S THE GRAY LlTlCS OF

JOHNA. STUART Florida International University

In the four decadespreceding World War I, Germany and political activist Rosa Luxemburg: "the questions of developed a series of militaristic, economic and political militarism and imperialism are the central axis of today's agendas aimed at securing its dominance in the ~~orldpolitical life. " ' marketplace.' This involved the organization of strong Integral to notions of militarism and imperialism was land, naval and air forces designed not only to protect the nationalism that pervaded German design ideology. German trade routes but tointimidate the Entente Cordiale Kaiser Wilhelm 11, the reigning Emperor of Germmy and that consisted of England, France and Russia.? With the KmgofPn~ssiafrom1888-1918, set aconservative agenda assassination in late June 1914 of Archduke Francis for art alld architecture when he stated in 1909 that "an Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the art which transgresses the laws and barriers outlined by German government was thrown into what has been Me, ceases to be an art; it is merely a factor). product, ;I described as the '.July Crisis," a month of political and trade, and art must never become such a thing."5 With diplomatic mishaps that drew Europe to World War I by increasing dependence on the growing class of wealthy early August. Conditioned by decades of competitive industrialists for patronage of art and architecture, the armament for military superiority on land, sea and air that Kaiser was adamant in his desire to control the direction was facilitated by new diplomatic uses of communications of Germany's material culture. He sought to establish technologies, Germany, Russia, England, France and much "laws and barriers," and to unify the agenda of imperial of the rest of Europe responded rapidly to the call to patronage and of art and architecture in general. Closely arms.' As summed up in 1914 by the famous Berlin social connected to this imperial mandate was the Pn~ssian Ministry's Advisor on Applied Arts [Referent ,fiir ([as K~~nstge~uerbe],Hermam Muthesius. In 1907 Muthesius, Friedrich Naumann and Karl Schmidt, among others founded the Werkbund to improve design standards and perpetuate nationalism through German design in international market^.^ The architect Fritz Schumacher gave the keynote speech at the design organization's opening in Munich. Lacing his message with rhetoric of conquest and competition, Schumacher stated:

The time has come when Gerinany should... see in [the artist] one of the importantpowersfor the ennobling of work, and thereby to ennoble tile entire inner life of the Land and to make the Land victorious in the coinpetition of peoples ... Ez~erjthiizgthat can be imitated soon loses its ualue on the international market; only the qualitative ualues which spring froin the inexpressible inner powers of a harwzoiziorls culture are inimitable. And consequeizt(~~there exists in aestheticpou~eralsoti7e bighesteconoinic ualue. After a century dezjoted to technique and thouglnt, we see the nextproject zilbich Germany has to fulfill as that of the reconquest of a harnlonious culture.-

Debates over the strategy to attain a nationally unified Fig. I. Kaiser Wilhelm11, 1912. or "harmonious culture" developed into one of the central colored-glass architecture into full-blown utopian and internatio~laldimensions with the p~lblicatioll of his creative interpretation of the Baron von ~Ii~nchhausen myth inMiinchhausen ILIZ~Clciris~a.~~ Here, Scheerbart outlined the travels of the 18th century folk hero as he toured an imagined and extraordinary international exhibition in Melbourne, Australia.'" In his penultimate novel, Lesabozdio. Ein Astroiderz-Rolmtz [Lesabendio. An Asteroid Kovel] (1913), Scheerbart developed a narrative around an asteroid/planet called Pallas, whose inhabitants (unisex and entirely mutable in form) sought to understand their universe through the construction of an enormous observation tower.l- But unlike their 20th century German counterparts, the inhabitants of Pallas did not have capitalistic or imperialistic go:tls. One explorer from Pallas, for example, visited the Earth only to return with an account of c;~rnivoroushumm scavengers who wounded and killed each other for no apparent reason. In the words of Walter Benjamin, Scheerbart depicted "thebest of all worlds in this work."'* It was aft& his introduction to Bruno Taut in 19 13, however, that Scheerbart initiated a detailed discourse on contemporary issues relevant to glass architecture.'" With Glass Architecttwe (1914) Scheerbart laid out 11 1 advantages that building with glass could provide in everyday life. Scheerbart's publisher, Georg Miiller Fig. 2. Paul Scheerbarf, 1911. originally rejected the work as a set of "practical building suggestions."*" It has been speculated that this frustrating features of the Werkbundstreit or Werkbund Debate rejection led Scheerbart to write his final novel. The Grrij~ between Hermann Muthesius and Henry van de Velde in Cloth and Ten Percent White: A Ladies Novel (1914). 