Frankfurt’s fitted kitchens turn 100; volunteers save parts from about 50
Frankfurt's revolutionary fitted kitchens, designed by Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky in 1926, are celebrating their 100th anniversary. Originally installed in 10,000 homes as part of a post-WWI housing program, volunteers are now working to salvage and restore parts from about 50 surviving kitchens, preserving this influential piece of design history.
Why it matters
The Frankfurt Kitchen was a groundbreaking design that significantly influenced modern kitchen layouts and addressed societal needs for efficient, affordable housing. Its preservation highlights the importance of design history and its impact on daily life.
In 1926, Frankfurt began installing a new kind of kitchen in its homes. Designed by Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, the compact, fitted kitchen used built-in cupboards, worktops and carefully arranged storage to make cooking more efficient. About 10,000 were installed across the German city. A century later, most have disappeared, but volunteers are salvaging surviving fittings and restoring some kitchens in their original homes. As reported by Architectural Digest, parts from around 50 Frankfurt Kitchens have been rescued and stored in a warehouse, as conservation specialists work to preserve the design that helped shape the modern fitted kitchen.How the Frankfurt Kitchen changed home designThe Frankfurt Kitchen was designed as part of ‘Neues Frankfurt,’ a municipal housing programme launched to address the housing shortage after World War I. Architect and urban planner Ernst May led the programme, and Schütte-Lihotzky joined his team in 1925.
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