THE NEW OBJECTIVITY

The term Neue Sachlichkeit(new objectivity) was coined by Gustav Hartlaub with
his exhibition: ‘Neue Sachlichkeit, at the Kunsthalle Mannheim in 1925 and is now
used to describe a movement during the politically, socially, and economically
unstable years of the Weimar Republic in Germany (1919–1933) that includes
painting, photography, design, and architecture.
After World War I, the Expressionist movement in Eastern Europe gained
momentum as a response to the horrors of war. Soon after, New Objectivity was
responding to Expressionism as a way to bring the people back down to reality and
away from the decadence that came with the utopian views of Expressionism. New
Objectivity was pioneered by a variety of architects including Ludwig Mies van
der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Peter Behrens, and Bruno Taut.
With the rise of Nazism, the new objectivity quickly lost its foothold in Germany.
The eradication of the social welfare system of the Weimar Republic and the forced
emigration of the architects by the Nazis for being deemed socialist, the movement
faded and soon after ended. Its legacy, however, is not forgotten between the
contributions to social housing, the road it paved for the International Style, as well
as the beginnings of modern urban planning. Furthermore, by being such a
fundamental force behind the Bauhaus. It is clear that it was precisely that allowed
for Functionalism to evolve and grow rapidly and taking such a firm hold on
modern architecture.
The Weissenhofsiedlung and the Bauhaus helped create a more definitive style for
the new objectivity. This helped the housing crisis still present in Germany after
World War I immensely, as many of the renowned architects’ focus had shifted to