1914.' In broad terms, the dialogue focused on the Here, in the guise of a work written for and about women, debate between standardized design and individualized Scheerbart provides a ponwfi~llens through which the artistic creativity as the source of German design identity German design community and with it German Weltpolitik at home and abroad. This discussion attracted may be examined for its complex and often contradictory commentary by many involved in the Cologne Werkbund stances on internationalism, technology and harmonious Exhibition of the same year. Revealing the central role of cult~re.~' both aesthetics and internationalism to the Werkbund The author sets hisnovel in the mid-twentieth century, mission at the 1914 exhibition, Muthesius designed the a strategy that allows him both to explore the maturation Color Show and the Hamburg-hnerika Line Pavilion.' of early-twentieth century ideals for design and The Werkbund Exhibition, however, also engaged broader technology, and to reject the imminent consequences of issues of gender and material innovation in such projects militarism, German nationalism and empire." Scheerbart as Margarete Knueppelholz-Roeser's designs for the outlines the global future of glass architecture with Women's House, a pavilion showcasing women's crafts lighthearted and ironic humor." The novel's protagonist, and interior design, and Bnmo Taut's Glass House, which Edgar Krug, a Swiss archaeologist-turned-architect, was sponsored by the Deutsche Luxfer Prism Syndikat."' circumnavigates the globe by airship with his wife, Clara. Through his involvement with Taut's Glass House, German Krug populates the planet with wildly varied, colored- Expressionist author, inventor and architecturalvisionary glass architecture, including an elaborate high-rise and Paul Scheerbart (1863-1915) came to write not only his exhibition/concert hall in Chicago, a retirement complex manifesto Glass At-cbitecture " but also his final novel. for British airline pilots on the Fiji Islands, the structure The GrajnCloth a1261 Te~zPercent White: A Ladies AJouel, for an elevated train traversing a zoological park in both published just before the outbreak ofnw in 1914." Northern India, a suspended residential villa for a Chinese Like the Werkbund Exhibition, these works addressed client on the Kuria Muria Islands, and a museum of construction innovations in broad cultural contexts of ancient "oriental" weapons on Malta. Surprisingly, Krug gender, internationalism and design. Scheerbart, however, fears that his idiosyncratic, but popular architecture is defined a harmonious :md utopian vision within a culture challenged by one significant component of of colored glass architecture. environmental design: the brilliance ofwomen's clothing. Between 1889-1914, Paul Scheerbart developed In an effort to eliminate the competition he perceives, the these ideals in a series of poems, short stories and fantasy architect requests a clause in his wedding contract novels. li He first described the symbolic and metaphysical demanding that his wife submit to a lifetime of clothing implications of glass in one of his earliest works, Das designed with ninety percent gray and ten percent white Parndies. Die Heimrrt der h'urzst [Paradise. The Home of cloth, thus providing the formula found in the novel's the Arts] (1899). I' In 1906 he expanded this vision of title. The novel's relationship to German internationalism in an eclectic style to showcase the country's design.'" is signaled in large part by Krug's identity and his Further indication of the international nature of the peregrinations. As a Swiss citizen, Krug is separated from exhibition in The Gray Cloth, is Scheerbart's choice of German nationalism while connected to a long history of name for the central space: "Tower of Babel." The name neutrality in Europe. The fictitious architect, however, is implies both the middle-Easternroots Scheerbart ascribed identified as living near Brissago, a town known to the to glass architecture and, with an ironic sensibility, the Romans asverbano. Scheerbart 's mention of this historical diversity of languages brought together within his vision connection connects his protagonist to the Roman Empire mid-century internationalism." This is reminiscent of that wove its way through the Alpsfrom Rome to Gernlany. comments by a visitor to the 1893 World's Fair, who Along similar lines, Scheerbart seems to make a connection observed that the exhibition displayed a "sliding scale of between Kn~g'stravels and the tentacles of the British humanity" that brought together a diversity of people Empire. Several of Krug's destinations, such as the speaking languages from around the globe.2RAs Mitchell United States, India, the Kuria Muria Islands and Malta, Schwarzer notes, by 1909 Heinrich Waentig, the German were not only once part of the British Empire but also historian of applied arts, had already deemed the "United served as ports for the British fleet, connections for States . . . a dreamlike environment energized by raw British telecommunications lines, and as travel destinations natural powers, free market development, and unlimited for British tourists. Respect for the British Empire ran productive activity. "'By looking to Chicago, Scheerbart high at the turn of the century as many German evokes an internationalist perspective on design based architectural theorists considered England "a model of on the dissemination of ideas through expositions that internationalism" with a modern national design identity included fantasy, futurism and capitalism as distinctive capable of worldwide export.