2023
3(75)
Barbara Widera*
Tradition and innovation of Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh
Introduction
Albert Einstein, author of the theory of relativity and
winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1921), left behind
an architectural legacy in the form of three houses, which
he not only used, but also made a signicant contribution
to the creation of their architectural designs. The rst of
these buildings was the tenement house at Kramgasse 49
in Bern, Switzerland, where Einstein lived and worked
from October 1903 to May 1905. The Nobel Prize win-
ner’s last place of residence (from August 1935 until his
death in April 1955) was the house at 112 Mercer Street in
Princeton, New Jersey (USA). The apartment of the bril-
liant physicist in Berlin, conscated by the Nazis, has not
been preserved, but thanks to the eorts of German con-
servators, in cooperation with the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem, it was possible to renovate Einstein’s favourite
house in Caputh near Potsdam.
This study presents the results of research conducted in
2023 in Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh (1929) designed by
Konrad Wachsmann. The research object was chosen due to
its extraordinary history and unique and innovative charac-
ter. Initially, the house was to be a gift from the city of Ber-
lin for the physicist’s 50
th
birthday, which he celebrated on
March 14, 1929. The decision to donate the house was made
by the city authorities, represented by Mayor Gustav Böss.
Initially, several dwellings were selected for this purpose,
but it soon turned out that none of them met the Nobel Prize
winner’s expectations, in particular because taking over the
house would involve removing the current tenants, which
was unacceptable to Einstein. Ultimately, it was agreed that
he would receive not a house, but a building plot, and infor-
mation about it appeared in the press. After learning about
DOI: 10.37190/arc230303
Published in open access. CC BY NC ND license
the planned construction of the house, Wachsmann, a grad-
uate of the Academy of Arts in Berlin and a student of Hans
Poelzig, went on a trip to the apartment of Elsa and Albert
Einstein in Berlin in purpose to oer his services as a design-
er in a direct conversation. The Einsteins accepted the oer
and hired a young architect. Decisions regarding the selec-
tion and nancing of the purchase of the plot took a long
time, which was linked to a political dispute over the gift
from the Berlin authorities. It ultimately resulted in the No-
bel Prize winner refusing to accept the gift (despite the may-
or’s written requests) and purchasing the property on which
Wachsmann designed the house, with signicant investor’s
participation [1]. The house was built entirely at the owners’
expense. The place chosen by his wife, Elsa, was accepted
and loved by Einstein at rst sight. The plot was situated on
a hill near the forest (Fig. 1), which oered
a captivating
* ORCID: 0000-0003-0218-8038. Faculty of Architecture, Wro-
cław University of Science and Technology, Poland, e-mail: barbara.
widera@pwr.edu.pl
Fig. 1. Location of Einstein’s house on the plot.
Satellite view from Google Map, as of 2023.
Il. 1. Usytuowanie domu Einsteina na działce.
Widok satelitarny z mapy Google, stan z 2023 r.
28 Barbara Widera
view of Lake Templin, a 10-minute walk down the slope.
In turn, a little over an hour’s walk through the forest al-
lowed Einstein to reach Telegraph Hill (Telegrafenberg),
where the physics institute of which he was the director
was located (Fig. 2).
While the history of the construction of the house has
already been partially described, and bibliographic studies
on Einstein are numerous, no one has yet characterized
the house in Caputh in the context of its traditional and
innovative features in the light of current knowledge about
the latest trends in the theory and history of contemporary
architecture. In the second decade of the 21
st
century, with
the New European Bauhaus initiative announced by the
European Commission and aimed at the multidimensional
transformation of the built environment, it is particularly
important to understand the relationship between innova-
tive objects bearing the features of modernism and the con-
struction culture of the 20
th
century Bauhaus and the lat-
est trends in architecture resulting from implementing the
principles of the New European Bauhaus. For this reason,
the article presents an analysis of Einstein’s villa in Caputh
in the context of the theory and history of contemporary
architecture, including aspects of tradition and modernity
in the adopted aesthetic, functional and spatial solutions.
The building’s features were characterized by comparison
with models of two trends: Bauhaus in the 1920s and New
European Bauhaus in the 2020s. In the analysis the author
paid particular attention to the principles of sustainable de-
velopment, resilience of the built environment to climate
change, circularity and bioclimatic design.
