3. Haus der Kunst
The Haus der Deutschen Kunst (House of German Art) is considered to be the first representational monumental structure of the Third Reich. Built between 1933 and 1937. Haus der Kunst was initially planned by the Bavarian Ministry of Culture to be a stone building for exhibitions as the replacement to the Glass Palace. Hitler, however, saw the project as a chance to create a shrine of his own aesthetic ideals. As soon as the National Socialists rose to power, Hitler moved the plan of the building to the southern border of Munich’s “Englischer Garten”. He directed Paul Ludwig Troost to design the first monumental example of Nazi architecture – the House of German Art.
Troost had never worked for the government before, but he was Hitler’s preferred architect since his neo-classical designs meshed well with Hitler’s image of the future of architecture. Troost, however, died untimely in early 1934, leaving Gerdy Troost his widow and Leonhard Gall, his right-hand employee in charge of the work. They made no significant changes to the designs and saw the construction of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst.
Roughly two years after its completion (1939), the building hosted the 2,000 years of German culture celebrations. It became an American officer mess hall after the world war. It, however, was later reverted to its initial purpose.