The Walls of the Confessions: Neo-Romanesque Architecture, Nationalism, and Religious Identity in the Kaiserreich by Annah Krieg B.A., Lawrence University, 2001 M.A., University of Pittsburgh, 2004 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The School of Art and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2010 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Annah Krieg It was defended on April 2, 2010 and approved by Christopher Drew Armstrong, Director of Architectural Studies and Assistant Professor, History of Art and Architecture Paul Jaskot, Professor, Art History , DePaul University Kirk Savage, Professor and Chair, History of Art and Architecture Terry Smith, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory, History of Art and Architecture Dissertation Advisor: Barbara McCloskey, Associate Professor, History of Art and Architecture ii The Walls of the Confessions: Neo-Romanesque Architecture, Nationalism, and Religious Identity in the Kaiserreich Annah Krieg, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2010 Scholars traditionally understand neo-Romanesque architecture as a stylistic manifestation of the homogenizing and nationalizing impulse of the Kaiserreich. Images of fortress-like office buildings and public halls with imposing facades of rusticated stone dominate our view of neo-Romanesque architecture from the Kaiserreich (1871-1918). The three religious buildings at the core of this study - Edwin Oppler’s New Synagogue in Breslau (1866-1872), Christoph Hehl’s Catholic Rosary Church in Berlin-Steglitz (1899-1900), and Friedrich Adler’s Protestant Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem (1893-1898) – offer compelling counter- examples of the ways in which religious groups, especially those that were local minorities, adapted the dominant neo-Romanesque style to their own particular quest towards distinctive assimilation in an increasingly complex, national, modern society. This synagogue and these churches belong to an important sub-section of German neo-Romanesque architecture that calls into question our standard narrative of the Wilhelmine neo-Romanesque style as a universalizing and secularizing aesthetic. This synagogue, Catholic parish church, and Protestant church forged a new alliance of religion and politics in the service of two often conflicting masters: the religious community and the nation-state. By reinventing neo-Romanesque forms for a modern, yet still religious context, Edwin Oppler, Christoph Hehl, and Friedrich Adler provide the crucial iii link necessary to incorporate medievalist architecture into the larger narrative of Germany’s modernization. While these sacred structures are prime exemplars of many social and architectural themes, my aim is to present them neither as isolated case studies nor as highlights in a comprehensive survey of Wilhelmine religious architecture. I treat these three sacred structures as central case studies while considering their architecture, decorative programs, and mediated presentation in photography and print publications. The core themes of this work – the struggle between religion and national secular society, a longing for an imagine past as inspiration to create new styles for a new configuration of community – are not only the essential components of our definition of modernity but also what continues to frame our experiences today. Ultimately, these buildings serve as models to understand the challenges of diversity and multicultural society that continue to define our world. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... IX 1.0 BETWEEN THE SECULAR AND THE SACRED: THE NEO-ROMANESQUE IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 BUILDING AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY IN BRESLAU, BERLIN, AND JERUSALEM ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 STYLE AND NATIONALISM IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY GERMANY 13 1.3 APPROACHES TO MEDIEVALISM IN THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE .......................................................................................... 24 2.0 “THE GERMAN JEW IN THE GERMAN STATE MUST ALSO BUILD IN THE GERMAN STYLE”: EDWIN OPPLER CONCEPTUALIZES A GERMAN- JEWISH NATIONAL STYLE IN THE NEW SYNAGOGUE OF BRESLAU .................... 35 2.1 THE HISTORY OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND RELIGIOUS REFORM IN THE BRESLAU JEWISH COMMUNITY ............................................................................... 42 2.2 EDWIN OPPLER, ABRAHAM GEIGER, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REFORM MOVEMENT IN BRESLAU ................................................................ 46 2.3 THE ARCHITECTURAL PRECEDENTS FOR THE NEW SYNAGOGUE: RUNDBOGENSTIL AND THE HANNOVER SCHOOL ............................................... 