovation
When the subject of the building's long overdue restoration was raised in the 1980s progress was hampered by a dispute over the investment needed that continued into the mid-1990s. Renovation work had been carried out on the courtyard façade in the early 80s but this had failed to meet the required standards.
In 1995 Bewag moved out of Shell-Haus in readiness for the renovation project. In 1997, after 13 years of discord, the restoration work began. At the time the total cost was estimated at around 50 million deutschmarks. but by the time work was completed in February 2000, the expenditure had escalated to around 80 million marks. A major contributory factor to the considerable expense was the need to reopen the Longarina quarry near
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, owned by company CIMEP in
Tivoli, in order to supply the appropriate
travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...
rock for the building façade.
The expenditure and painstaking detail invested in Shell-Haus did not go unrewarded – the year 2000 saw the renovation work awarded the monument preservation prize, the
Ferdinand von Quast
Alexander Ferdinand Ludolf von Quast (18 October 1850 – 27 March 1939) was a Prussian military officer, participant in the Franco-Prussian War and a general in the First World War. He commanded the German 6th Army during the Battle of the Lys ...
Medal.
In March 2000 the Berlin energy supplier GASAG became the new owner and occupant of Shell-Haus.
Admirers and detractors
Shell-Haus has several high-profile fans including the acclaimed German film director
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...
– who featured the building in his 1970 directorial debut ''
Summer in the City'' – and the architect Meinhard von Gerkan, who said that for him it was the most beautiful building in Berlin.
Interview in der Berliner Morgenpost
3 January 2007
On the other hand, one of the only times on record that Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
inveighed against a specific building in Berlin, as opposed to modern urban architecture in general, was when he insulted Fahrenkamp with "You're the man who committed the crime of the Shell Building." Despite this criticism, Fahrenkamp received some commissions for exhibition buildings, and had dealings with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
, Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
, the head of the Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
and the Four Year Plan
The Four Year Plan was a series of economic measures initiated by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany in 1936. Hitler placed Hermann Göring in charge of these measures, making him a Reich Plenipotentiary (Reichsbevollmächtigter) whose jurisdiction cut a ...
, and Albert Speer
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, he ...
, Hitler's favorite architect and later Minister of Armaments and War Production.
References
External links
*{{Commonscat-inline, Shell-Haus
Buildings and structures in Berlin
Modernist architecture in Germany
Shell plc buildings and structures