Houses in the Dammerstock district

Walter Gropius – Dammerstock district in Karlsruhe Germany, 1929

The district, designed by the architect Walter Gropius, is considered an important example of modern architecture. Its construction (1929) was preceded in 1927 by a design competition, in which the major German architects of the time participated.

The residential area was developed as a model project for social housing by Walter Gropius, Otto Haesler and several other architects in a period of just seven months in 1929. The city of Karlsruhe had set clear priorities with its housing program and the associated competition of 1928: Dammerstock was not intended as a playground for the artistic avant-garde, but rather as a testing ground for feasible solutions for social housing. The guidelines were very strict, including even the details of the plan, which did not leave the architects much room for creativity.

Walter Gropius emerged as the winner and, together with Otto Haesler and others in second place, eventually completed 228 of the planned 750 apartments. Construction of the housing development stopped due to the global economic crisis, but was continued with conventional buildings in the 30s. It was not until 1949 that the city resumed building according to Gropius's original plans. The Dammerstock district, which has since been renovated in line with accepted conservation practice, is still fully inhabited today.