Paul Schultze-Naumburg

Paul Schultze-Naumburg (Almrich, 1869 – Jena, 1949) was a German architect, painter and publicist of traditionalist leanings. He matters chiefly as a leading critic of modern architecture and for his influence on Nazi architecture.

By around 1900 he was a well-known painter and architect, more conservative than the Munich group associated with Jugendstil. His series Kulturarbeiten, nine volumes published between 1900 and 1917, was very popular with the German middle class. His best-known architectural work is the Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam (1914–1917), built on the orders of Wilhelm II for his son, the crown prince.

After the First World War, his writings took on a racial tone. In Kunst und Rasse (1928) he argued that only racially pure artists could produce a healthy art. He joined the Nazi Party in 1930, was elected to the Reichstag from 1932 and was named in the Gottbegnadeten list in 1944.