In 1936 Behrens was called from Vienna to conduct a Master class in architecture, in succession to Hans Poelzig, at the Prussian Academy of Arts (now the Akademie der Künste) in Berlin, reportedly with the specific approval of Hitler. Behrens became associated with Hitler's urbanistic dreams for Berlin with the commission for the new headquarters of the AEG on Albert Speer's famous planned north-south axis. Speer reported that his selection of Behrens for this commission was rejected by the powerful Alfred Rosenberg, but that his decision was supported by Hitler who admired Behrens's Saint Petersburg Embassy. Behrens and the academy helped his cause by reporting to the Ministry that Behrens had joined the then illegal Nazi party in Austria on May Day of 1934. The vast AEG building with its marshalled fenestrations and detailing, like the project of which it was a part, was not built. Behrens died in Hotel Bristol in Berlin on 27 February 1940, while seeking refuge there from the cold of his country estate.[2]