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DIE BAUKUNST NAZI ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE ~ ALL 1942 ISSUES BOUND

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In the fall of 1938 improvements to the popular, oversized and heavily illustrated, high-quality Nazi art magazine Die Kunst im dritten Reich were announced. It was announced that effective as of 1 October 1938, the architecture magazine Die Baukunst would become the supplement to Die Kunst im dritten Reich and offered to subscribers as Ausgabe B or Edition B. The reason expressed by publisher Zentralverlag der NSDAP, Franz Eher Nachfolger (the Central Publishing House of the Nazi Party) was that paintings, sculpture and graphic arts were not the only art forms important in Nazi Germany anymore, and that the enormous development of Nazi construction had made it necessary to expand the mission of Die Kunst im dritten Reich magazine. Incorporating a section on Nazi architecture and construction would make the magazine more complete and focussed on the importance and scope of the development of Germany. If you have copies of the A Edition of Die Kunst im dritten Reich for 1942, this is your chance to get the Baukunst magazines that came only with the B editions of Die Kunst im dritten Reich!

In the April 1942 edition of Die Baukunst rare photos highlight furniture in Adolf Hitler’s office in Munich, at the Berghof on the Obersalzberg above Berchtesgaden, and in the Reichschancellery in Berlin.

Offered for sale on this USMBOOKS web page are all eleven heavily illustrated1942 issues of Die Baukunst in a 11-½ x 14-¼ inch bright blue linen hardbound book. The 4-1/2+ pound hardcover book has about 240 heavily illustrated glossy pages.

Die Baukunst was published for Adolf Hitler by Generalbauinspektor (General Building Inspector) Albert Speer and contained articles accompanied by photos, architectural plans and design drawings as black & white and color plates.

Above, the Mangfall Brücke, the well-known Nazi freeway bridge also designed by architect Bestelmeyer.

The December 1942 magazine shows Paul Bonatz’ architectural plans for the cities of Cologne and Stuttgart as well as modern suspension bridges for the Reichsautobahn.

In the back of every issue there were Mitteilungen or Announcements about the consolidation of Organisation Todt and Baustab Speer, the transportation and rationing of building materials, barracks for workers, construction book reviews, awards for famous architects as well as personal announcements such as the untimely death of Dr. Ing. Fritz Todt on 8 February 1942, for example.

The 240 pages of these 80+ year old Nazi architectural magazines contain a treasure trove of information and photos! The magazines were new or in very good condition when they were bound. There is no writing in this rare book, and it has no odor.

Above & right, the Luftgaukommando in Munich designed by German architect and university lecturer German Bestelmeyer. He was also the President of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts.

Above, Rasthaus am Chiemsee - the Nazi freeway rest stop on the Chiemsee between Munich and Salzburg.

The August-September 1942 magazine is about the extensive plans for the Friedrichsdenkmal or Frederick the Great monument in Reichshauptstadt Berlin by Friedrich Gilly. The text is accompanied by architectural views, black & white pictures and color plates, several showing rare designs for the memorial that were made but never built.

The October 1942 edition of Die Baukunst highlights the work of German architect German Bestelmeyer in Munich and Nürnberg and the November 1942 magazine covers the work of German architect Max Littmann such as the Landestheater in Stuttgart, spa facilities in Bad Kissingen, and the opera house in Berlin.

The March 1942 issue is all about Dr. Ing. Fritz Todt, the man and his work. The articles were written by Albert Speer, Günther Schulze-Fielitz and Paul Bonatz and are beautifully illustrated with rare pictures of stretches of the Reichsautobahn, Nazi freeway bridges, rest facilities, gas stations and administrative buildings.

Above is an image from the USMBOOKS image archive.  It is a Third Reich Zentralverlag der NSDAP ad for their "Die Kunst" magazines which they referred to as "The Leading Art Magazine". Note the two different editions, Ausgabe A and Ausgabe B, priced at RM 3 and RM 6 respectively! The advertisement dates from after September 1939 when the name of the magazine was changed from Die Kunst im dritten Reich (Art in the Third Reich) to Die Kunst im deutschen Reich (Art in the German State).

The January 1942 issue of Die Baukunst has coverage of furniture designed by Paul Ludwig Troost. The rare pictures shows pieces ranging from Nazi Party office desks and bookcases, to chests of drawers for Hitler’s apartment in the Reichschancellery to ladies dressing tables for the steamship Europa.

The February 1942 issue has extensive coverage of the revamped interior of the Platterhof Hotel, a stone’s throw away from Adolf Hitler’s Berghof on the Obersalzberg. Shown are lounges, dining rooms, bedrooms and details of light fixtures and door carvings. A lot of this furniture was still in use after World War II when the Platterhof became the US Army R & R hotel the Gerenal Walker, until it closed in 1996.

Historic and modern architecture in Norway is the focus of the June 1942 edition of Die Baukunst and the July 1942 issue is about rebuilding parts of the historic Hansaetic city of Lübeck after enemy aerial attacks. A special photo feature shows that the Germans avoided severely damaging cathedrals, while leveling French cities during the invasion, and subsequently cleared up the 1940 battle damage in Tournay, Amiens and Beauvais, cities in Belgium and northern France.

The May 1942 magazine shows architecture in Vienna, the construction of the ring road around the historical center of the second largest city of Grossdeutschland, changes to the parliament building and academy of arts.