The state of the research
The analysis of the literature allowed us to conclude
that Hans-Josef Küpper [1], Michael Grüning [2], Peter
Ackermann [3], Dietmar Strauch [3], [4] and Siegfried
Grundmann [5] wrote about Einstein and his house in
Caputh. The sources of knowledge regarding the original
construction of the house were Wachsmann’s studies, pri-
marily the book Holzhausbau – Technik und Gestaltung
from 1930 (reprint: [6]), the archives of the construction
company Christoph & Unmack, which was the contractor
of the project, the collections of the Wachsmann Museum
in Niesky, materials of the Potsdam Einstein Forum foun-
dation [7], who served as the facility’s administrator in the
years 1993–2004, master’s thesis by Barbara Anna Lutz
Albert Einsteins Sommerhaus von Konrad Wachsmann in
Caputh. Bauhistorische Untersuchungen [8] developed in
2001 under the supervision of Dr. Ulrike Wulf-Rheidt and
prof. Leo Schmidt, documentation of the Potsdam archi-
tectural studio Kühn-von Kaehne & Lange, who renovated
the building in 2003–2005, Gutiérrez Calderón’s article
Una casa para Einstein: Konrad Wachsmann y la evolu-
ción de un modelo prefabricado desde las casas “Chris-
toph & Unmack A.G.” al General Panel System [9], as well
as the Einstein archives available at the Einstein Archives
Research Library of Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Surprisingly comprehensive information about the house
in Caputh is provided in the annex to the FBI report on the
“Berlin period” in Einstein’s life [10]. The authors of the
most important biographical studies devoted to Einstein
are Friedrich Herneck [11], [12], Dieter Homann [13],
Albrecht Fölsing [14] and Armin Hermann [15].
Alicia Imperiale [16], Stephane Berthier [17], Fabrizio
Tucci and Cesare Sposito [18] as well as Jos Tomlow [19]
wrote about Konrad Wachsmann as an architect and de-
signer of Einstein’s house in Caputh and about the innova-
tive methods he developed (later in cooperation with Wal-
ter Gropius) for connecting elements of wooden structures.
However, there is no study that would analyse the features
of Einstein’s house in Caputh in the context of tradition
and modernity aspects considered not only at the time of
the building’s construction, but also from the point of view
of contemporary trends in architecture, such as sustain-
able, ecological and bioclimatic design, built environment
resilience to climate change, circularity of building mate-
rials and elements, and the New European Bauhaus.
Research methods
The research was carried out in two stages. In the rst
stage, based on a literature review and archive studies at
Christoph & Unmack, the Wachsmann Museum in Nies-
ky, the archives of the Institute of Physics in Potsdam,
the Baukunstarchiv Akademie der Künste and in situ
analyses in Caputh, the main features of the building were
determined against the background of the functional and
aesthetic tendencies prevailing during the period of its
construction. This allowed us to determine to what extent
the design of Einstein’s villa referred to the building tradi-
tions of the region and which features reected an innova-
tive way of thinking, anticipating modernism in architec-
ture. In the second part of the research, the building was
characterized in the light of the latest trends in the theory
and history of contemporary architecture, taking into ac-
count the principles of sustainable development, the built
Fig. 2. Location of Einstein’s house and office
with marked distance and walking time.
According to Google Maps, as of 2023.
Il. 2. Lokalizacja domu i biura Einsteina z zaznaczoną odległością
i czasem dojścia. Według mapy Google, stan z 2023 r.
Tradition and innovation of Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh 29
environment resilience to climate change, circularity, bio-
climatic design and the New European Bauhaus initiative.
The main features of the building are assigned to one of
the analysed phenomena:
– traditional and regional architecture,
– modernist architecture popularized by Bauhaus in the
20
th
century,
– ecological (sustainable) architecture,
– bioclimatic architecture and
– contemporary architecture implementing the assump-
tions of the New European Bauhaus according to the mod-
el features of the initiative specied for 2023 [20], [21].
Based on the results of the comparative analysis, con-
clusions were formulated and presented at the end of the
study.
In Einstein’s villa in Caputh, the author of the arti-
cle carried out only non-invasive (non-destructive) tests
aimed at the qualitative assessment of the building in the
context of the features of bioclimatic architecture dened
in the monograph Proces kształtowania relacji z naturą
w architekturze współczesnej [The process of shaping re-
lations with nature in contemporary architecture] [22] and
the characteristics of the New European Bauhaus dened
in [21], [23]. During the tests, standard measurements of
temperature, humidity and lighting were conducted. Ways
to adapt architecture to the climate and local cultural con-
text were identied. The climatic zone for the location of
the facility according to the Köppen and Geiger climate
classication was dened as Cfb (temperate oceanic cli-
mate with warm summer and signicant rainfall). The
location of the building in relation to the cardinal direc-
tions, the angle of incidence of sunlight in dierent sea-
sons of the year, as well as the temperature distribution
and the level of atmospheric precipitation throughout the
year were determined (the average annual temperature is
10.1°C with an average annual rainfall of 669 mm).
Inside the building, the eectiveness of natural ven-
tilation and the carbon dioxide content in the air in all
publicly accessible spaces were checked. In addition, an
analysis of visual comfort was carried out by examining
fragments of the landscape visible from individual rooms,
including the percentage of natural elements in the eld
of view, characteristic points and architectural dominants.
The following equipment was used for the tests:
– EnOcean wireless multifunctional device for measur-
ing indoor and outdoor temperature, relative humidity and
carbon dioxide concentration (EnOcean Equipment Pro-
le: A5-09-04), which was used to analyse the air quality,
– wing anemometer, which was used to test the eec-
tiveness of natural ventilation,
– light meter (Light Meter EV for Photography – An-
droid phone application), which was used to measure the
amount of daylight in particular rooms.