*' While Scheerbart takes components. advantage of many of the conditions of empire in the Scheerbart's interest in new technologies as novel, he never explicitly states the political relationships mechanisms for increased globalization extended to the between countries of the mid-twentieth century. medium of film. This is particularly significant given the The Gray Cloth begins at an exhibition of decorative newness of cinema and the limited nature of its artistic arts and sculpture in the United States: and informational content. First introduced to the public at the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition, cinema soon Near Chicago on Lake Michigan, American proved to be a central component of both political and sculptors and decorative artists had arranged an architectural internati~nalism.~'In Designing Dreams: exhibition. There were, however, only works of Modern Architecture in the Movies, Donald Albrecht silver on display. It was the middle of the twentieth comments that: centu y. The architect Edgar Krug had built the exhibition hall out of glass and iron. It was No vehicleproz~idedas effective and widespread opening day and, with livelygestures, the architect an exposure of architectural imagery as the led hisfriend, the lawyer Walter Lowe, around the medium of the movies. Statistics of cinema enormous halls, pointing out details of the attendance during the first half of the century architecture and ornament. suggest the ability of the movies to rival, if not The colossal u:alls were made completely out of actually surpass, exhibitions as a major means of coloredglass, with colored ornament, so that only promoting new design concepts. j' subdued daylight shone into the interior. It was raining outside. The sun was not shining. But the Film is introduced into The Gray Cloth in the context colors of the glass gleamed pou~erfully of Edgar Krug's marriage. Krug meets Clara Weber, an nonetheless.... organist dressed in gray and white, at the Tower of Babel. Edgar is enchanted by her outfit and later that evening the Around midday, when the sun became visible two are married. The wedding, which includes a rather outside, there was some commotion in the lengthy legal discussion of the material possibilities for exhibition hall. The splendor of the colored glass the gray and white outfits, engenders considerable ornament was so enhanced by the sun that one publicity. Following the wedding, an American movie was at a loss for words to praise this wonder of producer, Mr. Stephan, creates a cinematic reenactment color. Many uisitors shouted repeatedly, of the event. After some disagreement with the Kn~gs' "Delightjid! Wonderful! Great! Inc~mnparable!'"~ lawyer about whether he could simplify Clara's outfit to all black, Mr. Stephan emphasizes the importance of film By locating the opening of his novel at an art as a disseminator of design and of Chicago as the new exhibition of only American artists, Scheerbart references design capital when he states: the modern history of arts and crafts exhibitions in Germany that often exclusively showcased German Very well then, we'll choose gray. It doesn't have production. This particular exhibition, however, is in to be precise. The Europeans will think it's a Chicago, however, the focus of global attention in the sensation alzyujay. And through this they will be early 1900's as a result of the 1893 World's Columbian introduced to the glass architecture of Chicago. Exhibition that, among other things, celebrated the That is the main point! The executive direction colonial efforts of Western Europe. For this exhibition, contributes to this factor. It is, in fact, a giant Germany constructed the most expensive and, by aduertisement!" contemporary accounts, the most "remarkable" pavilion Although the film is to be sensationalist, the documentary nature of Stephan's movie aligns it with another genre of film, the newsreel. These played not only formidable propagandistic and political roles during the Spanish American and the Boer wars, but fomented surges of nationalism in Europe before World War L3"n fact, the political nature of film was so powerful in France that a contemporary commentator suggestedin 1913 that the cinema was "a kind of popular annex to the Elysee Palace."' Scheerbart proposes a shift in cinematic subjects away from expressions