Barcelona, 1942. Reconstruction and narration of the new German architecture

Abstract

At the beginning of the 1940s, Spain faces a period of recomposition that swings between
isolation and a glimpse at other fascist experiences. The Falangist revolution, which was to
give birth to a new model of society, would also reach art, because new politics meant new
architecture. A redefinition of the stylistic corpus would involve not only the network of new
national institutions, but also those coming from Europe. Parallel to the course of the Second
World War, Germany had embarked on an architectural tour around several European capitals
to demonstrate the Third Reich’s constructive and organisational power and influence in the
ever-changing geopolitical arena. It was a cultural revision of the German Weltanschauung in the
form of one of the most ambitious architectural displays of Nazi propaganda. It was expected to
visit Spain in 1942.
After its stop in Madrid, the Neue Deutsche Baukunst exhibition arrived in Barcelona, where it
quickly became a social event. The present article provides new references to document the
magnitude of the event and it reconstructs the scenario that took place inside the Palacio de Arte
Moderno de la Ciudadela, as well as the movements set in motion by the Spanish authorities. A
historiography episode that shooks the post-war Catalan panorama and whose reception, even
outside the central area of influence of the Dirección General de Arquitectura and the Falangist
theories, reveals the admiration and political distrust that the powerful Germany aroused in the
local context.