Research description
The research was carried out by the author of the text
in January and February 2023. Thanks to the courtesy of
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder and retired director
of the Potsdam Climate Institute, it was possible to gain
access to the in situ research facility, Einstein’s villa in
Caputh. Based on comparison with archival materials, it
was established that the shape of the building, its structure
and architectural form, as well as most of the built-in ele-
ments (except for sanitary ttings and parts of the water,
sewage and electrical installations) survived in very good
condition and almost unchanged. The movable elements
of the equipment, especially the Einsteins’ furniture, were
not preserved and have been replaced by others, adapted
to the new function, but most of them being inconsistent
with the design assumptions of Wachsmann as an archi-
tect or with Einstein’s intentions as an investor.
The analysed villa was built on an L-shaped plan with
a basement. A modication of the regional style combin-
ing a half-timbered and panel construction was used. The
building has a post-frame structure with wooden trusses
and ceilings faced with wooden panels, as well as façades
and internal walls, covered with a hipped roof covered with
ceramic tiles (Fig. 3). The house was built from two local-
ly sourced wood species – Oregon pine and Galician r.
Appropriate thermal insulation of the walls was achieved
by combining two layers of insulation, external and inter-
nal, made of Lignat board (developed by Christoph & Un-
mack in 1927) with an insulating layer of turf placed be-
tween them and additional lling made of reed mats. The
boards in the façade were laid horizontally, leaving a few
beam ends visible, making the house somewhat resem-
ble a log cabin. Slightly protruding crossbeams and large
Fig. 3. Einstein’s villa in Caputh, view from the north-west, 1929,
architect K. Wachsmann (photo by B. Widera, 2023)
Il. 3. Willa Einsteina w Caputh, widok od strony północno-zachodniej,
1929, arch. K. Wachsmann (fot. B. Widera, 2023)
30 Barbara Widera
visible references to naval architecture, such as a spacious
utility terrace or a round window (Fig. 5). These features
should be associated both with modernist architecture and
with the private interests of Einstein, who was an amateur
sailor and owned a sailing boat. Motifs taken from naval
architecture also included spherical lamps, simple wood-
en boards on the walls, ceilings and terrace, and bright
colours in the interiors.
Noteworthy are the modern combinations of wooden
elements used in the villa in Caputh, developed by Wachs-
mann as part of his work at Christoph & Unmack in Nies-
ky. Unlike the frame system based on connecting long
wooden beams, used by the same architect in the house of
the director of Christoph & Unmack in Niesky in 1929, for
Einstein’s villa Wachsmann designed a system of wood-
en panels, enabling faster assembly than in the case of
logs. The panels formed modules with sizes of 50–55 cm
and 100–110 cm and were connected to each other using
screw-in dowels. A comparison of both systems is pre-
sented in Figure 6, based on Wachsmann’s sketch pub-
lished in 1930 [6].
The building’s frame consisted of beams connected
to each other using innovative connecting elements. The
proposed method enabled quick assembly of the structure
with added nishing parts (timber and hardboard pan-
els) that additionally accelerated assembly and was later
developed in cooperation with Walter Gropius [3], [16],
[24]. Wooden mounting hooks were used in the main
structural elements of the house in Caputh. The funda-
mental dierence between this method and the General
Panel System developed by Wachsmann together with
Gropius in 1941 was that in Einstein’s villa two elements
were connected using hooks, not four as in the General
Panel System. Moreover, there were no installations in the
structural beams. Such elements were added in the Gen-
eral Panel System and enabled even faster construction of
buildings, which, after being assembled on the construc-
tion site, only needed to be connected to the electrical net-
work [16].
In the case of the Einstein house, the foundations were
rst prepared on site, and then – in the industrial hall of
the Christoph & Unmack construction company in Niesky
– a timber frame was constructed. Once the engineers had
approved the design of the structure, the frame was dis-
mantled, packed with other building materials and trans-
ported to Caputh. It took only two weeks to assemble the
house on the plot, and after another two weeks the build-
ing was fully equipped and suitable for living.
On the lower oor of the building there were living
room, Einstein’s bedroom and oce, his wife Elsa’s room,
a large bathroom (Fig. 7), toilet, kitchen, hall and a straight,
single-ight staircase leading to the upper oor (Fig. 8).
On the rst oor there was the daughter’s bedroom, a toi-
let, a guest room and a maid’s bedroom, with a window
overlooking the terrace. In each room on the rst oor
there was a niche with a washbasin (Fig. 9). Such a niche
was also placed in the maid’s bedroom. Einstein’s studio
overlooked the garden (Fig. 10). Compared to the origi-
nal design (Fig. 11), modications were made mainly to
take into account Einstein’s preferences (Figs. 12, 13). The
French porte-fenêtre windows with wooden, white-paint-
ed shutters gave the building the character of an object
that ts into the context of traditional regional architecture
(Fig. 4). At the same time, the villa gave the impression of
a light summer house, with dominant horizontal lines and
Fig. 4. Einstein’s villa in Caputh, protruding beams and large windows
in the living room, 1929, architect K. Wachsmann
(photo by B. Widera, 2023)
Il. 4. Willa Einsteina w Caputh, wysunięte belki i duże okna w salonie,
1929, arch. K. Wachsmann
(fot. B. Widera, 2023)
Fig. 5. Einstein’s villa in Caputh, view from the garden, 1929,
architect K. Wachsmann (photo by B. Widera, 2023)
Il. 5. Willa Einsteina w Caputh, widok od strony ogrodu, 1929,
arch. K. Wachsmann (fot. B. Widera, 2023)
Tradition and innovation of Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh 31
orientation of the building was changed. According to the
original plan, the windows in the living room were to face
south. In the completed building, the southern façade was
placed on the west side. Moreover, the built-in wardrobe
and sleeping alcove in Einstein’s oce were omitted, and
the window in this room was located in the western façade.
