Scope and Content Note
The papers of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) span the years 1921-1969, with the bulk of the material dated between 1938 and 1969, after Mies's immigration to America in 1938. The collection relates chiefly to professional matters ranging from architectural education and urban renewal to personal recommendations, contributions to publications, and participation in cultural affairs. The papers are organized into five series: Early Correspondence; Late Correspondence; General Office File; Speech, Article, and Writing File; and Miscellany. The material is in English and German.
In the 1920s and early 1930s Mies was active as a private architect in Berlin and also as a member of various organizations related to architecture. Treated in the Early Correspondence are his connections with the Novembergruppe, a militant revolutionary group of artists, architects and designers; the Deutscher Werkbund, an organization founded by industrialists and architects to improve the quality of Germany's industrial design; and the Bund Deutscher Architekten, a German architectural league. As director of architectural exhibits for the Novembergruppe from 1921 to 1925 and first vice president of the Deutscher Werkbund from 1926 to 1932, Mies was in an influential position to promote his architectural style. The correspondents for this period include business partners, former Bauhaus instructors, and friends such as Otto Baur, Peter Behrens, Peter Bruckmann, Walter Gropius, Paul Klee, Martin Mächler, Hans Poelzig, Adolf Rading, Mart Stam, Max Taut, Heinrich Tessnow, and Theo van Doesburg.
The success of the Nazi Party meant the decline of the modern architectural movement in Germany. Mies's search for a more receptive clientele ended with his immigration to America in 1938 when he became director of architecture at the Armour Institute of Technology (later the Illinois Institute of Technology) in Chicago. Here he put his ideas into practice and over the next twenty years designed and oversaw the construction, in brick, steel, and glass, of a campus characterized by clarity of design and flexibility of space. He also established a private practice in the city for the design of apartments and office buildings that brought renown internationally.
Mies's American period is documented in his personal and professional correspondence. The latter includes a selection of business correspondence from his private office. Much of the incoming correspondence deals with requests for advice and material illustrating his office buildings, houses, and apartments.
The large number of private architects, schools of architecture of colleges and universities, and architectural publications and associations represented indicates the wide channels of communication Mies had in both America and abroad. Correspondents include prominent architects as well as important social and political leaders such as Josef Albers, Peter Blake, Arundell Clarke, Richard J. Daley, Paul H. Douglas, Herbert S. Greenwald, Gerd Hatje, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Le Corbusier, John Nef, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Walter Peterhans, Hans Richter, Sergius Ruegenberg, Eero Saarinen, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Correspondence between Mies and his collaborator Lilly Reich, 1939-1940, is located in patent files relating to the firms of Mauser; Lorenz & Reich; and Thonet in the General Office File series.
In the Speech, Article, and Writing File are acceptance speeches for various medals, memorials to friends, writings on architectural concepts, and explanations on the construction of specific buildings.
The Miscellany contains much information of a biographical nature. In the clippings file are obituary notices from newspapers throughout the United States.