Research Profile

Through his research, more than 150 exhibitions and over 400 publications, Winfried Nerdinger has shaped architectural history and public debate on architecture, remembrance culture and the history of National Socialism for decades. His scholarly work focuses on the architecture of Classicism and Historicism, international Modernism, architecture during the National Socialist period, and the reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War.

After studying architecture at the Technical University of Munich, he received his doctorate in art history. In 1986, he was appointed to a chair in architectural history established specifically for him at TUM. As Director of the TUM Architecture Museum, he developed its collections into one of Germany’s most important specialist and research archives for architecture. When the museum moved into the Pinakothek der Moderne in 2002, TUM gained an internationally visible venue for architecture, research and public engagement. Visiting professorships and guest lectures have taken him, among other places, to Harvard University, the University of Helsinki, McGill University in Montreal, the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou and, in 2024, TU Wien.

A further focus of his scholarly work is the critical examination of the history of National Socialism. From the 1980s onwards, Winfried Nerdinger advocated the establishment of an NS Documentation Centre in Munich. As its initiator and founding director, he guided the project from its initial conception to its opening in 2015 and led the institution until 2018.

Since his retirement, Winfried Nerdinger has continued to serve in prominent scholarly and public roles. He has been President of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts since 2019. At the Technical University of Munich, he also assumes key responsibilities relating to historical responsibility, as Chair of the Commission for the Further Examination of the National Socialist Past at TUM and as the University’s Commissioner for Antisemitism. Through his publications, lectures and exhibitions, he continues to make important contributions to architectural and contemporary history. His recent publications include widely noted works on Munich and National Socialism, Walter Gropius, the Bauhaus, architecture in Germany and, most recently, Le Corbusier.

Academic Career

Memberships and Functions

• Associate Member of the Association of German Architects (BDA)
• President of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums (1989–1994)
• Member of the Board of Directors of the Pinakothek der Moderne (2002–2012)
• Director of the Department of Visual Arts at the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts (2004–2019)
• President of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts (since 2019)
• Chair of the Alvar Aalto Society, Munich (since 2006)

• Member of Academia Europaea (since 2015)

   

Exhibitions (Selection)

• Frei Otto – Leicht bauen, natürlich gestalten (2005)
• Ort und Erinnerung – Nationalsozialismus in München (2006–2007)
• Architektur wie sie im Buche steht. Fiktive Bauten und Städte in der Literatur (2006–2007)
• Geschichte der Rekonstruktion – Konstruktion der Geschichte (2010)
• L’architecture engagée – Manifeste zur Veränderung der Gesellschaft (2012)

• Der Architekt – Geschichte und Gegenwart eines Berufsstandes (2012–2013)

   

Awards

• Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (2002)
• Architecture Prize of the City of Munich (2006)
• Gold Medal “München leuchtet”, Cultural Prize of the City of Munich (2006)
• Leo von Klenze Medal of the Supreme Building Authority at the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior (2009)
• Bavarian Architecture Prize and Bavarian State Prize for Architecture (2011)
• Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2017)
• “Bene Merito” Honorary Medal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland (2017)

Key publications

• Nerdinger W: Le Corbusier – Architekt, Künstler, Visionär. München: C. H. Beck, 2026.
• Nerdinger W: Recherchen Reflexionen Positionen. Studien zur Architektur- und Kulturgeschichte. Hrsg. von Wilhelm Vossenkuhl. München: Prestel, 2024.
• Nerdinger W: Architektur in Deutschland im 20. Jahrhundert. Geschichte, Gesellschaft, Funktionen. München: C. H. Beck, 2023.
• Nerdinger W, Vossenkuhl W (Hrsg.): Otl Aicher – Designer. Typograf. Denker.München: Prestel, 2022.
• Nerdinger W: Walter Gropius. Architekt der Moderne. München: C. H. Beck, 2019.
• Herrmann WA, Nerdinger W (Hrsg.): Die Technische Hochschule München im Nationalsozialismus: TUM.University Press, 2018.
• Nerdinger W: Das Bauhaus. Werkstatt der Moderne. München: C. H. Beck, 2018.
• Nerdinger W, Hockerts HG, Krauss M, Longerich P, Grdanjski M, Eisen M (Hrsg.): München und der Nationalsozialismus. Katalog des NS-Dokumentationszentrums München. München: C. H. Beck, 2015.
• Nerdinger W (Hrsg.): Der Architekt. Geschichte und Gegenwart eines Berufsstandes. 2 Bände. München: Prestel, 2012.
• Nerdinger W (Hrsg.): Geschichte der Rekonstruktion – Konstruktion der Geschichte. München: Prestel, 2010.
• Nerdinger W (Hrsg.): 100 Jahre Deutscher Werkbund 1907–2007. München: Prestel, 2007.
• Nerdinger W (Hrsg.): Frei Otto – Das Gesamtwerk. Leicht bauen – natürlich gestalten. Basel/München: Birkhäuser, 2005.
• Nerdinger W (Hrsg.): Leo von Klenze. Architekt zwischen Kunst und Hof 1784–1864. München: Prestel, 2000.
• Nerdinger W: Bauen im Nationalsozialismus. Bayern 1933–1945. München: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1993.
• Nerdinger W: Bauhaus-Moderne im Nationalsozialismus. München: Prestel, 1993.