Repressing Repair: Hans Döllgast’s Reconception of the Alte Pinakothek, 1946-1973

Hans Döllgast’s Alte Pinakothek in Munich (1946-73) is seen as a masterpiece of post-war reconstruction, celebrated for its poetic treatment of wartime scars. The building’s reception has, however, consistently repressed the technology behind its reconstruction, from the new structural concrete cage inside its patched brick walls to the plumbing and heating needed for a functioning museum. This paper considers the building’s reception relative to Döllgast’s unpublished technical drawings. Reference to Alois Riegl’s theories of monuments and their role in preserving cultural memory, which Döllgast would have known, supports the basis for a revised reading of the Alte Pinakothek to see its technical components as important contributors to its value as memorial and monument.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.106.79

Volume Editors
Amir Ameri & Rebecca O'Neal Dagg

ISBN
978-1-944214-15-9