Book presentation: Urban development and dictatorship – an impressive review!

Book presentation: Urban development and dictatorship – an impressive review!

On May 6, 2025 the Technical University of Berlin the book launch of the fifth volume on construction and dictatorship in Europe took place. This event, which will take place from 6:15 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Center for Metropolitan Studies at Hardenbergstrasse 16-18, Room HBS 005, is accessible free of charge. It is in the context of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Europe from National Socialism on May 8, 2025.

The book entitled "Urban Planning in National Socialism. Attack, Triumph, Terror in the European Context 1933–1945" is the result of extensive 25 years of research on the subject. This research was carried out first at the Institute of Sociology and then at the Center for Metropolitan Studies at the TU Berlin. In cooperation with the Bauhaus University Weimar and the University of Kassel, five volumes were created in a series of publications by the Architecture Museum of the TU Berlin, which document the findings.

Diverse research topics

The research is illustrated by various subject areas, including representative buildings, housing construction, old town renewal, internal colonization, rearmament buildings, infrastructure, military facilities, educational institutions and camps. This thematic diversity reflects the complex role of urban planning under the dictatorships of Stalin, Mussolini, Salazar, Franco and Hitler.

As part of the event, several scientists from TU Berlin welcome the audience. Prof. Dr. Dorothee Brantz, head of the Center for Metropolitan Studies, and Prof. Dr. Angela Million, Executive Director of the Institute for Urban and Regional Planning, together with Dr. Hans-Dieter Nägelke, the director of the Architecture Museum, and Prof. Dr. Harald Bodenschatz, associate professor at the Center for Metropolitan Studies, will moderate the book launch.

A program for discussion and reflection

The project presentation is accompanied by a conversation with the editors Harald Bodenschatz, Victoria Grau, Christiane Post and Max Welch Guerra. These conversations provide a valuable opportunity for discussion with the interested audience. The event aims to bring both the scientific results and the associated social issues to the fore.

For anyone interested in participating in this topic, please note that the book details are also important. The volume, edited by the aforementioned scientists, will be published by DOM publishers and will contain a total of 624 pages and 700 illustrations. The subscription price is 98.00 euros until August 7, 2025, after which the book costs 128.00 euros.

Advanced research and events

In addition to the book launch, numerous exhibitions and conferences take place as part of the research. An example of this is the exhibition “Make Space Violence. Planning and Building in National Socialism,” which was on view from April 19 to July 16, 2023 at the Academy of Arts in Berlin. The exhibition “In lockstep. The Architects and Engineers Association of Berlin under National Socialism” in the Architecture Museum of the TU Berlin, which will be shown from December 7, 2023 to February 22, 2024, also takes up this topic consistently on.

The connection between urban development and dictatorship remains relevant in academic discussion. The debate will continue with future events, such as the symposium “Urban Design and Dictatorship in the 20th Century” at the Bauhaus University Weimar or various lectures on memory and European perspectives.

This commitment to critical reflection on the role of urban development in authoritarian regimes is not only reflected in academic publications, but also shapes teaching and exchange at the institutions involved.