Caught in the Titotality Machine

The Bauhaus Architect Franz Ehrlich
Suhrkamp | Insel

Caught in the Titotality Machine / Gefangen in der Titotalitätsmaschine
The Bauhaus Architect Franz Ehrlich
Rediscovering architect Franz Ehrlich, a forgotten representative of the Bauhaus movement
Franz Ehrlich’s (1907-1984) eventful life as an architect began at the Bauhaus in Dessau. In 1937, he was taken to Buchenwald concentration camp as a resistance fighter, where he had to design the gate with the inscription »To each his own«. Ehrlich later had a successful career in the GDR – but his all-encompassing assertiveness collided with the political guidelines.

In their biographical essay, design scholar Friedrich von Borries and historian...
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Franz Ehrlich’s (1907-1984) eventful life as an architect began at the Bauhaus in Dessau. In 1937, he was taken to Buchenwald concentration camp as a resistance fighter, where he had to design the gate with the inscription »To each his own«. Ehrlich later had a successful career in the GDR – but his all-encompassing assertiveness collided with the political guidelines.

In their biographical essay, design scholar Friedrich von Borries and historian Jens-Uwe Fischer follow in the footsteps of a forgotten representative of the Bauhaus. In doing so, they reflect on the contradictions in Ehrlich’s biography as well as the ambivalences of modernism and its claim to totality.
»Von Borries and Fischer have expressed their approaches concisely. [The book] is also a worthwhile read as it contains a brief history of architecture and art in the GDR.« Christian Schröder, Der Tagesspiegel

»Well researched, clearly edited and written matter-of-factly.« Julian Ignatowitsch, Deutschlandfunk
»Von Borries and Fischer have expressed their approaches concisely. [The book] is also a worthwhile read as it contains a brief history of architecture and art in the GDR.« Christian Schröder, Der Tagesspiegel

»Well researched, clearly edited and written matter-of-factly.« Julian Ignatowitsch, Deutschlandfunk
2022, 315 pages
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Persons

Friedrich von Borries, born in Berlin in 1974, is an architect and Professor at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg.
Friedrich von Borries, born in Berlin in 1974, is an architect and Professor at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg.
Jens-Uwe Fischer, born in 1977, researches the history of 20thcentury architecture and design. Franz Ehrlich is the focus of his PhD thesis.
Jens-Uwe Fischer, born in 1977, researches the history of 20thcentury architecture and design. Franz Ehrlich is the focus of his PhD thesis.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Architecture in the Anthropocene
Year of Publication: 2024
Friedrich von BorriesYear of Publication: 2024
In order to learn about dinosaurs, today’s palaeontologists dig up fossils. To find out about how we interacted with climate change, the researchers of tomorrow will study technofossils: the remains of buildings and infrastructure. In the Anthropocene – the geological epoch in which human activity has had such a significant impact on the planet that it can be viewed as an epoch in its own right –...
Festival of Inconsequentiality
Year of Publication: 2021
Friedrich von BorriesYear of Publication: 2021

Manager Cornelia tasks curator Florian with creating a museum for ecological art for the »Sustainability in German Industries Foundation«. What would a life look like that remained – in an ecological sense – as inconsequential as possible?


Through his project, Florian meets artist Lisa, who plants trees to produce charcoal for her installations and drawings – and...

To Project the World
Year of Publication: 2016
Friedrich von BorriesYear of Publication: 2016

Years ago, designers drafted things. Today, almost everything is being designed: the climate, processes, refugee camps. But if everything is being designed, it’s time to stop evaluating design...

Rights sold to:

Spanish world rights (Metales Pesados)

RLF
Year of Publication: 2013
Friedrich von BorriesYear of Publication: 2013
The story begins with the London riots: the losers of consumer society take to the streets to show the world that they exist; cars and shops are set on fire. Young advertising executive Jan’s world is turned upside down.


He’s made a lot of money on campaigns for the fashion industry, but when he gets swept up in the unrest he comes to realise: capitalism must be overthrown, and it must...
Climate Capsules
Year of Publication: 2010
Friedrich von BorriesYear of Publication: 2010
Until now, we have chosen to ignore the consequences of global warming in the blind hope that our politicians and engineers will come up with solutions once the problems have become sufficiently...
Rights sold to:

Arabic world rights (NCT)

Home from Home
Year of Publication: 2009
Berlin, in the late 1920s. The Hirsch Kupfer und Messingwerke designed a prefabricated house – made of the weather-resistant copper from their own factory. Walter Gropius was...
Rights sold to:

Brazilian Portuguese rights (Editura Nau)

Socialist Cowboys
Year of Publication: 2008
Germans have long shown an interest in Native American and cowboy culture. But after World War II, this »hobby« became something more – at least in East Germany. In real socialism, after all, the »Wild West« meant one thing above all others: America. And since that was where the »imperialist enemies of the people« ruled, the cowboys and Native Americans...

DISCOVER

News
On 21 August 2024, Suhrakmp author Friedrich von Borries celebrates his 50th birthday.