Introduction ; at the school of Bruno Paul and Peter Behrens ; the Riehl house and early domestic projects

Born in Aachen in 1886, the young Ludwig Mies was exposed early on to the Carolingian architecture of the Palatine Chapel and trained in building techniques. Although he had no formal training, from 1908 he worked in Berlin with the architect Bruno Paul, then with Peter Behrens, who designed numerous projects for AEG and introduced him to the buildings of Karl-Friedrich Schinkel. The house he built for Aloïs Riehl in 1910 won him critical acclaim and further commissions for residences in the suburbs of the capital, while he also took part in the competition for the Bismarck memorial in Bingen.