of nationalistic propaganda toward promotional images of international design culture. This is achieved through the depiction not only of architecture, but of the mobile upper-middle class that flies around the world constructing and inhabiting it. The Kn~gsdo not actually see the film until they land Fig. 3. Zeppelin over Berlin, 1909 in Northern India to design a zoological park many months after theirwedding. When they meet Mr. Stephan would cause international calamity." In contrast to his and view the film the Kn~gsare shocked by being made descriptions of the airship's peaceful civihan use in The a public spectacle without their consent. With comic Gray Cloth,Scheerbart reacted strongly against Germany's irony typical of Scheerbart, Clara first learns that Edgar is use of airships to carry bombs. In 1910, he published an Swiss at this time as they argue with Mr. Stephan about article entitled Der Nilitarism~~sund die L~lftSchzXfahrt the sensationalism of the film and its production for a inwhich he stated: "The mere contemplation of such arts European a~dience:~~Given the timing and import of this of war can cause a nervous breakdown. "'"Scheerbart revelation to the couple, the world in which they live is was convinced that, unlike conventional means of waging without nationalistic instincts. Rather it is a world based war, which required the conquest of territory, air attacks on international air transportation and communication. could destroy civic and cultural centers well within the The film, however, gives the Krugs fame the world over, borders of countries in conflict. Scheerbart predicted, and with it a notoriety that clearly challenges their with perspicacity, that the devastation caused by air privileged and private bourgeois lifestyle. attacks on citieswould be the greatest the world had ever One of the most conspicuous elements of the Kn~gs' seen. lifestyles is also that which renders them iconic of future The vision of an airship flying overhead described in internationalism: the airship. Like cinema, the airship the Schwabischer Merkur is rarely elicited in The Gra-y was an invention less than two decades old when Cloth. Instead, like the Futurist Marinetti for whom the Scheerbart wrote The Gray Cloth. It had, however, new perspective from the air allowed him "to break apart already sparked the imagination and pride of the German the old shackles of logic and plumb lines of the ancient middle class.j6When a zeppelin was sighted over Southern way of thinking,"" Scheerbart suggests in The Gray Germany in 1908, the Schzuabischer Merkur reported: Cloth that "the birds-eye view was accepted as the authoritative perspective. "" This view from the air, Onefeels itspozuer: we are overcome by a nervous however, becomes one of capitalistic prominence and trembling as wefollow theflight of the ship in the international privilege. As Peter Fritzsche has speculated, air. As only with the great artistic experiences, we Germany from the air appeared to be "a vast Faustian feel ourselves z~plijted.Somepeople rejoice, others workshop of machines and masses."'? He argues that the weep. '' nationalism arising in the 20th century became "more compatible with industrialism and more and more popular The power of the airship to evoke these feelings is in scope and temperament."i3 clearly expressed in The Gray Cloth. The airships provide While Scheerbart believed that, as a replacement for not only habitation, transportation and a perspective on nationalism, glass architecture was close to industry, and the world, but a connection to the global community of air travelwould become more popular, he did not indicate air travelers. The novel's airships communicate through that the "harmonious" design culture of the upper-middle light signals, telegraph or, on one occasion, remote classes would ever become more affordable to all. When control. Internationally famed "tower organ" concerts forced to take a "public" airbus instead of Edgar's private are performed by Clara on musical instruments spread airship, Clara snobbishly suggests to her friend Amanda over vast landscapes. The audience listens from airships that "you probably find the f~~rnishingsin this airbus quite hovering above. Emphasizing the speed and versatility of wonderful. But to one such as I, who is accustomed to future airships, several are even used as "getaway"vehicles Edgar's airship, everything in this airbus is quite for a globally condemned heist of ancient weapons from primitive"" This hearkens back to the allegations that the a museum in Malta. While Edgar Kn~gsupposedly "knew Werkbund failed to encourage the production of the development of the airship perfectly" and revered its affordable objects. With the Werkbund's numerous contribution, Scheerbart expressed his own fear that the publications of luxury airships and ocean liner interiors, militarism implicit in the development of air technology it is little wonder that a critic of the 1914 exhibition ' For an interesting and important argument on the importance of telegraphic and telephonic technologies in the diplomatic "July Crisis." see Stephen Kern. The CdritreofTiw cir!tlSpnce 1880- IYi8 (Cambridge. Mass: Harvard Uni~ersityPress. 