Over 15,000 housing units were completed in five years under the New Frankfurt program, a massive urban development initiative launched in 1925 to address severe residential shortages. Led by city planner Ernst May, this project prioritized egalitarian access to sunlight and air through functional, prefabricated designs that redefined modern living standards across the Weimar Republic.
Early Education and Influences
Born in Frankfurt am Main in 1886, May pursued architectural studies at the Technical University of Munich. His formative years included significant time in the United Kingdom between 1908 and 1912, where he worked under Raymond Unwin. During this period, he integrated principles from the garden city movement, which informed his later focus on decentralized planning and community-integrated infrastructure.
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Appointed head of the planning department in Frankfurt from 1925 to 1931, May utilized substantial funding and municipal authority to implement his housing vision. He recruited a specialized team to create developments like Siedlung Römerstadt, noted for modern features including communal schools and playgrounds. In 1926, he invited Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky to join the staff, where she engineered the modern installed kitchen to optimize domestic efficiency.
Soviet Union Planning and Exile
In 1930, May relocated to the Soviet Union with a brigade of 17 architects to design new industrial centers. Although the group is credited with planning 20 cities, including Magnitogorsk, their efforts were hampered by bureaucratic delays and miscalculations regarding local climate conditions. Following the expiration of his contract in 1933, May migrated to Kenya, where he transitioned into private practice, designing schools and commercial properties such as the Oceanic Hotel in Mombasa.
Post-war Reconstruction in Germany
May returned to West Germany in 1953 to participate in national reconstruction. From 1954 to 1956, he directed the planning department in Hamburg, overseeing major projects like New-Altona and Neue Vahr in Bremen. During his final years, he served as an honorary professor at the Technical University of Darmstadt before his death in 1970 in Hamburg. He is buried at the Frankfurt Main Cemetery.
Fast facts
- Born: 1886, Frankfurt, Germany
- Died: 1970, Hamburg, Germany
- Education: Technical University of Munich
- Key Position: Head of the planning department of Frankfurt (1925-1931)
- Significant Project: New Frankfurt housing development
- Exile Period: Kenya (1933-1953)
- Award: Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Final Resting Place: Frankfurt Main Cemetery
Questions readers ask
What was the May Brigade?
A team of 17 Western architects and planners, including Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky and Mart Stam, who traveled to the Soviet Union in 1930 to design cities.
What is the Zickzackhausen?
A colloquial term for specific structural designs within the Siedlung Römerstadt settlement in Frankfurt.