Editor: Zeynep Dilara Akyürek / Milliyet.com.tr – July 15th On the way from Martyrs Bridge to Europe, a red-roofed building resembling Japanese architecture, standing among the trees on the right, catches the viewer’s attention. Overlooking the Bosphorus, this mansion was an extraordinary building designed by German professor Bruno Taut, who worked most of his life under the world-famous architecture professor Theodor Fischer, who died three years later. Bruno Taut had been designing special works for Turkey and even Atatürk until one month before his death. After the events in Germany, he spent most of his 58 years of life in Turkey. What remained after Hitler’s expulsion of Taut and his friends from Germany and the subsequent events in Turkey were extraordinary architectural works and educational institutions that still exist today. No one knew how the Taut Mansion came to be, but until about three years ago, it was waiting for a new owner with its majestic views. Here we introduce the extraordinary story of the Taut Mansion.
It all started in Berlin
When Bruno Taut, the second son of merchant Julius Taut, was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, in 1880, no one expected that his story would reach every corner of the world. Taut himself went to study in Germany during World War II at the age of 28. Little did he know that things would become even more complicated as World War II approached.
It was in Berlin, where Taut was staying for his architectural education, that events that would influence his life began. The young man moved to Berlin and studied art history, urban planning and construction at the Technical University of Berlin. In 1909 he founded a joint architectural practice with Franz Hoffmann. However, the partnership with Hoffmann lasted only four years, after which Taut began to collaborate with his brother, Max Taut.
Over time, Taut’s partnership with his brother resulted in some iconic designs. Bruno Taut’s first major project was the “Paintbox Dwelling” realised in Gartenstadt-Falkenberg in 1913, which showed a different approach to traditional housing concepts with its use of vibrant and striking colours. Although it was still his first work, this piece was a precursor to Taut’s modernist approach to architecture.
A German adventure full of firsts
Time passed, and Taut worked hard every day. Hundreds of people knew him through his designs. Taut was awarded the title of Honorary Professor by the Berlin-Charlottenburg University of Technology and continued to stand out for his accomplishments as well as his designs. He was now on the faculty, and students were excited about the architectural and artistic tricks they could learn from him.
After World War I he became a pioneer of the “Working Committee for Art” and a member of the “Novembergruppe” (Group of Architects), whose aim was to create revolutionary expressionist art.
As the months passed, Taut held important positions and offices. He served as chairman of the zoning committee in Magdeburg from 1921 to 1924. In 1924, he was appointed president of the newly founded public housing company GEHAG. Today, GEHAG owns 163,000 apartments in Berlin alone under the name “Deutsche Wohnen”.
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In 1930, Bruno Taut was appointed Honorary Professor of House Construction and Habitat at the Technical University of Berlin-Charlottenburg. But his life full of successes and firsts, at least in Germany, was about to come to an end. Taut would spend the rest of his life in different countries. The most important of these was his final destination: Istanbul.
When Hitler was deposed, they established a division in Türkiye.
Like many German scientists known for their socialist ideas and Jewish identity, Taut had to leave his homeland when Hitler and the National Socialists came to power in 1933. He first went into exile in Switzerland, then accepted an invitation from the Japanese architect Ueno Isaburo, before travelling via France, Greece, Turkey and Russia to Japan.
Leaving Germany meant his life took on a completely different direction. He stayed in Japan from 1933 to 1936, where he admired Japanese minimalism. But it was time to leave the city. His next stop was the ancient capital, Istanbul, where he died.
Darulhunun was incorporated in 1924, but was closed by Law No. 2252 enacted in July 1933. Instead, it was envisaged that a new university affiliated with the Ministry of Education would be established in Istanbul. Istanbul University opened on August 1, 1933 with a new staff and structure. The republic, which was celebrating its 100th anniversary, was then a young Turkiye Republic. The newly opened university also suffered from a shortage of trained scientists. The idea of inviting scientists who had been fired by Hitler to Turkey was presented to the Inunun government and Atatürk. The idea was well received, and in the 1933-1934 academic year, in addition to 27 local ordinary professors, 38 foreign ordinary professors joined the faculty, most of whom were appointed as directors. Almost all of these names were scientists who had had to leave Hitler’s Germany. One of them was Bruno Taut.