1983). p. 268. ' Quoted in Gerhard Ilasur, hlrl~erinlB~rlirz (New Yorh and Lontlun: Basic Books, 1970). p. 264. ' This statement was made in 1909 on the occaslon ofthe Kaiser's anpcr that the director of the National Caller). Hugo Tschudi requested to purchase works of the French impressionists. The request M as denied. See Gerhard hlasur. huprricil Berliri. p. 2 1 I . ' The Werkbund arose out of a series of incidents iurroundinp the selection of certain artists and architects as the arbiters ot national design standards. These began with Fritz Schuniacher's controversial decision to select a series of designers to design complete interiors, instead of selecting the producers as had been done in the past, for the Third German Arts and Crafts Exhibition in Dresden in 1906. See Stanford Anderson. "Deutscher Werkbund - the 1914 Debate: Herniann hluthesius versus Henry ban de Velde." in Ben Farmer and Hentie LOUW. eds., Cortlpnr~iorzro Corirerlrl~or.iir?.Arclrirect~~riil Tlioirgiii (Lon- Fig. 4. Bruno Taut, Glass House, 1914 don and New York: Routledge. 1993), pp. 462-3. claimed that no one "below the rank of schoolmaster or ' Quoted from Stanford Anderson. "Deutscher Werhbund." p. judicial clerk could aspire to own the items shown."" 463. With ironic and cynical precision in The Gray Cloth, Scheerbart confronts the militaristic intentions of the " Dirk Kocks argues for Iluthesius's great interest in the Color politics of architectural internationalism. He shifts Show in his essay, "Deneken, Muthesius und die Farbenschau." aristocratic notions of imperialism and national identity in Angelika Thiekotter, et al., eds.. Der- i~.esrdc~~r~cI~elllr,r~il/.~ toward a pacifistic and global colonization of territory by 1900-1914 Kut~stmd Urnivelrgestaltr~,~girlz Irrilrtsrrii~gebiet: an international bourgeoisie whose lives were committed Die Deurscile Ilierkbrrrld-Ausrelliing CBIII19/11 [The West Ger- to achievements in the design of glass architecture. In man Impulse 1900-1914 Art and theEnvironment ofProduction fact, Krug seems to experience 20th-centusy architecture in the Field of Industry: The German Werkbund Exhibition. Cologne 19141 exhibition catalogue (Cologne: Kolnischer as the visitor to al9tl1-cent~11-yworld's fair, flowing from Kunstverein. 1984),pp. 205- 121. This is the most recent of very one country to another without passports or visas. To few attempts by scholars to deal with this work. An exczllcnt enlphasize the far-reaching implications of such source on describing the interior of the pailion and its didactic architectural internationalization, Scheerbart states program is found in a contemporary article written by u through Edgar Krug at the very end of The Gray Cloth: contributes to its design: Frederich Denekin. "Der Werkbund "All that is beautiful on the face of the Earth. We find it und die Farbe." [The Werkbund and Color], in Illllsrrierrr all again in glass architecture. It is the culmination - a Zeirurlg, Der cler~tscl~eWerkbmd (I 9 14), pp. 17- 18. cultural peak!"'"his final statement reveals not only lo While not all participants in the Werkbund Exhibition were as where modernism had been, but where it would head close to its ideological core as hluthesius. Mark Jarzombek over the course of the 20th century The structure most argues correctly that "certain theoretical speculations.. .by 1907 thoroughly revealing Scheerbart's architectural fantasy were not only well defined, but.. . had already degenerated into of translucent colored-glass walls was Taut's Glass House, a powerful jargon." See Mark Jarzombek. "The Klrnsigeii,erbe, which was briefly exhibited in 1914.'- After the war, the Werkbund, and the Aesthetics of Culture in the Wilhelmine however, Scheerbart's vision is echoedin Walter Gropius's Period," in Jortrtzcdofrl~eSocieh ofArcilitectr~rrilHistorinrzs 53 no. I (March 1994): pp. 7-19. Quote from page 8. For an 1919 manifesto for the Bauhaus: "Together let us desire, excellent discussion of sponsorship of the Delrrscl~esLu.t:fer conceive, and create the new stnlcture of the future, Pri.rtnerl Syndiknt, see Dietrich Neumann, "'The Century's which will embrace architecture and sculpture and Triumph in Lighting': The Luxfer Prism Companies and their painting in one unity and which will one day rise toward Contribution to Early Modern Architecture," Jo~~~IIN/qf IIIP heaven from the hands of a million workers like a csystal Sociery qfArcl~irecr~~riilHistor-inns 54 (March 1995) pp. 23-53. symbol of a new faith."