Der Ring

Der Ring was an architectural collective founded in 1926 in

National Socialism and the increasing difficulty between Hugo Häring

and the other members, Der Ring dissolved in 1933.

In the meantime the German architects whose work follows newly discovered laws of design, have founded a new association. 'The Ring' — a figure of self-contained form without a head — unites a group of like-minded people to pursue their ideals in unison.
— The magazine Die Form in issue No. 10, 1926

Besides the search for a new beginning in building design, the members of the "Ring" were looking for new ways of building. Unlike other groups, be they of the time or before the time like the Glass Chain or the Arbeitsrat für Kunst, they did not have an elaborated programme, that would have provided them with an ideological background. The members often had different attitudes when faced with tasks. Häring and Scharoun rather followed an "organic functionalism" whereas Mies and Gropius were more interested in the possibilities of industrial building.

These different attitudes were reflected in the planning of large scale planned communities of the time, in which the members of the Ring were participating. Six members, Bartning, Forbat, Gropius, Häring, Henning und Scharoun, were part of the project of

Weißenhofsiedlung

), which was organised by Mies, who had been chairman of the Werkbund since 1926.

The driving force behind the founding of the Ring were

Novembergruppe (November-Group), which had been founded in 1918 and whose members, a collective of painters, sculptors and architects, were seeking to transpose the impulse of the November Revolution

into the arts, were also asked to take part.

On 29 May 1926, 16 of them met in the office of Mies, wrote a programme and elected Hugo Häring their secretary.

Members

Walter Curt Behrendt, Berlin ^{[citation needed]}
Richard Döcker, Stuttgart
Fred Forbát, Berlin ^{[citation needed]}
Walter Gropius, Dessau ^{[citation needed]}
Otto Haesler, Celle
P. Rudolf Henning ^{[citation needed]}
Ludwig Hilberseimer ^{[citation needed]}
Arthur Korn
Carl Krayl
Hans Luckhardt ^{[citation needed]}
Wassili Luckhardt
Ernst May ^{[citation needed]}
Adolf Meyer, Frankfurt am Main ^{[citation needed]}
Bernhard Pankok ^{[citation needed]}
Adolf Rading, Breslau
Hans Soeder, Kassel ^{[citation needed]}
Hans Scharoun, Berlin
Karl Schneider, Hamburg ^{[citation needed]}
Heinrich Tessenow ^{[citation needed]}
Martin Wagner, Berlin ^{[citation needed]}

And the nine members of the „Ring of Ten” from Berlin