Fig. 7. Einstein’s villa in Caputh, main bathroom with a round window,
1929, architect K. Wachsmann (photo by B. Widera, 2023)
Il. 7. Willa Einsteina w Caputh, główna łazienka z okrągłym oknem,
1929, arch. K. Wachsmann (fot. B. Widera, 2023)
Fig. 8. Einstein’s villa in Caputh, hall and staircase, 1929,
architect K. Wachsmann (photo by B. Widera, 2023)
Il. 8. Willa Einsteina w Caputh, hall i klatka schodowa, 1929,
arch. K. Wachsmann (fot. B. Widera, 2023)
Fig. 6. Comparison of the on-site
wood frame method developed
by Christoph & Unmack
with the panel method used in
Einstein’s villa in Caputh
(drawing by B. Widera based on
a sketch by K. Wachsmann [6])
Il. 6. Porównanie
systemu szkieletowego
opracowanego przez firmę
Christoph & Unmack
z systemem panelowym
zastosowanym w willi
Einsteina w Caputh
(rys. B. Widera na podstawie
szkicu K. Wachsmanna [6])
Despite the small number of windows on the front ele-
vation, the interior of the house was brightly lit thanks to
porte-fenêtre windows opening a view of the garden and
the lake. Simple and functional interior furnishings were
selected and arranged in such a way that they took up as
little space as possible and did not block the ow of light
32 Barbara Widera
or air (Fig. 14). The living room has a modern replace
with simple geometric forms, covered with light beige
ceramic tiles. Modern elements included very well-pre-
served black and white tiles on the oor in the hall, kitch-
en furniture built into the walls on both sides of the room,
Fig. 10. Einstein’s villa in Caputh, Einstein’s office, 1929,
architect K. Wachsmann (photo by B. Widera, 2023)
Il. 10. Willa Einsteina w Caputh, gabinet Einsteina, 1929,
arch. K. Wachsmann (fot. B. Widera, 2023)
Fig. 11. Einstein’s villa in Caputh. Drawings by K. Wachsmann
from 1929 © Gemeinde Schwielowsee (source: Koordinierungsstelle
für die Erhaltung des Schriftlichen Kulturguts)
Il. 11. Willa Einsteina w Caputh. Rysunki projektowe K. Wachsmanna
z 1929 r. ©Gemeinde Schwielowsee. (źródło: Koordinierungsstelle
für die Erhaltung des Schriftlichen Kulturguts.)
Fig. 12. Einstein’s villa in Caputh, living room on the ground floor, 1929,
architect K. Wachsmann (photo by B. Widera, 2023)
Il. 12. Willa Einsteina w Caputh, salon na parterze, 1929,
arch. K. Wachsmann (fot. B. Widera, 2023)
Fig. 9. Einstein’s villa in Caputh,
Einstein’s daughter’s room with a built-in washroom, 1929,
architect K. Wachsmann (photo by B. Widera, 2023)
Il. 9. Willa Einsteina w Caputh,
pokój córki Einsteina z wbudowaną wnęką z umywalką, 1929,
arch. K. Wachsmann (fot. B. Widera, 2023)
as well as built-in wardrobes in the rooms. It should be
emphasized that most of the furniture was transported to
Caputh from the Einsteins’ Berlin apartment. This hap-
pened for two reasons: rstly, for cost-saving reasons, and
secondly, the furniture proposed by Wachsmann, especial-
ly the chairs designed by Marcel Breuer, were not appre-
ciated by the investor, who assessed them as too cold and
not very comfortable [8].
According to the initial assumptions, the villa in Ca-
puth was to serve as a summer home, but the Einsteins
liked their new residence so much that they moved there
permanently and spent most of their time here until 1932,
when Einstein left the house and went with wife Elsa to
Pasadena to lecture at the California Institute of Technol-
ogy. After the fascists came to power, he announced that
he would not be able to live in a country where there was
no tolerance for human rights. He never returned to Ger-
many. As Elsa Einstein recalled, before leaving the house,
her husband asked her to take a good look at their house.
When she asked why, he explained that they would never
see this house again [10]. We can conclude from this that
Tradition and innovation of Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh 33
the brilliant physicist not only could solve abstract scien-
tic problems, but also was able to accurately assess the
socio-political situation.