*' Both Scheerbart and Gropius 'I Scheerbart wrote the pithy epitaphs about glass that rm around reflect the lofty goals set out by early architectural the base of the dome of the Taut pavil~on.In a letter to R~chard modernists. It is, however, through the fictional narrative Dehmel Scheerbart mentions a few of the epitaphs as well as the of The Gray Cloth, that Scheerbart reveals the complexity fact that Taut dedicated the pavilion to him. See Mechthild and richness of association between national and global Rausch, ed. 70 Trillion Welrgriisse, pp. 464-6. Raynor Banharn politicsat the core of modern architecture in the twentieth also mentions this fact in Theon nnd Desigri ill the Firsi century. Machine Age 2"ded. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1960). p. 266. Scheerbart's manifesto was first published as Glasurcl!irekti~r(Berlin: Verlag Der Sturm, 19 14). This work NQTES has been reprinted in German and translated into English in: I See V. R Berghahn, Gerrnnn\ mil lire Approncir of I11nr2nJed. Pcid Scheerbnrr nrzd Brrrrlo Taut, Glciss Arci~itec~~~~rt~/Al/~ir~e (Kew York: St. hlart~n'sPress. 1993). pp. 32-37 Arcilitecrrrre. James Palmes and Shirlev Palmer trans. (Sen Ibid.. p. 59. York and Washington: Praeger ~ublishkrs,1972) l2 This work was first published as Paul Scheerbart, Das graue Roman (Berlin: Osterheld & Co., 1906). The Baron is also Tuch und Zehn Prozent Weiss. Ein Damenroman (Berlin and featured in two other works: Paul Scheerbart, Flora Mohr. Eine Munchen: Georg Mueller Verlag, 1914). This text has been Glasblumen-No1,elle(Prag irnHerbst: K. u. K. Hofbuchdruckerei reprinted as Paul Scheerbart, Das graue Tuch undZehn Pro;ent A. Haase, 1909) and Paul Scheerbart, DasgroJ3eLiciit (Leipzig: Weiss. Ein Damenroman ed. Mechthild Rausch (Munchen: Dr. Sally Rabinowitz Verlag, 1912). Edition Text + Kritik, 1986)There is some speculation as to the l6 Although it is not at all certain that Scheerbart was well- circumstances under which Scheerbart wrote The Gray Cloth. travelled, the concept of the International World's Exhibitions See Mechthild Rausch's afterward in Scheerbart, Das graue was an appealing one to him. He invents a World's Fair at Tuch, 149. In a letter written to Richard Dehmel of January 9, Luneburg Heath in Paul Scheerbart, The Gray Cloth, 120 to 1914, Scheerbart writes "A book 'Glass Architecture,' which I which Edgar Krug must send ten models for exhibition. thought he [Muller] would certainly take, he rejected after 8 Scheerbart also states: "I wanted to edit a brochure that reported weeks in storage, at which time he maintained that the reader on the glass buildings that should be constructed at the World's would not find it to be literature, but rather 'practical building Exhibition in San Fransisco [The Panama-Pacific International suggestions! Ho Ho!" See Mechthild Rausch, ed., Paul Exhibition of 19151. But I have understood thatjokes would not Scheerbart, 70 Trillionen Weltgriisse: Eine Biographie in Briefen help the matter. The Cologne Exhibition allows itself to be 1889-1915 [Paul Scheerbart, 70 Trillion World Greetings: A written about much more seriously." Letter to Gottfried Biography in Letters 1889-19151 (Berlin: Argon, 1992), p. 458. Heinersdorff (7.25.13) found in Rausch, ed., 70 Trillionen Later, in aletter to Bruno Taut dated March 11,1914,Scheerbart Weltgriisse. p. 457. refers to The Gray Cloth as "Mullers Damenroman" [Miiller's Ladies Novel]. Rausch ed., 70 Trillionen Weltgrusse,p. 468. All I7 Lesabendio. Ein Asteroiden-Roman (Munich and Leipzig: translations are my own unless otherwise noted. Georg Muller Verlag, 1913). l3 As ScheerbartwroteinaJuly 1913lettertoGottfriedHeinersdorf, l8 Lesabendio was reprinted in Helmut Draws-Tychsen, ed., Paul "Perhaps you know that I have already written a very great deal Scheerbart, Dichterische Haupfiverke (Stuttgart: Henry Goverts about glass architecture over the past twenty years. I would like Verlag, 1962). This particular passage may be found on page to transform the walls of architecture to double walls of colored 528. For Walter Benjamin's comments on Paul Scheerbart and glass."Mechthild Rausch, ed., 70 Trillionen Weltgriisse, p. 455. his particular fondness for this work, see Gershom Scholem and Theodor W. Adorno, ed., The Correspondence of Walter Ben- l4 First published by Scheerbart's own newly created press as: jamin 1910-1940Manfred R. Jacobson and Evelyn M. Jacobson, Paul Scheerbart, Das Paradies. Die Heimat der Kunst (Berlin: trans. (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, Verlag deutscher Phantasten, 1893). See also Rausch's after- 1994), p. 151. ward to the 1986 reprint of Paul Scheerbart, Das graue Tuclz, 149. The history of Scheerbart's literary life may be gleaned Iy Evidence of Scheerbart's intentions may be see in aletter written from a number of sources, none of which, however, presents a on 11 July 1913 to Gottfried Heinersdorf: "I would most like to "complete" picture of the author's life and work. For the most found a 'society for glass architecture' [Gesellschqft fir recent and excellent study of Scheerbart and the only introduc- Glasarchitektur].It could start out looking after the propaganda tion to the writer's early years, see Mechthild Rausch, Von and leave the [practical] execution for the future. I have so much Danzig ins Weltall: Paul Scheerbarts Anfansjallre 1863-1895 to say, and in detail." Mechthild Rausch, ed., 70 Trillionen (Munich: Edition Text +Kritik, 1997). Mechthild Rausch has Weltgriisse. 