Peter behrens and the aeg turbine factory

"The time has come when Germany should cease to look upon the artist as a man who more or less harmlessly follows his inclination, and rather see in him one of the important powers for the ennoblingof work, and thereby to ennoble the entire inner life of the Land and to make the Land victorious in the competition among peoples. For in this competition only those values that cannot be imitatedwill prove decisive in the turn of events.” -Fritz Schumacher 1907



Peter Behrens, along with the rest of the Deutscher Werkbund generally agreed that the

“preeminent expression of power” ofthe early twentieth century was modern industry.1 Behrens’ participation as the artistic consultant for the Allgemeine Elektricitats-Gesellschaft (AEG) in Berlin allowed him to come to terms with andaccommodate science and technology as the “rhythm of the time” or Zeitgeist. This participation also allowed him to bring to fruition his developing ideas on the expression of “monumental art” throughthe construction of the AEG Turbine. Although by this time his idea of “monumental” expression had dramatically shifted in favor of representing the industrial power of the time through his artisticsensibilities.2
A brief historical observation of Germany during the beginning of the twentieth century

helps put into context Behrens’ conviction with presenting the AEG Turbine Factory as atemple of production. A recurrent nationalist theme at the time was that in order for Germany to compete in the world’s economy a marriage of industry and excellence in design would be necessary.Nationalist personalities like Friedrich Nauman argued that because Germany lacked natural resources and a cheap source of materials, the country was better off by realizing that they buy materials and selllabor and culture. In essence the argument called for turning the disadvantage into an advantage by efficiently turning imported materials into excellently designed exported goods that could only be...