In 1934, Einstein’s German citizenship was revoked,
and in 1935 the house was taken over by the Nazis. In
1955, the facility was included on the list of monuments
by the authorities of the German Democratic Republic,
and in 1979, on the occasion of the 100
th
anniversary of
Einstein’s birth, it was opened to visitors. In the years
2001–2005, the building was thoroughly renovated. Cur-
rently, it hosts scientic symposia and high-level political
meetings, and the house is owned by the Hebrew Univer-
sity of Jerusalem.
The building’s designer, Konrad Wachsmann, emigrat-
ed to the United States of America in 1941, where, thanks
to Einstein’s help, he established cooperation with Wal-
ter Gropius. This resulted in the development of two ex-
tremely modern construction and assembly systems: Gen-
eral Panel System (1941) and Packaged House System
(1942). The rst of the aforementioned solutions enabled
the quick and easy assembly and disassembly of wooden
structural elements, and the second one allowed the entire
prefabricated building to be assembled on the construc-
tion site in no more than nine hours [3], [16], [17], [24]. It
should be noted that the General Panel System method of
connecting construction elements was patented by Wachs-
mann and Gropius in 1945. This system has not yet been
used in the villa in Caputh, but single hook connections
were used to connect the main structural elements (wood-
en columns and horizontal beams). Unfortunately, to the
best knowledge of the author of the text, the drawings of
these connecting parts were not preserved.
The conducted research showed that in 1974, during the
rst renovation of Einstein’s villa in Caputh, the damaged
panels in the living room were replaced, but it was done
imprecisely and the protective coating for the wood turned
out to be too dark. In 2003, the villa in Caputh became
the property of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who
inherited Einstein’s estate. The second renovation then
began, during which the arrangement of the panels was
improved and the original interior colours were restored.
However, the main reason for the renovation was the roof
leaking regularly during heavy rainfall. The Cornelsen
Cultural Foundation and the German federal government
provided funding for the building conservation works.
The architectural studio Kühn-von Kaehne & Lange from
Potsdam was commissioned to carry out the conservation
project. Thanks to the information obtained from this labo-
ratory, combined with own in situ research, it was possible
to determine that as part of the comprehensive renovation,
the roof was repaired, including the replacement of all in-
sulation and damaged roof tiles. New insulation was also
added in the basement and on the ground oor. The entire
electrical, water and sewage installations were modern-
ized. Contemporary kitchen and bathroom ttings were
installed, unfortunately, signicantly dierent from the
original character of the interiors designed by Wachsmann.
Damaged sheathing boards on the façades were replaced
and all paint coatings were refreshed. The kitchen retains
its original built-in cabinetry, but the stove and countertops
have been replaced. During the renovation, no changes
were made to the structural solutions used in the building.
In 2005, declared Einstein’s Year on the occasion of
the 100
th
anniversary of the publication of the theory of
Fig. 13. Ground floor plan.
As of 2023
(drawing by B. Widera)
Il. 13. Rzut parteru. Stan z 2023
(rys. B. Widera)
34 Barbara Widera
relativity and the 50
th
anniversary of the physicist’s death,
the house in Caputh was reopened to the public, but on
a limited basis. Most often, closed scientic seminars and
high-level political meetings are held there.
An archival search at the Wachsmann Museum in Nies-
ky, at Christoph & Unmack, in the archives of the Institute
of Physics in Potsdam and at the Baukunstarchiv Akade-
mie der Künste showed that no drawings or photographs
showing the details of the connection have survived. In
1998, the last mentioned institution acquired a collection
of 98,000 Wachsmann’s documents from the period of his
stay in the USA, but even in these documents the author’s
illustrations regarding the experimental construction ele-
ments used in the villa in Caputh could not be found. All
photographic documentation taken during the renovation
in 2003–2005 is the property of the new owner of the facil-
ity, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. If innovative con-
nections of wooden elements were documented during the
unveiling of the wooden structure, such photographs also
remain in the exclusive disposal of the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem and access to them has not been obtained.
Conclusions
The analysis of Einstein’s villa in Caputh made it pos-
sible to identify a set of features of the building which, in
the context of current knowledge, allow us to demonstrate
its innovative character both in relation to the period of
the building’s construction (features of modernist archi-
tecture developed by Bauhaus in the 20
th
century) and in
relation to contemporary sustainable and bioclimatic ar-
chitecture, and to the assumptions of the New European
Bauhaus initiative formulated at the beginning of the third
decade of the 21
st
century.
The degree to which the characterized object meets
the principles of sustainable development and bioclimatic
design was determined on the basis of a comparison of
the model features of the above phenomena dened in the
monograph Proces kształtowania relacji z naturą w ar chi
tekturze współczesnej [22] with the features of the ana-
lysed dwelling. The features of architecture that meets the
requirements of sustainable development (understood as
architecture that aims to meet the needs and aspirations of
current generations without compromising the ability to
meet these needs in the future), also known as ecological
architecture, include:
– the form and functioning of the building are subor-
dinated to the overarching idea of providing users with
maximum comfort while minimizing any negative impact
on the natural environment,
– passive methods of heating, cooling and ventilation
are used whenever possible,
– high energy eciency of buildings is ensured, using
energy from renewable sources,
– structures ecient in terms of their strength, materi-
als and energy performance,
– use of materials and processes that are safe for the
natural environment,
– limiting transportation,
– sustainable management of planet resources,
– integrating objects into the landscape and ensuring
close contact between the user and nature.