455. also edited and written an afterword to Paul Scheerbart , Rausch, 20 Scheerbart wrote this to Richard Dehmel on 9 January 19 14. See ed., 70 Trillionen Weltgriisse. The Scheerbart Archive in Mechthild Rausch, ed., 70 Trillionen Weltgriisse. p. 458. Steinweiler recently produced a very hard to find but extensive 21 For a brief discussion of the "Ladies Novel" as a "lighter genre" bibliography of all Scheerbart's work and other sources which of literature, see Mechthild Rausch's afterward to the 1986 have included his writings. This work is Uli Kohnle, Paul reprint of Paul Scheerbart, Das grnue Tuclz, p. 160. Scheerbart Eine Bibliographie (Steinweiler: Paul Scheerbart Archiv, 1994). A study of Scheerbart's architectural visions and 2' Although much more study should be made of this, Scheerbart their similarities to projects of later twentieth-century architects clearly uses the future as a filter that should be compared to that appears in an unpublished dissertation, Karl-Heinz Knupp, Die of Edward Bellamy and H. G. Wells. See Edward Bellamy, Architekt~irpharztasienPaul Scheerbarts: Ein Beitrag zum Looking Backward 2000-1887 4Ih ed. (New York: Random Verhaltnis von literarischer Fiktion rind Architektur, [The Ar- House, 1951),Jules Verne H. G. Wells, Time maclzine Patrick chitectural Fantasies of Paul Scheerbart: A Contribution to the Pamnder ed. (New York : Oxford University Press, 1996). Relation between Literary Fiction and Architecture] (unpub- Scheerbart's use of humor was celebrated by Bruno Taut and lished dissertation, Universitaet Hamburg, 1980). The most German literary critics in the 1920s. Bruno Taut stated: "Only recent examinations in English dedicated to Scheerbart and his what is really meant in complete seriousness is expressed in jest. work remain Rosemary Haag Bletter's unpublished disserta- That is why one should very often read our Glaspapa Paul tion, Bruno Taut and Paul Scheerbart's Vision-Utopian Aspects Scheerbart." Taken from Bruno Taut, "Glasarchitektur," Die of German Expressionist Architecture, (unpublished disserta- Glocke, (1921), 1376. The reference was found in Angelika tion, Columbia University, 1973), her two articles: "The Inter- Thiekotter, et al., eds., Kristallisationen, Splitterungen. Bruno pretation ofthe Glass Dream-Expressionist Architecture and the Tauts Glashaus, [Chrystalization, Fragmentation. Bruno Taut's History of the Crystal Metaphor," Journal of the Society of Glass House.] (Basel, Berlin, Boston: Birkhaeuser Verlag. Architectural Historians, 40 (March 198 1): pp. 20-43. and 1993), p. 91. In fact, the opening scene of The Gray Cloth was "Paul Scheerbart's Architectural Fantasies," Journal of the selected as the first of a series of prose fragments exemplary of Society ofArchitectura1 Historians, 34 (May 1975), pp. 83-97. German humor in Walther Petry, ed., Hutnor der Nationett. Also in Enklish, Dennis Sharp, ed., Paul Scheerbart and Bruno Ausgewahlte Prosa. Deutschland, [Humor of Nations. Selected Taut, Glass ArchitectureandAl~~ineArchitecture,James Palmes Prose. Germany.] (Berlin: Wertbuchhandel, 1925), pp. 273- and Shirley Palmer, trans., (New Yorkand Washington: Praeger 291. Publishers, 1972). I have recently completed the first English 24 For anexcellent discussion of German architectural nationalism translation of The Gmy Cloth. and internationalism, see Mitchell Schwarzer, German Archi- Is Paul Scheerbart, Munchhausen und Clarissa. Ein Berliner tectural Tlzeoq and the Search for Modern Identity (Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995). Quote taken from the screen is of two clowns throwing hats to one another. page 142. " Donald Albrecht, Designing Dreams: Modern Architecture in l5 Paul Scheerbart, Das graue Tuch, pp. 7-10. the Movies (New York: Harper and Row, 1986), p. xii.

26 See JohnE. Findling, Chicago's Great World's Fairs (Manches- '? Paul Scheerbart, Das grarie Tuck, pp. 70-7 1. ter and New York: Manchester University Press, 1994), p. 26. " See Stephen Kern, The Culture of Tirne arzdSpace (Cambr~dge, It is of interest to note that a Scheerbartian obsession with colors Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1983), p. 260. became a central issue later in Chicago later in the century at the Century of Progress Exhibition that opened on 27 May 1933. '"en6 Doum~c,"L'Age du cdma," Revue des deur rnoticles Hired to coordinate color. light and the landscape for the entire (I 9 13). 