Baukunst (sometimes cited as Die Baukunst) was a monthly architecture journal founded in Munich in 1925 by the building contractor Bernhard Borst, the developer of the Borstei housing estate, who remained its publisher until it ceased in 1931. First edited by the architect and theorist Herman Sörgel, it presented contemporary German and international architecture in large, carefully printed illustrations, with essays on architectural theory and aesthetics.
Under Sörgel the early volumes reflected his interest in architectural theory and in America, which he visited in 1925; its first issue was greeted by Theodor Fischer, Cornelius Gurlitt, Peter Behrens and Hans Poelzig. Disagreements between Sörgel and the publisher ended his editorship, and from 1927 the editorial office passed to Wilhelm Heizer.
From 1928 until the last volume in 1931 the journal was edited by the architectural historian Dr. Rudolf Pfister, supported from 1930 by an editorial committee that included Oswald Bieber. Many issues were devoted to the work of a single architect, presented in extensive photographic portfolios.
| Project | Architect(s) | Location | Year |
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355 buildings and projects have been extracted from the issues; a selection is listed here, each opening the issue at its page. See all 355 projects in the project directory.
The publisher and editors of the journal, as printed in its mastheads.
Munich building contractor and developer of the Borstei estate; published the journal throughout its run.
Architect and theorist, author of Theorie der Baukunst; left after disagreements with the publisher.
Responsible editor of the third volume.
Architectural historian; edited the journal until its last volume.
Selected scholarship on the journal, and the institutional sources from which the database draws its scans and transcripts.
The reproductions were digitized by Phoebus Panigyrakis from original volumes held at the saai Archiv für Architektur und Ingenieurbau, Karlsruhe. The scans were edited into PDF booklets (cropping, rotation and page corrections) by Ines Rulence, processed for Character Recognition, and published as flipbooks.
Issues of Baukunst published before 1931 are in the public domain in the United States. Under EU law (Directive 2006/116/EC), the journal as a collective work is in the public domain, as more than 70 years have elapsed since its last issue (1931). However, individually authored contributions may carry separate protection: texts, drawings and photographs by authors who died after 1955 may remain under copyright in the EU. The Architectural Periodicals Database does not assert ownership of the original creative content, only of the database itself. If you are a rights holder and believe your work has been used without appropriate permission, please contact us at info@architecturalperiodicals.com.