Traditional Architecture in Germany

The defeat of Germany in 1945 was not only a military and an economic disaster – together with the incredible destruction of the war - it was also a moral one.

This fact helped modernism to be set up as the main style of rebuilding Germany – in urban design and in architecture, too. The results have been – mostly – anonymous conglomerations without identity.

The IBA (International Building Exhibition) in Berlin in 1988 changed that path by introducing Leon and Rob Krier, Aldo Rossi and other international figures of traditionalism to a bigger public and paved the way for the next big task to be done after 1990:

After reunification of Germany in 1990 Berlin became the new political capital – and Hans Stimmann, Berlin's new building director, succeeded in uniting this long-divided city with a moderate approach of urban and architectural planning.

Similar ways have been taken in Dresden, Potsdam and Frankfurt – although the community of German architects and urban planners still is divided into “modernists” and “traditionalists”.

Born in Munich (Germany) in 1960, but raised in Regensburg, a medieval undestroyed town in southern Germany, Thomas Albrecht studied architecture at the Technical University, Munich, and at IIT, Chicago. He was awarded an Honorary PhD by the University of Northumbria, Newcastle.

Thomas works at the esteemed architecture studio of Hilmer & Sattler with offices in Berlin and Munich, since 1986, where he became a partner in 1994.

Main fields of activity of the studio are: housing, offices, museums, hotels, urban design.

Major projects:

- Masterplan Potsdamer - Leipziger Platz, Berlin, 1991

- Gemäldegalerie - National Picture Gallery, Berlin, 1998

- Picasso Museum, Münster, 2000

- Museum Barberini, Potsdam, 2017

- Berlin Schloss (together with Franco Stella), 2022

- Rosewood Hotel Munich, 2024

Since 2024 Thomas has been teaching urban design at The University of Notre Dame, School of Architecture, Rome Studies