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In pre-WWII Berlin, the shape of your roof was a political decision


Modernists favored flat roofs, while conservatives preferred them pitched.

Collage adapted from German Federal Archive/CC BY-SA 3.0 Sharp observers will notice something strange about the attractive residences lining Am Fischtal, a bucolic street in the Zehlendorf section of Berlin. Jeff ReubenBefore residents moved in, Fischtalgrund opened first as an exhibition in September and October 1928, its location inspiring the press to run stories about the “Zehlendorf Roof War,” and, indeed, it made good copy. At Onkel Toms Hütte, Taut led a team of architects in creating a new community of approximately 1,900 housing units in colorful rowhouses and small apartment buildings with flat roofs spread across several blocks.

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