Ossip Klarwein

Content

Exhibition

Klarwein

News

Projects

Contact

“I am extremely busy. I’m working on major projects: the university in Jerusalem, the central train station in Tel Aviv, the bus terminal in Jerusalem, buildings for the health fund and the labor union, a national memorial with a park — and all of it, almost entirely without assistance. One must work hard here, but the work brings a quiet kind of happiness.”

Klarwein 1954 to friends in Germany

This is the first monographic exhibition on the important architect Ossip (also: Joseph) Klarwein. His most prominent building is the Knesset, the Israeli parliament building. The exhibition is accompanied by an easily understood catalog based on academic research published in collaboration with German and Israeli authors.

Concept and curation: Jacqueline Hénard

Repsonsible institution: Aktives Museum Faschismus und Widerstand in Berlin e.V. (Active Museum Fascism and Resistance in Berlin e.V.)

Aktives Museum

Sponsors:

Exhibition

The first monographic exhibition on the important 20-century architect Ossip Klarwein opens in Berlin on June 19, 2025 at 6 pm. The venue is the spectacular Kirche Am Hohenzollernplatz, designed by Klarwein.

Klarwein was already a representative of the avant-garde as chief architect of brick expressionist Fritz Höger – who was world famous at the time – and, after emigrating in 1933, had a decisive influence on the architecture of the young state of Israel. Despite this, his work is still not widely known today. The exhibition presents the most important of his more than 100 projects and illustrates his influence on modern architecture.



Prominent designs in Germany

Town Hall Rüstringen/Wilhelmshaven, State Lyceum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Konsumzentrale Leipzig, Kirche Am Hohenzollernplatz Berlin.



Architectural work during the Britsh Mandate

Residential buildings in Haifa, commercial buildings, cemeteries and graves. Mount Scopus master plan.



Freelance architect and urban planner in the young state of Israel

In Haifa, Nahariya, Ramat Gan, Tiberias, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Architect of the iconic Dagon Silos in Haifa and numerous government buildings in Jerusalem: ministry buildings, Knesset parliament building, National Stadium, Hebrew University with University Hospital.

Klarwein info sculpture Kirche Am Hohehzollernplatz

Highlights of the exhibition

Replica of the model of Klarwein’s lost competition design for the Knesset
Interactive 3D modeling of Klarwein’s original design for the Kirche Am Hohenzollernplatz
“Eli Singalovski photographs Klarwein” – photographic essay and installations by the internationally renowned architectural photographer and visual artist



Exhibition

Kirche Am Hohenzollernplatz
Nassauische Straße 66
10717 Berlin-Wilmersdorf



June 19 to October 16, 2025

Opening hours:
Mon + Thu 4-6pm, Wed 11am-1pm, Sat 1pm-3pm
Guided tours every Thursday at 6pm (no need to book)



Free admission

Information about the catalog

“Ossip Klarwein – From God’s power station to the Knesset”

With contributions by authors in Germany, Great Britain, Israel and the United States, Dortmund (Kettler Verlag), 2025

160 pages, numerous color illustrations, bilingual (D/E) | ISBN: German 978-3-98741-197-7 | English 978-3-98741-198-4 | Price: 34 € in bookstores / 25 € in museum

Editor and curator: Jacqueline Hénard

Buy catalog - Bookstore

Buy catalog - Publisher (DE/EN)

Ossip Klarwein

Warsaw 1893 – Jerusalem 1970

Childhood and formative years

First years of life in the world of bourgeois Warsaw Jewry. 1905: Fled from anti-Semitic pogroms to Hesse. Attended the Mainz School of Arts and Crafts. From 1921 master student of Hans Poelzig in Berlin, worked in various architectural offices

1893 – 1926

Chief architect at Höger

Numerous competitions, including many church buildings. Design of the Hamburg-Eppendorf Lyceum, Rüstringen-Wilhelmshaven town hall, Konsumzentrale Leipzig, Kirche Am Hohenzollernplatz, etc.

1926 – 1933

A new beginning in British Mandate Palestine

Lecturer at the Technion Haifa. Buildings for private clients and foundations, mainly in Haifa and Nahariya, and from 1940 also for the British administration. Symbolically important gravesites and cemeteries

1933 – 1948

Freelance architect and urban planner in Israel

Appointed city architect of Jerusalem from 1948, master plans for the government district and the Hebrew University, among others. Tomb of Theodor Herzl, Knesset parliament building, Dagon Silos in Haifa

1948 – 1970

Private life

Klarwein was married twice. His son Matthias, known as Mati, came from his first marriage to the Protestant opera singer Martha Elsa Kumme. Mati Klarwein became a world-famous psychedelic painter whose pictures were used as artwork for record covers by Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis, among others

News

April 26, 2025 | Unveiling of the info sculpture in Berlin

The multi-faced installation is more than just a large-format exhibition poster. It provides information about the construction history of the Kirche Am Hohenzollernplatz and its two architects, Fritz Höger from Hamburg and his chief architect, Ossip Klarwein.

