`Every age has left a sign of itself in an architectural style; why has ours not worked out its own style?’ With these words in 1826 Karl Friedrich Schinkel, returning from a trip to England, stated his aim to make himself the bearer of a new national style, of an architectural culture destined to express itself in an original manner with a vocabulary and stylistic experimentation motivated by a profound ideology.

In the public buildings he made in Berlin between 1816 and 1822 Schinkel adopted a rigorous neo- Greek style involving a careful selection of certain Attic elements, with variations made in their syntactic compositions. Thus the severe colonnades - but quite often without the canonical tympanum - hide a compositional liberty that was based on functional requirements. Variations were made in the layouts of these buildings so as to better integrate the functionality of the internal spaces with those of the spaces around the building. In his designs for buildings, he was also attentive to how the building would be inserted in its urban context, while also creating a serene and controlled relationship with the natural elements. In these ways, Schinkel - without ever breaking free of stylistic codes drawn from antiquity - indicated the route to the development of modern building design through the synthetic overcoming of differences.

While Schinkel gave new identity to Berlin, Leo von Klenze, as the result of a fortunate encounter with Ludwig I of Bavaria, became the leader in the urban renewal of Munich. Klenze rigorously applied neoclassical forms to his buildings, beginning with their location in the most isolated position possible in order to best amplify their monumental nature. Along with the ‘cult of the monument, dictated by the nationalistic elation of the wars of liberation, he gave free expression to his passion for antiquity and created monumental celebrative works. The impressive Walhalla was dedicated to the spirit of the German people.