They were all pioneers in the development of Türkiye.
Scientists coming to Turkey were given chair positions, and in return, they were expected to reflect the quality of European education in the scientific fields to which Istanbul University belonged. Ernst Reuter, who returned to Germany after the war and became the first mayor of West Berlin, Wilhelm Röbke, a well-known professor of economics, Karl Ebert, the actor and director, Ernst Hirsch, one of the figures who brought Turkish Opera into its era, founder of the Gazi University Institute of Music and reformed legal education in Turkey. Many respected educators like Eduard Zuckmayer were saved from Nazi persecution by the open arms of Turkey.
One member of this group, Bruno Taut, began working as professor of architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts, where Leopold Levi was appointed head of the painting department and Rudolf Belling was appointed head of the sculpture department.
He was unable to sit for more than a few months.
Professor Bruno Taut stood out for his contributions to Turkey in the fields of education and architecture since 1934, and served as Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the National Academy of Fine Arts from 1936 to 1937. Taut lectured at universities, wrote books, and traveled around Anatolia to carry out projects. Although he taught in Istanbul, as an architect he participated in projects in many parts of Turkey, especially in schools. When the calendar showed the year 1938, Taut, who had been doing important work in different countries, decided to build a house for himself this time. For this house he was going to build, he chose Emin Vafi Grove in the Ortakoy district of Istanbul, where he lived happily.
Bruno Taut was something of an architectural genius when it came to the house he built. Designed in a style never before seen in Istanbul, it was influenced by Japan, where Taut lived for three years. In one of the most beautiful locations on the Bosphorus, a magnificent mansion was built that blends the lines of Japanese architecture with those of Turkish architecture.
Over time, the house became one of the most important buildings after the unique mansions on the Bosphorus due to its beauty and location. The mansion that survived to the present day was quite different, with an exterior similar to a “tower”, i.e. a Japanese temple. Also, the front part, which looks three stories because of the eaves, is actually two stories facing the sea, connected to the one-story part on land at the back. However, no matter how perfect the mansion was, the architect Bruno Taut was not able to enjoy the unique house he had so carefully built. The professor died there, at the age of 58, on December 24, 1938, shortly after it was built.
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He designed it for Ataturk a month before his death
Bruno drew the plans for the Faculty of Languages, History and Geography at Ankara University (1937), Ankara Atatürk High School (1937), İzmir Cumhuriyet Girls’ Academy (1937), Trabzon Scientific High School (1938), and Sebeci Secondary School (1938). Apart from these, Taut also created other very important designs.
When Atatürk died in Dolmabahçe Palace, his final resting place was not yet known, but it was decided that his body would be placed on top of the catafalque at the Ethnographic Museum. Prior to this, a ceremony was scheduled to take place at the Turkish Grand National Assembly, during which Atatürk’s body would be placed on the catafalque. Taut, who was entrusted with the construction of this catafalque, completed his final work for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
At the request of the authorities, Taut drew up the plans for the catafalque in just one night, on November 15, 1938. Despite his asthma, and after a hectic schedule that kept him up all night, Taut had the catafalque ready in time for the ceremony to be held at the Turkish Grand National Assembly on November 20, 1938.
He developed lung problems during the construction of the Ankara University Faculty of Languages, History and Geography, where he served as an architect. However, Taut accepted the catafalque project despite his illness. Taut was paid 1,000 lira for the catafalque project. However, Taut said that even being offered money for the job would upset him, and he asked for a small “thank you letter” that he could leave for his children in return for the work.
Due to the harsh climate of Ankara, his lung disease quickly turned into pneumonia. However, the intervention was insufficient, and Taut died two days after hospitalization, on December 24, 1938, 45 days after Ataturk. Bruno Taut’s body was buried in the Edirnekapı Martyrdom. Taut’s tombstone in the Edirnekapı Martyrdom, a Muslim cemetery, also had a mystical side. This tombstone is in the shape of a sarcophagus lid and is designed parallel to the ground. There was a mysterious footprint there. Whose footprint was this and why was it left? The answers to these questions are still unknown today.
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