The features of bioclimatic architecture include:
– the form and functioning of the building result from
the outcomes of interdisciplinary research on local climat-
ic and biological conditions, striving to optimally adapt
the building to these conditions,
– balance and harmonious relations between the built
environment (taking into account the important role of
cultural heritage) and the natural environment, close con-
tact of the user with nature,
– design, process and material solutions that are safe
for the natural environment, being eective in terms of
strength, materials and energy performance,
Fig. 14. First floor plan.
As of 2023
(drawing by B. Widera)
Il. 14. Rzut piętra. Stan z 2023
(rys. B. Widera)
Tradition and innovation of Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh 35
– holistic design based on in-depth understanding of
the complex principles of ecosystem functioning,
– advanced technological solutions aimed at achieving
a high level of user comfort,
– the application of hybrid systems, enabling the op-
timal use of passive and active methods as well as their
monitoring and modication during their operation.
As a result of the comparative analysis, it was deter-
mined that Einstein’s villa in Caputh contains all the fea-
tures dened in the model of ecological architecture (sus-
tainable architecture), with one of these features, namely
“care for high energy eciency of the building, use of
energy from renewable sources”, being partially repre-
sented by using passive solar gains in the ground oor
living room.
With regard to the model characteristics of bioclimatic
architecture, the presence of four out of six features was
conrmed, with one of them, i.e. “the form and function-
ing of the building based on the results of interdisciplinary
research on local climatic and biological conditions, striv-
ing to optimally adapt the building to these conditions”
being partially represented by adapting the form of the
building to local climatic conditions. At the design stage,
no detailed studies of biological conditions were carried
out for the analysed facility, nor was any holistic design
based on an in-depth understanding of the complex prin-
ciples of ecosystem functioning carried out. During the
construction of the building, it was not possible to use hy-
brid systems that enable the optimal use of passive and
active methods and their monitoring and modication
during use.
The results of the comparative analysis presenting the
occurrence of selected features of ecological and biocli-
matic architecture in Einstein’s villa in Caputh are pre-
sented in Table 1.
Due to the recurring references to Bauhaus in con-
temporary architecture and the growing interest in the
New European Bauhaus initiative, the research analysed
the features of the villa in Caputh in the context of the
presence of aesthetic and formal features of Bauhaus as
Tendency in architecture Tendency feature
Occurrence of a given feature
in Einstein’s villa in Caputh
Ecological architecture /
Sustainable architecture
the form and functioning of the building are subordinated to
the overarching idea of providing users with maximum comfort
while minimizing any negative impact on the natural environment
yes
passive methods of heating, cooling and ventilation are used
whenever possible
yes
high energy efficiency of buildings is ensured using energy
from renewable sources
partially – passive solar gains
in the living room
structures efficient in terms of their strength, materials
and energy performance
yes
use of materials and processes that are safe
for the natural environment, limiting transportation
yes
sustainable management of planet resources yes
integrating objects into the landscape and ensuring close contact
between the user and nature
yes
Bioclimatic architecture
the form and functioning of the building result from the outcomes of
interdisciplinary research on local climatic and biological conditions,
striving to optimally adapt the building to these conditions
partially – adapting the form
of the building to local climatic
conditions
balance and harmonious relations between the built environment
(taking into account the important role of cultural heritage)
and the natural environment, close contact of the user with nature
yes
design, process and material solutions that are safe
for the natural environment, being effective in terms of strength,
materials and energy performance
yes
holistic design based on in-depth understanding of the complex
principles of ecosystem functioning
no
advanced technological solutions aimed at achieving a high level
of user comfort
yes
the application of hybrid systems, enabling the optimal use of passive
and active methods as well as their monitoring and modification
during their operation
no
Table 1. Features of ecological (sustainable) and bioclimatic architecture in Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh (elaborated by B. Widera)
Tabela 1. Cechy architektury ekologicznej (zrównoważonej) i bioklimatycznej w willi Alberta Einsteina w Caputh (oprac. B. Widera)
36 Barbara Widera
Traditional features
(regional building)
Modernist features
(Bauhaus)
Features in the context of contemporary
knowledge (New European Bauhaus)
hipped roof covered with ceramic tiles
referring to the construction traditions
of the region
the roof is significantly less steep than
that of nearby buildings at the same time
good adaptation of the building to the climate
timber building structure,
the building appearance is reminiscent
of a log cabin through the horizontal
arrangement of boards in the façade
massive transverse beams slightly
extended beyond the outline of the roof
innovative way of connecting elements
of timber structure,
innovative system of wooden modular panels,
demountable building frame constructed in
the industrial hall of the Christoph & Unmack
construction company,
very short overall implementation time
of the project (May–September 1929)
a very early example of prefabrication,
ease of assembly and disassembly,
very short time of on-site construction works
(2 weeks assembly of the structural frame,
façades and roof + 2 weeks for interior
finishing and furnishing),
minimum level of disturbance at the place
of implementation
most of the elements made of locally
growing species: Oregon pine
and Galician fir
