Albert Kahn

Born: 1869 | Died: 1942

Architect

Albert Kahn was born the oldest son of a rabbi in Rhaunen, a small town in the middle of a triangle between the cities Trier, Koblenz and Kaiserslautern.

Kahn immigrated to the United States in 1880, arriving in Detroit without any promise of fame or fortune. He had to take on low-paying jobs to support his family and had to drop out of school. At the age of 15 he moved on to Chicago. There he started to work, first without pay, for the architectural firm of Mason and Rice. In 1891, the young architect was awarded a scholarship for a year’s travel to Europe, which gave him the opportunity to travel to Italy, Belgium, France and back to Germany.

In 1895, Albert Kahn founded his own architectural company “Albert Kahn Associates.” Major works of his company include Ford Motor Company’s Highland Park, the Art Deco Fisher Building in Detroit as well as the General Motors Building. Kahn therefore is known as the principal architect for most of the large American automobile companies.

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