49 v 2.4 STYLE WARS: INVENTING A GERMAN JEWISH ARCHITECTURE 56 2.5 THE BRESLAU JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE 1860S AND THE COMMISSION OF THE NEW SYNAGOGUE .............................................................. 63 2.6 A JEWISH-GERMAN NEO-ROMANESQUE COMES TO FRUITION: THE CONSTRUCTION AND DEDICATION OF THE NEW SYNAGOGUE IN BRESLAU ........................................................................................................................... 71 2.7 THE NEW SYNAGOGUE’S URBAN RELIGIOUS CONTEXT: CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE IN BRESLAU ........................ 78 2.8 THE LEGACY OF OPPLER’S NEW SYNAGOGUE AND LATER NEO- ROMANEQUE SYNAGOGUES ...................................................................................... 83 3.0 “NOW I PROPHESIZE, LEHNIN, YOUR FUTURE DESTINY”: CHRISTOPH HEHL AND THE REVIVAL OF THE ROMANESQUE ROOTS OF BERLIN CATHOLICISM IN THE ROSARY CHURCH ...................................................................... 90 3.1 THE CULTURAL BATTLE: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN GERMANY IN THE MODERN ERA .................................................................................................... 94 3.2 AN OUTPOST IN BRANDENBURG: THE BEGINNINGS OF A CATHOLIC PARISH IN STEGLITZ AND THE FIRST PARISH PRIEST, JOSEF DEITMER ......................................................................................................................... 102 3.3 CHRISTOPH HEHL AND THE CENTRAL PLAN CHURCH ................ 106 3.4 THE “BEGGAR PRIEST” ATTEMPTS TO FINANCE THE ROSARY CHURCH .......................................................................................................................... 113 3.5 THE INFLUENCE OF THE CISTERCIAN MONASTERIES OF THE MARK BRANDENBURG ............................................................................................... 117 vi 3.6 SPATIAL ORGANIZATION AS THE BEARER OF MEANING: THE CENTRAL PLAN AND THE WESTWORK ................................................................ 123 3.7 THE ROSARY CHURCH AS GESAMTKUNSTWERK: INTERIOR DECORATION ................................................................................................................. 126 3.8 HEHL’S CATHOLIC CHURCHES: LOOKING TOWARDS MODERNISM .................................................................................................................. 131 4.0 “AN IMAGE, SO COLORFUL, SO RADIANT AND IMPRESSIVE, SINCE EVER THERE HAS BEEN AN EVANGELICAL CHURCH”: FRIEDRICH ADLER INTRODUCES THE PROTESTANT NEO-ROMANESQUE TO THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE IN THE CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER IN JERUSALEM .............................. 134 4.1 PROTESTANTISM IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY GERMANY ............ 143 4.2 THE ANGLICAN-PRUSSIAN BISHOPRIC AND EARLY EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH A GERMAN PROTESTANT CHURCH IN JERUSALEM ................ 146 4.3 GERMAN PROTESTANTISM, NATIONALISM, AND THE RENOVATION OF THE CASTLE CHURCH IN WITTENBERG ........................... 156 4.4 PLAIN AND SEVERE: THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER .................................................................................. 159 4.5 A GERMAN CRUSADER IN JERUSALEM: KAISER WILHELM II TOURS PALESTINE AND ATTENDS THE DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER ............................................................................................................ 167 4.6 INTER-GERMAN DIPLOMACY: THE KAISER, GERMAN JEWS AND CATHOLICS IN THE HOLY LAND ............................................................................ 175 vii 4.7 THE CONTINUED PRESENCE AND LEGACY OF KAISER WILHELM II IN PALESTINE ............................................................................................................ 178 5.0 MEDIEVALISM, RELIGION, AND THE STATE: IMPLICATIONS BEYOND THE KAISERREICH ............................................................................................................... 181 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 191 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to think my interest in neo-Romanesque architecture began with my first college course, Freshman Studies, which took place in a looming, round-arch neo-Romanesque academic building on the campus of Lawrence University. My teacher for that course, Michael Orr, and his fellow art historian, Carol Lawton, instilled in me a fascination for the visual cultures of the past during my time as a student at Lawrence. They have continued to support my professional development and gave me a wonderful opportunity to return to Lawrence