simple boards, timber without decorations
local sources of building material,
carbon dioxide absorption
traditional wooden furniture used at
Einstein’s request (instead of the furniture
initially proposed by Marcel Breuer)
modern furniture built into the walls
in the kitchen and a geometric, ornamentless
fireplace in the living room
circularity – reusing furniture from Einstein’s
Berlin apartment
small window openings at the front
of the building, wooden shutters,
a small north-facing window
in the maid’s room
bright, spacious rooms,
building lit mainly from the east and west,
large windows and balcony doors facing
the garden, providing a view of the lake
and the setting sun
proper adaptation to local climatic conditions
thanks to the proper orientation of
the building and its openings in relation to
the cardinal directions, the terrace and open
staircase ensure good air circulation
and effective natural ventilation
small private rooms
large main bathroom and small washrooms
in the bedrooms, functional kitchen
functional use of space
reference to the local character of Caputh
as a summer resort on the lake
elements of naval architecture:
a vast terrace combined with round windows,
a dominant horizontal layout
and simple white external blinds
simple geometric forms, current aesthetics,
connection with nature
Table 2. Traditional, modernist and contemporary features of Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh (elaborated by B. Widera)
Tabela 2. Cechy tradycyjne, modernistyczne i współczesne willi Alberta Einsteina w Caputh (oprac. B. Widera)
a trend in 20
th
century architecture and art and the prin-
ciples of the New European Bauhaus as one of the most
current phenomena in architecture of the 3
rd
decade of the
21
st
century. The connection between these two tenden-
cies and Einstein’s villa seems natural since Wachsmann –
as a close collaborator of Gropius, Hans Scharoun, Marcel
Breuer and other creators ideologically associated with
Bauhaus – in his later works repeatedly referred to the
ideological features of this movement. In turn, the NEB
initiative initiated in 2021 refers to the Bauhaus philoso-
phy, adapting the aesthetics of the 20
th
century movement
to the needs of the modern user and supplementing the
formal features with two main dimensions: sustainability
and inclusiveness of the built environment. In this context,
comparing the features of model buildings implementing
the Bauhaus aesthetics with edices aimed at implement-
ing the NEB values is an important and current problem in
the research on the theory of contemporary architecture.
In order to determine the compliance of the character-
istics of the villa in Caputh designed in 1929 by Wachs-
mann with the main features of the New European Bau-
haus, a comparative analysis was carried out using the tool
“New European Bauhaus Compass: A guiding framework
for decision and project makers wishing to apply the NEB
principles and criteria to their activities” [23].
The most important features of the New European
Bauhaus include three core values: sustainability, beauty
and inclusiveness, intertwined with three working princi-
ples: participatory design process, interdisciplinarity and
multi-level engagement. The analysis allowed us to con-
rm that all of these features were in fact present in the
house in Caputh, with beauty and interdisciplinarity being
represented the strongest, and community and multi-level
engagement the weakest.
The identied features of the examined building that
still allow it to be considered modern include:
– correct adaptation of the building to local climatic
conditions through:
• adequate orientation of the building and its openings
to the cardinal directions,
• appropriately selected roof inclination angle,
• proper insulation using nature-based materials,
• spacious terrace used to provide shading for the living
room windows in summer,
• eectively operating ventilation, cooling and heating
systems, including improved air circulation thanks to an
open staircase,
– innovative system for connecting wooden elements
enabling easy assembly and disassembly and shortening
the implementation time on the construction site, being
Tradition and innovation of Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh 37
part of a solution that is a very early example of prefabri-
cation and resulting in a minimum level of disturbance at
the construction site,
– sustainable materials management (analysed in the
context of their life cycle):
• use of local sources of building material,
• increased carbon dioxide absorption thanks to the use
of Oregon pine and Galician r wood,
– introducing elements of the circular economy by re-
using furniture from Einstein’s Berlin apartment,
– functional use of space,
– simple geometric forms combined with current aes-
thetics, accepted by the end user,
– strong emphasis on the connection with nature and
landscape.
A summary of traditional and modern features of the
examined building is presented in Table 2.
Summary
The results of the conducted research allowed us to
con clude that in the analysed Einstein villa in Caputh,
traditional features resulting from references to regional
building traditions and taking into account the investor’s
preferences were intertwined with innovative features ex-
pressed by the use of elements of naval architecture, avoid-
ance of excess ornaments, and the use of simple and func-
tional equipment combined with open space and extensive
terraces, good natural ventilation of the rooms, introduc-
ing plenty of daylight into the interiors and opening the
view, while clearly striving to facilitate contact with nature.
In situ research has shown that despite the observed com-
promise and balance between aspects of tradition and
modernity, modern elements dominate in the architecture
of the building. The novelty of the edice is manifested,
among others, in the choice of location of the dwelling, the
adopted functional and construction solutions, especially
in the connection system enabling quick assembly of the
building, which is a very early example of prefabrication,
in the way of shaping the space in the house and its vicin-
ity, and in the use of timber as the main building material,
creating viewing axes, as well as using daylight to modu-
late the ambience in the interiors.
