Miksi Ludwig Mies van der Rohe vaihtoi alkuperäisen nimensä?
Ludwig Mies renamed himself as part of his transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite, adding "van der" and his mother's maiden name "Rohe" (the word "mies" means "lousy" in German) and using the Dutch "van der", because the German form "von" was a nobiliary particle legally restricted to those of genuine aristocratic lineage. He began his independent professional career designing upper-class homes. 
as part of his transformation from a tradesman's son to an architect working with Berlin's cultural elite