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Architectural criticism as cultural criticism (“Kulturkritik”) and professional criticism (“Fachkritik”). A case study on the example of Werner HegemannDetlef Jessen-Klingenberg,Independent ScholarArchitectural criticism at the beginning of the 20th century can be considered as a facet of the more comprehensive term of cultural critique (“Kulturkritik”) which accompanied modernity from its very beginnings – especially in Germany and Austria. From this point of view architectural criticism unveils its own characteristics that differ clearly from architectural theory: it oscillates with multiple cultural references between tradition and modernity and often rejects explicitly any theoretical foundations.In order to understand architectural criticism as cultural criticism it is necessary to take a closer look at recent historical and literary studies. In those disciplines it is essential « to understand concepts, functions, and forms of critiques historically, and to refer to concrete situations. » This means necessarily that one has to leave any attempt of a normative definition of criticism behind in order to examine instead significant case studies in detail.The most brilliant and most feared critic of architecture in the German-speaking Countries”, as the architect J.J.P. Oud put it, was Werner Hegemann (1881-1936). With numerous scandals his writing about architecture had been successful in so far as it seemed to breach against all the rules of a serious criticism. Furthermore, in his time, critique in literature, film or theatre proclaimed the role of the critic as an active and „pragmatic professional critic”. According to this concept, the professional critic considered himself as a practical consultant who directed his critique primarily to the author or producer rather than towards the recipient. Actively becoming involved, the critic wanted to contribute to the emergence of a new social program and aesthetic vocabulary. This attitude, hardly conceivably today, has been broadly accepted by architects of Hegemann’s time. One architect even changed the design of his own house after having been criticized by Hegemann – something unheard of in recent architectural history!Finally: « criticism » and « crisis » are related, not only etymologically. During most of the 20th century, criticism of literature and art seemed, like architectural criticism, to be determined by the same underlying concept of decay. From this point of view crisis is an inherent part of the criticism as an accompanying phenomenon of modernity.&#160;Detlef Jessen-Klingenberg holds a Diplom in Architecture at Technische Universität Braunschweig (1999). From 1999 to 2008 he has been a research and teaching fellow at Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture and Urbanism (gtas) Technische Universität Braunschweig. From 2009 to 2014 he was lecturer at Hochschule Bremen, School of Architecture. Since 2015 he works as architectural historian in the public-relation-office at „gmp Architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners“, His research and teaching focus on history and theory of architecture and urbanism of 19th and 20th century.