In the wake of war : the reconstruction of German cities after World War II / Jeffry M. Diefendorf.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 365-392) and index.

Print version record.

This is the first comprehensive study of the rebuilding of West Germany's cities following the Second World War. Most major urban centres had been reduced to rubble by the end of the war, yet they were rebuilt faster than anyone thought possible. Diefendorf presents a wealth of material on all aspects of reconstruction - from the bombing itself and removal of debris, to urban planning, architecture, and execution. Using the designs of city planners, the author examines continuities in urban planning and architecture that lead back into the Nazi era and before. The text is accompanied by numerous photographs selected from hundreds in Diefendorf's collection.

Bombs and Rubble: The Air War and Its Consequences -- The War from the Air -- Cities of Rubble -- Work Amidst the Rubble -- Rubble Clearance and the Repair of Utilities -- Material for Rebuilding -- Labor in the Construction Industry -- Legal and Illegal Building -- The Face of Reconstruction: Architectural Style -- The Bauhaus and Deutscher Werkbund -- Heimatschutz and Traditional Architecture -- Nazi Architecture and Neoclassicism -- Postwar Architecture -- The Face of Reconstruction: The Role of Historic Preservation -- Principles of Historic Preservation -- Modernizing Cities -- Determined Preservationism -- Modernization and Preservation -- The Housing Problem -- Cooperative Housing -- Housing Policy under the National Socialists -- Postwar Housing -- Town Planning to 1945 -- Planning Traditions before 1933 -- Urban Planning during the Third Reich -- The Representative Cities Program -- From Representative Cities to Reconstruction -- Reconstruction Planning -- Planning and Planners after 1945 -- The Postwar Planners -- Planning Models -- The Extremes -- Pragmatic Planning -- Traffic Planning -- Reconstruction and Building Law -- The Framework: Building Law and Proposals for Reform to 1945 -- The Postwar Debate: Defining the Scope of a New Building Law -- Opposition to the New Laws: Property Rights and Politics -- The Strugle for a National Building Law -- Politics, Democracy, and the Law -- Organizing Reconstruction -- The Role of the Allied Occupation Governments -- State and National Reconstruction Agencies.

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