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with details, by the cosmopolitan approach to design of building theorist Rolf Gutbrod,
and by the politically controversial and in many cases radical urban planning doctrine
of Richard Döcker. In 1949, she completed her final-year project under Gutbrod — just like
so many others who firmly believed in the artistic side of architecture as a profession.
Then, invariably what had to happen after the way her degree course had gone did
indeed happen: The self-confident graduate architect refused to sign on at her father’s
Deutsche Bauzeitschrift (Hg.), Kleinsthäuser Ferienhäuser Bungalows, Gütersloh 1959, S. 47
company, preferring instead to go her own way — as befits the daughter of an entrepre-
neur. Following initial attempts to stand on her own two feet as a “freelancer” not subject
to social security contributions attached, among others, to the studios of Manfred
Lehmbruck and Otto Jäger, in 1952 she had a great opportunity: a competition organized
by GEDOK for a dormitory with studios in the west of Stuttgart. This particular associa-
tion had existed since 1926, had been whipped into line under the Nazis, and now wan-
ted a building for the first branch to be opened after 1945, in Stuttgart, where female
artists of all genres could live and work. Only female architects were permitted to enter
the competition, and if they had no studio of their own they used the company stamp of
their father, brother, or husband. Grit Bauer took part—with her own stamp. The jury most
certainly had prominent members, among them Martin Elsaesser and Dieter Oesterlen,
short-listing only seven of the designs. It was the daughter of the “famous Bauer family
of master builders” who landed the contract. And yet the 30-year old could rest assured
that she had not won the competition because of her “good name”. It was far more her
Grit und Fritz Revellio: Gartenhaus Wangener Höhe, Stuttgart • Wangener Höhe garden house, Stuttgart design for the building, located as it was on the edge of an up-market residential area,
seemed like the major promise of a new architectural beginning in Stuttgart. Overlooking
the road, compact and bound to stereometry, open overlooking the slope to the south,
light and transparent, the five-story GEDÖK building with 22 studios and gallery was a
S tudents, fall in for clear-up work,” was a call often heard in German cities after 1945. radical rejection of the previous style of building in this district, which had been hard hit
by bombing raids. Bauer emphatically adhered to the tradition of New Building, and tur-
One of the conditions for students being allowed to sign up for a university place
after the World War II was their involvement in clearing-up operations on the campus. ned her back on the traditional local formula of accentuated roof, perforated facade, and
Clearing away the ruins opened the door to enrolment for men and women alike. Like solid structure. Frugal as regards the means and light in terms of expression was what
many others, for Grit Bauer, who was born in 1924 in Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgart, joining the Bauer wanted and indeed what the GEDÖK ladies desired as the structural manifestation
clearing-up effort was the entrance ticket to a place at the technical university in that city. of their recently founded association. As such, Bauer opted for a cross-wall structure,
She had one thing and one thing only in mind: She wanted to become an architect. And integrated bricks made from rubble, and inserted ceilings made of solid concrete slabs.
she knew her way around. Her father Ludwig Bauer owned the eponymous Stuttgart buil- The way they projected gave rise to the logical grid structure of the southern facade.
ding company, which had been thriving since the 1910s. The firm specialized in reinforced Working and living spaces were coupled together, larger sculptors’ studios with access to
concrete structures, and was known for being innovative and reliable. It worked with and the garden on the lower stories and on the sides spaces for painters on the north-facing
for big names in southwest Germany, for the likes of Theodor Fischer and Paul Bonatz, side and living and working spaces with balconies to the south.
and delivered the road surface for Hitler’s autobahn and many a bridge. The Bauer villa,
which Bonatz designed as early as 1928, was a clearly visible status symbol in the hills
overlooking Stuttgart. There were four children in the family, Grit’s sister became a jour- Die Autorin des Beitrages Kerstin Renz ist Architekturhistorikerin, Publizistin und
nalist, her elder brother studied and did a doctorate in Structural Engineering, her arti- Kuratorin. Nach ihrem Studium der Germanistik arbeitete sie als Wissenschafts- und
stically gifted younger brother Heinz was destined to become an architect, and at first Grit Kulturjournalistin. Promotion im Fach Architekturgeschichte mit einer Arbeit über den kai-
was expected to become an interior designer. Things turned out differently though: Heinz serlichen Industriebau, anschließend Forschung und Lehre als Assistant Professor am
was killed at war and Grit was not satisfied with the role of a color-and-light artist. Having Institut für Architekturgeschichte der Universität Stuttgart. Sie unterrichtet an verschiede-
graduated from high school and completed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer and car- nen Hochschulen in Deutschland, aktuell erschien ihre Habilitastionsschrift „Testfall der
penter, for the 1942 summer semester she enrolled in the Department of Construction at Moderne“. Diskurs und Transfer im Schulbau der 1950er-Jahre“.
the Technical University in Stuttgart. Special study conditions applied during the War
years: the “Stuttgart School” underwent politicization and dogmatization as far as the Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Herausgeber und des Ernst Wasmuth Verlages
teaching of architecture was concerned. wurden der gekürzte Textbeitrag und die Abbildungen entnommen aus:

Female students like Grit Bauer were not really taken seriously
Frau Architekt
Female students like Grit Bauer were not really taken seriously, not even by the worldly
Bonatz. Looking back, he described the study conditions before he left for Turkey as fol- Seit mehr als 100 Jahren:
lows: “University, a small outfit, everybody was a soldier, a few foreigners, female stu- Frauen im Architekturberuf
dents, injured servicemen, there was a lack of normal students.” By means of elaborately
organized distance learning, the faculty endeavored to promote the qualification of the
young male generation serving at the front. After a few months, the “non-normal student” Frau Architekt
Grit Bauer interrupted her studies, only to acquire, in the 1945 winter semester, the eligi- Herausgeber: Mary Pepchinski, Christina Budde, Wolfgang
bility certificate enabling her to continue. Even before 1945, what was known as the Voigt, Peter Cachola Schmal – Deutsches Architekturmuseum,
“Stuttgart School” was not a popular place for women to study, possibly on account of Frankfurt/Main. Erschienen 2017 im Ernst Wasmuth Verlag,
the close links there between architecture and engineering. Yet Grit Bauer, who was fami- Tübingen, Berlin. Deutsch/Englisch. 113 Seiten. Hardcover.
liar with this combination from her family’s company, dared to enter the lion’s den. She Format: 24,5 x 30,5 cm. 48 Euro
was attracted to the innovators in the faculty: by the structural theory of Günter Wilhelm, ISBN 978 3 8030 0829 9 (Buchhandelsausgabe)
who had gained experience abroad and in a calm but determined way was obsessed ISBN 978 3 8030 0828 2 (Museumsausgabe)

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