923. Thls quote was found In Stephen Kern, The C~ilr~rre exhibition, Viennese architect, Joseph Urban installed several of T~meand Space, 260 n 4. Scheerbartian ideas of building illumination and search-lights. " Paul Scheerbart, Das graue Trich, pp 93-4. See Findling, Chicago's Great World's Fairs. pp. 83-91. For 36 Thenotionofflyingandairships wasalsocentral to the Werkbund. more on the "White City" see David Burg, Chicago's White Cih For an excellent overview of German aviation during this period of 1893 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1976). For see Peter Fritzsche. A hlntion of Fliers: German Al~iationariclthe a discussion of the admiration of America ingenuity and inven- Popular Irnaginarion, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University tion in German speakingcountries around the turn of the century Press, 1992) I am indebted to Edward Eigen for directing me to as well as the importance of the World Columbian Exhibition this work. Evidence of the Werkbund's interest air travel may be see Mitchell Schwarzer, German Architectural Theon and the seenin the Der Verkehr, [Transportation] Jnhrb~~clldes~ieutscl~er~ SearchforModern Identitj(Cambridge: Cambridge University Werkbundes (1914) which was dedicated to the integration of Press, 1995), pp. 143-44. design and transportation technology. 27 Scheerbart states: "But before the Hellenic civilization there '' This quote is found in Peter Fritzsche, A Nation ofFliers, pp. 1 1- were already many colourful glass ampullae and lustrous ma- 19 jolica tiles in the countries bordering the Euphrates and Tigris, l i. a thousand years before Christ. The Near East is tlws the so- 38 Paul Scheerbart, Das graue Tr~h,pp. 29-30. called cradle ofglass culture." [emphasis mine]. Quoted from '"ee Paul Scheerbart, "Die Entwicklung des Luftmilitarismus Dennis Sharp ed., Glass Architecture and Alpine Architecture und die Auflosung der europaischen Landheere, Festungen und James Palmes and Shirley Palmer trans. (New York: Praeger, Seeflotten" [The Development of Air Militarism and the Disso- 1972), p. 47. lution of Land Forces, Fortresses and Naval Fleets] in Die 28 By contemporary accounts the Midway at the Chicago World's ZukurZft, 18 (191011 1) Heft 20. This quotation and translation is Fair, "The Teutonic and Celtic races were placed nearest to the found in Stephen Kern. The Culture of Tirne andSpctce, p. 243. White City; farther away was the Islamic world, East and West " Quote from Stephen Kern, The Culture of Time and Space, p. Africa; at the farthest end were the savage races, the African 245. Dahomey and the North American Indian." Quoted in Robert W. Rydell, All the World's a Fair: Visions of Empire at '" Paul Scheerbart, Das graue Ti~cl~.p. 103. American International Expositions, 1876-1916 (Chicago : 42 Peter Fritzsche, A Nation of Fliers, p. 6. University of Chicago Press, 1984), 65. For more on issues of j3 Ibid. inclusion and exclusion at the 1893 World's Fair, see Zeynep Celik, Displaying the Orient: Architecture of Islam at Nine- .'4 Paul Scheerbart, Das graue Tuch, pp. 122-3. teenth-Centu~~World's Fairs (Berkeley: U, of California " Thequotationis fromTheodor Heuss, "Der Werkbund in Koln," Press, 1992), 80-94. It should also be noted that although there Miirz, VIII, No. 2 (1914), 910-1 1, found in Joan Campbell, The is no evidence that Scheerbart knew of Frank Lloyd Wright, the German Werkbund, p. 73. international design community was aware of this Fhicago 46 Paul Scheerbart, Dm graue Tuch, p. 246. architect's work through publications by the Berlin publisher Wasmuth. These publications included: Frank Lloyd Wright, " It has been suggested by Dennis Sharp in his introduction to Ausgefuhrte Bauten und Entwurfe [Studies and Executed Build- Glass Arclzitecture and Alpine Architecture, p. 10, that the two ings] (Berlin: E. Wasmuth, 1910) and Charles Robert Ashbee, met in 1913 throughamutualconnection with Herwarth Walden's Frank Lloyd Wright; eine Studie zu Seiner Wiirdigung [Frank periodical, Der Sturnl. Walden's Verlag Der Sturm published Lloyd Wright: a Study towards his Appreciation] (Berlin: E. Glasarchitekrur in 1914 after it had been rejected by Georg Wasmuth, 191 1). Miiller during the previous year.

j8 Quoted from Rosemary Haag Bletter, "The Interpretation of the 29 F~~ this quotation by schwarzer on ~~~~~i~'~ideas on the united states, see ~i~~h~llschwarzer, G~~~~~~ ~~~/~i~~~~~~~l Glass Dream-Expressionist Architectureand theHistory ofthe Theov and the Search for Modeln /&,fir)' (Cambridge: Cam- Crystal Metaphor," Journal of the society of Architectural bridge University Press, 1995), p. 143 n. 51. Also see Heinrich Historians40. no. 1 (March 1981). p. 20 or a ~erce~tivearticle Waentig, Wirtscliaft und Kunst (Jena: Gustav Fisher, 1909). on Benjamin's use of Scheerbart as a "lens" through which to view Le Corbusier, Oud, Adolf Loos, and the architects of the See Klaus-Juergen Sembach, ed., 1910 Halbzeit der Moderne. Bauhaus, see Detlef ~~~~i~~,L.T~~~~~,~i~~ and ~h~~~~~~i~~ van de Velde, Behrens, Hoffman und die Anderen, [Halftime of F~~~ofprehistory: waiter ~~~j~~i~and the utopia of~lass,3. van de Behrens$ Hoffman and the Others] Assemblage 29 (April 1996), p, 13 and Detlef Mertins, "Walter exhibition catalogue, (Stuttgart: Gerd Hatje, 19921, 35 espe- Benjamin's ~~~~~~~i~~~,~14(1996), pp, 28 -35, cially for an image of the installation of a film projection in the large festival hall of the Paris Exposition of 1900. The image on