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Death Anniversary: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe — August 17, 1969

17 August 2027

📍 Chicago — Frank Lloyd Wright and the Birth of Modern Architecture — see the place →

Photo: Hugo Erfurth — Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Ritratto d'autore · Cultural Heritage Online

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe died in Chicago on 17 August 1969, the city where he had led the Illinois Institute of Technology and built some of his masterpieces. He left an idea of architecture reduced to essentials — few materials, exact proportions, «God is in the details» — that has shaped skylines across half the world. The anniversary marks his absolute consistency, from the brick to the skyscraper, and the legacy of the Bauhaus carried across the ocean.

Travel tips from CHO

The Smithsonian never charges

Every Smithsonian museum is free to enter, all year, with no ticket to buy. A few of the busiest in Washington ask you to reserve a free timed pass in advance, which is worth doing the week before rather than the morning of.

The Smithsonian museums →

Pick a fee-free day in the parks

Most National Park Service sites are free to visit at any time; the ones that do charge an entrance fee drop it on a handful of days each year, usually around the national holidays. The dates are set annually, so look them up before fixing your week.

This year’s fee-free days →

Arrive already connected

Maps, opening hours and tickets all need data, and roaming outside your own network still costs more than the ticket. A travel eSIM for the United States installs on your phone before you leave home and works the moment you land — no queue at the airport, no physical card to swap.

Data plans for the United States →Affiliate link — what this means

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