Karl Schneider papers, 1910-1962 (bulk 1925-1945), bulk 1925-1945

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Summary

Creators:

Wolff, Ursula, Wind, Edgar, 1900-1971, Schneider, Karl, 1892-1945, Scheel, Ernst, 1903-1986, Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990, and Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969

Abstract:

German architect born in Mainz, Germany, who received his architectural training under Lussow and Kuehne (Dresden, 1911-1912), Walter Gropius (Berlin, 1912-1914), and Peter Behrens (Berlin, 1915-1916). After immigrating to the United States in 1938, he worked in Chicago for Sears, Roebuck and Company. The papers contain photographs, correspondence, original documents, glass slides, and many original drawings. About half of the drawings are his designs for consumer products produced by his employer Sears, Roebuck and Company.

Extent:

45 Linear Feet (59 boxes, 10 flat file folders)

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

Karl Schneider papers, ca. 1910-1962, bulk 1925-1945, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 850129.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa850129

Background

Scope and content:

The Karl Schneider papers (c. 2000 items) contain photographs, correspondence, original documents, glass slides, and many original drawings. Most of the photographic materials (c. 850 items) document Schneider's first career in Germany (1921-1938), and the architectural achievements of his contemporaries. There are also a small number of official documents from both Weimar and Nazi Germany (ca. 1911-1933). All of the original drawings and sketches (c. 1000 items) date from after Schneider's immigration to the United States in 1938-39. About half of these are his designs for consumer products produced by his employer Sears, Roebuck, and Company (1938-1945). The collection, therefore, offers an interesting glimpse into an artist/designer's collaboration with commercial industry.

Biographical / historical:

Karl Schneider was born in Mainz Germany in 1892. He trained as an architect under Lussow and Kühne (Dresden, 1911-1912), Walter Gropius (Berlin, 1912-1914), and Peter Behrens (Berlin, 1915-1916). After serving in the military from 1917 to 1919, Schneider established architectural firm in Hamburg, which he directed until 1933. His Villa Michaelsen, well-received by critics when completed in 1923, brought him numerous private commissions for domestic architecture. In the later 1920s Schneider joined a group of architects known as "Der Ring," whose stated goal was to reject past-enshrined forms and employ the latest technology to solve contemporary building problems. This group included among its members Otto Bartning, Peter Behrens, Walter Gropius, Erich Mendelsohn, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, among others. In 1926, Schneider's designs for the Großseidlung Jarrestadt-Barmbek, a city-sponsored competition, won first prize and brought further financial and artistic rewards.

In 1933, the new Nazi government dismissed Karl Schneider from his professorship at the Landesschüle, despite the protest of students who petitioned the Bürgermeister for reconsideration of the termination. Due to continued pressure by the Nazi regime, Schneider left the Hamburg firm in 1933 and "Der Ring" was disbanded. In 1935, his wife, Emma Schneider, sought and received a civil divorce on the grounds of adultery. In 1938, Karl left Germany with his second wife, the photographer Ursula Wolff, and emigrated to the United States. Settling in Chicago, Schneider found work at Sears, Roebuck and Company where he remained until his death in 1945.

At Sears, Roebuck and Company, Schneider was the head of the corporate design department, the first of its kind in America. He was hired on the recommendations of Walter Gropius, Lewis Mumford, and Walter Curt Behrendt. Schneider contributed to the progressive designs of Sears products, including "Craftsman" tools, mass-market furniture, home appliances, children's toys, and Sears retail stores. By creating products in the streamlined modern style, Schneider shaped the evolution of corporate architecture and retail product design in America. Through Schneider's work, Sears' stores may have introduced many Americans to streamlined and, what came to be called, "International Style" designs.

In cooperation with the Chicago Housing Commission, Schneider participated in various urban planning projects. In fact, his relationship with the city aided in securing his position during the war years, when a paranoid populace raised questions, based on Schneider's nationality, concerning his loyalties. Beyond these endeavors, Schneider devoted his time to national competitions, including the Smithsonian competition in 1939. Although not selected, his designs for the Smithsonian's Gallery of American Art are illustrative of his technique, logic, style, and desire to shape the American architectural milieu.

Acquisition information:

Acquired in 1985.

Processing information:

This collection was processed sporadically by several interns at the Getty Research Library, Special Collections Department. In January of 1995 Vanessa Walker-Oakes began re-processing the collection, and finished the correspondence and part of the photographic series by March. In July 1995, Michael Baker took over the processing and description of the collection. He completed the finding aid in mid-October 1995.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into four series: Series I. Personal and Professional Papers; Series II. Sketches and Drawings; Series III. Photographs and Slides; Series IV. Glass Negatives.

Physical location:

Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.

Rules or conventions:

archives, personal papers, and manuscripts

Access and use

Restrictions:: Open for use by qualified researchers.
Terms of access:: Contact Library Rights and Reproductions.