The people's houses are the "built heritage" of the social democratic labor movement. With their community buildings, they created their own "proletarian public sphere" as a counter-model to the "bourgeois public sphere." The assembly halls and organizational centers were also venues for proletarian culture, education, and socializing. At the beginning of the 20th century, the people's house played a significant role in urban planning and social discourse. It served as a projection space for a variety of community concepts. The study presents the tumultuous history of this building type against a broad historical background. The architecture of these buildings is exemplarily analyzed in the context of the architectural movements of modernity. A catalog comprising over 300 entries reconstructs the inventory of those that existed in Germany between 1890 and 1933.