June 19, 2025 | Opening of the exhibition in Berlin

The first monographic exhibition on the life and work of the important architect Ossip (also: Joseph) Klarwein will open in Berlin on June 19, 2025. The venue is the monumental Kirche Am Hohenzollernplatz designed by Klarwein.

16. November 2025 | Eröffnung der Ausstellung im Ernst Barlach Haus in Hamburg

Barlach House

Information will follow

Projects

Eli Singalovski | Photographer

The young Hamburg-based Israeli architectural photographer and installation artist Eli Singalovski has photographed Klarwein’s most important buildings for the exhibition.

Film project by students

For two semesters, 24 international students from Tel Aviv University prepared short documentary films about Klarwein’s most important buildings in Israel. They are an integral part of the exhibition. (Link to YouTube follows)

Memorial plaque for Ossip Klarwein

A plaque providing information about Klarwein’s life will be installed at his long-time home in Joachim-Friedrich-Straße in Berlin-Charlottenburg.

Info sculpture Kirche Am Hohenzollernplatz

In the run-up to the exhibition, an illustrated installation at Hohenzollernplatz in Berlin provides information about the architectural history of the iconic church building, which was designed by Klarwein while serving as chief architect in the office of the then world-renowned Hamburg master builder Fritz Höger.

"Stolperstein" for Klarwein's sister Bronislawa

A “Stumbling Stone” in memory of Klarwein’s younger sister Bronislawa will be laid in front of her long-time home at Motzstraße 15 in Berlin-Schöneberg. She lived there from 1931 until her deportation to Theresienstadt and Auschwitz in 1944.

Ossip Klarwein in 1947 with his model for a university building

Dagon, grain silo in Haifa

Eli Singalovski

West portal of the Kirche on Hohenzollernplatz

Eli Singalovski

The Chilehaus from 1924 made Fritz Höger an attractive employer for ambitious architects such as Klarwein

From April 26, 2025, an illustrated installation on Hohenzollernplatz in Berlin will provide information about the construction history of the striking church, which Klarwein designed as chief architect in the office of the then world-famous Hamburg master builder Fritz Höger

Launch of the film project with students from Tel Aviv University. The lecturer is the prominent documentary filmmaker Ran Tal.

"Until now, I knew very little about the history of my father's side of the family. I have already learned a lot about my roots through Jacqueline Hénard's impressive work. That is why I am actively supporting the project with great personal interest. The research has brought to light the existence of unknown family members, their lives and tragic fates. Now I have a feeling of connection with a past. I am convinced that the story of Ossip Klarwein is of public interest beyond his architectural legacy. His life reflects a complex destiny with many paradoxes and conflicts that people are still confronted with today."

Balthazar Josef Klarwein, director, Barcelona

"As a historically aware architect, I am very happy to support the initiative for a biographical exhibition about Ossip Klarwein. The architect of the Knesset is hardly known in Germany, although he lived here until the age of 40, studied in Berlin as a master student of Hans Poelzig and later worked for seven years as chief architect to the then world-famous Fritz Höger. The examination of Klarwein's character, his position in Höger's Hamburg office and their friendly relationship also promises to shed new light on Höger. How did the formal language of North German Brick Expressionism continue to influence Klarwein's work in Israel after his emigration in 1933? This will also be shown in the exhibition."

Volkwin Marg, founding partner of gmp Partner, Hamburg

"Joseph Klarwein was one of the most important architects in Israel, probably the most important for us in Jerusalem, as his work defined the face of the new capital of Israel like no other. He came here with the German Aliyah in 1933 as a master student of Hans Pölzig. In addition to private houses, he built representative functional buildings all over the country [...] in Haifa Beth Hakranoth and the landmark of the lower city, the "Dagon" silos, in Tel Aviv the main train station [...] in Jerusalem, among others the tomb of Theodor Herzl and buildings of the university [...] His architectural masterpiece, however, is not the new building, but the conversion of the Schockenhaus into the Rubin Music Academy. [Klarwein] has really succeeded in preserving the beauty of Mendelsohn's building, and yet [...] has created a work of a special kind. He was an honorary member of the Académie d'Architecture Française."

Heinrich Strauss, art historian, in his obituary for Ossip Klarwein in October 1970