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Erich Mendelsohn was a Jewish German architect born in East Prussia in 1887. He is known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, and for developing dynamic functionalism within his projects, as well as being one of the founders of the architectural group known as Der Ring. He graduated cum laude in 1912 from Technical University of Munich where he was influenced by the architect Theodor Fischer. While in Munich, he also connected with the two major groups of expressionist artists; Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke. Mendelsohn's major projects included the Einsteiturm (Einstein Tower), an astronomical observatory built to experimentally confirm Einstein's Theory of Relativity. His personal friendship with the Herrmann hat manufacturers led to another notable project, the work hall of the Steinberg hat factory in Luckenwalde completed in 1920. Mendelsohn emigrated in 1933 to England as the anti-Semitic tendencies in Germany rose. He died in San Francisco in 1953.
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