The most important conclusions from the conducted re-
search concern the degree to which the building ts into
current tendencies in the history and theory of contempo-
rary architecture, in the context of contemporary knowl-
edge, including the New European Bauhaus initiative. The
most important features of the villa that meet the assump-
tions of sustainable, beautiful and inclusive architecture in-
clude proper adaptation to local climatic conditions, good
air circulation, eective natural ventilation, ease of assem-
bly and disassembly, minimal level of disturbance in the
place of implementation, use of local sources of building
material, the use of timber as a bio-based material absorb-
ing carbon dioxide, elements of the circular economy (reus-
ing furniture from Einstein’s Berlin apartment), functional
use of space, simple geometric forms that t well into cur-
rent aesthetics and emphasizing the connection with nature.
Translated by
Barbara Widera
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38 Barbara Widera
Abstract
Tradition and innovation of Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh
The aim of the article is to analyse Albert Einstein’s villa in Caputh (1929) designed by Konrad Wachsmann in the context of the theory and histo-
ry of contemporary architecture, including aspects of tradition and modernity in the adopted aesthetic, functional and spatial solutions. The research
was carried out in two stages. In the rst stage, based on a literature review and in situ analyses, the main features of the building were determined
against the background of the functional and aesthetic tendencies prevailing during the period of the building’s construction. This allowed us to de-
termine to what extent the design of Einstein’s villa referred to the building traditions of the region and which features reected an innovative way of
thinking, anticipating modernism in architecture. In the second part of the research, the building was characterized in the light of the latest trends in
the theory and history of contemporary architecture, taking into account the principles of sustainable development, resilience of the built environment
to climate change, circularity, bioclimatic design and the New European Bauhaus. The main conclusions from the conducted research concern the
compromise and balance between the aspects of tradition and modernity in the Einstein’s villa, manifested in the choice of the location and adopted
functional and structural solutions. The applied connection system enabling quick assembly of the building represents a very early example of prefab-
rication. Important innovative features include: the way of shaping the space, the use of wood as the main building material, the creation of viewing
axes and the use of daylight to modulate the interiors’ ambience.
Key words: modern architecture, prefabrication, circular economy, bioclimatic architecture, sustainable architecture, New European Bauhaus
Streszczenie
Tradycja i nowatorstwo willi Alberta Einsteina w Caputh
Celem autorki artykułu jest analiza zaprojektowanej przez Konrada Wachsmanna willi Alberta Einsteina w Caputh (1929) w kontekście teorii i hi-
storii architektury współczesnej, w tym aspektów tradycji i nowoczesności w przyjętych rozwiązaniach estetycznych, funkcjonalnych i przestrzen-
nych. Badania przeprowadzono dwutorowo. W pierwszym etapie, na bazie kwerendy literaturowej i analiz in situ określono główne cechy budynku
na tle tendencji funkcjonalnych i estetycznych dominujących w okresie powstania obiektu. Pozwoliło to ustalić, w jakim stopniu w projekcie willi
odnoszono się do tradycji budowlanych regionu oraz które cechy odzwierciedlały nowatorski sposób myślenia, będący zapowiedzią modernizmu
w architekturze. W drugiej części badań dokonano charakterystyki budynku w świetle najnowszych tendencji w teorii i historii architektury współ-
czesnej, z uwzględnieniem zasad zrównoważonego rozwoju, odporności środowiska zbudowanego na zmiany klimatu, cyrkularności, projektowania
bioklimatycznego oraz Nowego Europejskiego Bauhausu. Najważniejsze wnioski z przeprowadzonych badań dotyczą kompromisu i równowagi
między aspektami tradycji i nowoczesności w architekturze budowli, przejawiających się w wyborze lokalizacji obiektu, przyjętych rozwiązaniach
funkcjonalnych i konstrukcyjnych. Zastosowany system połączeń umożliwiający szybki montaż budynku stanowi bardzo wczesny przykład prefa-
brykacji. Do istotnych cech nowatorskich należą: sposób kształtowania przestrzeni, zastosowanie drewna jako głównego materiału budowlanego,
tworzenie osi widokowych oraz wykorzystanie światła dziennego do kreowania nastroju we wnętrzach.
Słowa kluczowe: architektura nowoczesna, prefabrykacja, gospodarka cyrkularna, architektura bioklimatyczna, architektura zrównoważona, Nowy
Europejski Bauhaus
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Europe and new European Bauhaus NEXUS report: conclusions
of the High-Level Workshop on “Research and Innovation for the
New European Bauhaus”, jointly organised by DG Research and
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the European Union, 2022, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/49925
[accessed: 23.04.2023].
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współczesnej, Ocyna Wydawnicza PWr, Wrocław 2018.
[23] Joint Research Center, New European Bauhaus Compass, A guid-
ing framework for decision and project makers wishing to apply
the NEB principles and criteria to their activities, General Publi-
cations of the European Union, 21 Nov 2022, The New European
Bauhaus Compass | New European Bauhaus, europa.eu [accessed:
2.03.2023].
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