Inventing Feminist Practices: Women and Building in Fin-de-Siècle Berlin

This chapter explores the feminist building practices developed by women patrons and architects active in Berlin in the years leading up to the First World War. Today, architects engaged in feminist practices continue to explore inclusive design that gives voice to alternative lifestyles and socially and economically marginalized groups. Agnes Hacker knew a great deal about women’s bodies. In 1908, she opened a small surgery clinic for women in Berlin, staffed by female doctors, who were barred from practicing in public hospitals. Money for the project was raised from private donors, such as Ottilie von Hansemann, the wealthy widow of the Berlin banker Adolph von Hansemann, as well as through public fund-raising events. The first woman architect to open an office in Berlin in 1907, Emilie Winkelmann became the leading designer for the women’s movement, contributing to numerous feminist-sponsored building projects in her firms first decade of business.