GERMAN ARCHITECTURE AND DECORATION

outpaced by France and England, and that only when the various
branches of the German race were consolidated did the way become
clear for us to develop our national idiosyncrasies free from foreign
influences. We know also that while we are now in the thick of a
struggle to make ourselves heard as a nation, we are only at the initial
stage of that world-wide trade movement which the wonderful
extension of the means of communication has made possible, and
that on this economic rivalry of nations in the world’s markets the
ultimate supremacy must depend.
It is true that the modern German style lacks the pleasing
elegance of that which is associated with the salons of the French
monarchs. To the Latin temperament and taste it is somewhat
austere and rigid, because it is less an expression of artistic fantasy
than a product of economic necessity and technical requirements.
With a nation whose population remains stationary the demand for
dwelling accommodation is naturally not so great as it is with us,
who have to provide for almost a million new fellow-citizens every
year, and in doing so have to utilise all the technical and hygienic
resources which modern achievements have made available. With
all the improvements and advances which the utilisation of ancient
and modern materials and methods has made possible we seek to
adapt our houses and their contents to present-day conditions of
life.
In every epoch the chief, and in its evolution the most sig-
nificant means of artistic expression is architecture. Besides being
the guiding spirit of pictorial and plastic art, it is capable of influencing
very decisively the entire industrial output. For the success of the
whole movement it was therefore of the utmost benefit for us to
arrive at positive results in a relatively short time. To-day we can
point to a large number of rationally and tastefully designed houses
which experienced architects have built and which meet all require-
ments in respect of comfort and convenience. And here kindred
views as to the solution of identical or similar problems have,
as a matter of course, led to certain typical forms, as will be seen by
comparing the country houses of the architects Altherr, Distel,
Muthesius, Schumacher, Sieben, and Straumer here illustrated. In
all of them we see that the same principle has been operative, that
of utilising the experiences and achievements of past centuries, and of
clothing the practical functions of the structure with such beauty
as is characteristic of the ideas of our present way of thinking.
Common to all of them is the adroit adaptation of the ground plan
to the site, and the way in which differences of level have been turned
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