This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
The Walter Curt Behrendt papers are composed primarily of lectures and writings.
Series I: Faculty Papers contains papers related to Behrendt's career at Dartmouth College, including attendance cards, a grade book, examinations and a proposal for a class on building types from the Middle Ages to the present. The series also includes drafts of a letter explaining how Behrendt believes architects should be educated.
Series II: Lectures contains scripts, notes and slide lists of lectures Behrendt gave at Dartmouth College, Princeton University, Wheaton College and talks he gave in Germany. Most of the lectures are annotated. The majority of the lectures deal with the development of cities, city planning, regional planning, modern architecture, housing, transportation and zoning. The lectures cover the history of architecture from antiquity through the 1940s, including Greek, Rome, the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Art Nouveau Movement, and the International Style.
Series III: Personal Papers contains two letters from the contractor W.H. Trumbull regarding the construction of Behrendt's house. It also contains a letter from J. F. Schoellkopf, Jr. regarding the National Recreation Association. The series also contains biographical information, which lists Walter Curt Behrendt's education, civil service work in Prussia and Germany, and his career after he emigrated to the US in 1934.
Series IV: Writings contains annotated manuscripts by Behrendt covering city planning, modern architecture and housing. There are essays on organic forms, Frank Lloyd Wright, Japanese houses, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the New Spirit of Building and the Origin of the Spirit of Modern Architecture. Subseries 2: Articles primarily contains articles on urban reconstruction and German architecture and architects such as, Alfred Messels, Hans Grisebach, and Hans Poelzig. Subseries 3: Book Reviews contains reviews written by Behrendt. Behrendt reviewed books by Lewis Mumford, Herman Kobbe and Henry-Russell Hitchcock.
1910-1945
This collection is arranged in five series: Biographical Information, Faculty Papers, Lectures, Personal Papers, and Writings.
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Permission to publish must be obtained in writing from the Director, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, 1172 Amsterdam Ave., MC 0301, New York, NY 10027.
Walter Curt Behrendt papers, 1910-1945. Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
Accession number--1969.006.
Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Processed; Kerri Pfister 2011.
2011-03-02 File created.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Walter Curt Behrendt was born December 16, 1884 in Metz, Alsace and died in April 26, 1945 in Norwich, Vermont. From 1912-1933, Behrendt worked in Civil Service in Germany shaping public housing policy, the principles of lay-out and development. Behrendt emigrated to the United States in 1934 and became a Visiting Lecturer in Housing and City Planning at Dartmouth College, 1934-1937. In 1937-1941, Behrendt was a Professor of City Planning and Housing at the University at Buffalo, SUNY and returned to Dartmouth in 1941.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
contains papers related to Behrendt's career at Dartmouth College, including attendance cards, a grade book, examinations and a proposal for a class on building types from the Middle Ages to the present. The series also includes drafts of a letter explaining how Behrendt believes architects should be educated.
Box 01 Folder 02
Includes attendance cards, grade book, examinations, and proposed courses
Box 01 Folder 03
contains scripts, notes and slide lists of lectures Behrendt gave at Dartmouth College, Princeton University, Wheaton College and talks he gave in Germany. Most of the lectures are annotated. The majority of the lectures deal with the development of cities, city planning, regional planning, modern architecture, housing, transportation and zoning. The lectures cover the history of architecture from
Box 01 Folder 04
Box 01 Folder 05
Box 01 Folder 06
Box 01 Folder 07
Box 01 Folder 08
Box 01 Folder 10
Box 01 Folder 09
Includes a broadside for the Washington Square Neighbors Petition with an annotation
Box 01 Folder 11
Box 01 Folder 12
Box 01 Folder 13
Includes newspaper clippings
Box 01 Folder 14
Box 01 Folder 15
Lecture given by Clarence S. Stein at the University of Miami, January 15, 1945
Box 01 Folder 16
Box 01 Folder 17
Box 01 Folder 18
Box 01 Folder 19
Lecture is in German
Box 01 Folder 20
Lecture is in German
Box 02 Folder 01
Box 02 Folder 02
Includes copy of the Program Vereinigung für staatswissenschaftliche Fortbilding zu Berlin
Box 02 Folder 03
Box 02 Folder 04
Box 02 Folder 05
Box 02 Folder 06
Box 02 Folder 07
Box 02 Folder 08
Box 02 Folder 09
Box 02 Folder 10
Box 02 Folder 11
Includes clippings from newspapers
contains two letters from the contractor W.H. Trumbull regarding the construction of Behrendt's house. It also contains a letter from J. F. Schoellkopf, Jr. regarding the National Recreation Association. The series also contains biographical information, which lists Walter Curt Behrendt's education, civil service work in Prussia and Germany, and his career after he emigrated to the US in 1934.
Box 01 Folder 01
Box 02 Folder 12
Includes letters from a contractor regarding a house, a letter regarding the National Recreation Association and a letter containing a bibliography of books on the growth of Buffalo, NY
Box 02 Folder 13
Contains two reports from the American Institute of Architects, one on the Committee on Economics of Site-Planning and Housing and one on the Committee on Community Planning; and a pamphlet "Between Ourselves" issued by the Publicity Department of the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
contains annotated manuscripts by Behrendt covering city planning, modern architecture and housing.
Box 02 Folder 14
Box 02 Folder 15
Box 02 Folder 16
Box 02 Folder 17
Box 02 Folder 18
Box 02 Folder 19
Box 02 Folder 20
Box 02 Folder 21
Box 02 Folder 22
Box 02 Folder 23
Box 02 Folder 24
Box 02 Folder 25 to 26
Box 03 Folder 01
Box 03 Folder 02
Box 03 Folder 03
Box 03 Folder 04
Box 03 Folder 05
Box 03 Folder 06
Box 03 Folder 07
Box 03 Folder 08
Box 03 Folder 09
Box 03 Folder 10
Box 03 Folder 11
Box 03 Folder 12
Box 03 Folder 13
Box 03 Folder 14
Box 03 Folder 15
Box 03 Folder 16
Box 03 Folder 17
Box 03 Folder 18
Box 03 Folder 19
Box 03 Folder 20
Box 03 Folder 21
Box 03 Folder 22
Box 03 Folder 23
Box 03 Folder 24
Box 03 Folder 25
Box 03 Folder 26
Box 03 Folder 27
Box 03 Folder 28
Box 03 Folder 29