Zollverein architecture past and present
The Zollverein Unesco World Heritage Site, built by architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer, is an outstanding example of the use of a Bauhaus design concept in an overall industrial context. This new objective architecture, which was influenced by Bauhaus, is presented in the context of the architecture of the modern era on this guided tour.
New objectivity, Bauhaus and the Zollverein architecture
The new objective architecture of the central shaft systems of Zollverein XII, which was influenced by Bauhaus ideas, not only won the Zeche Zollverein colliery the reputation as being the “most beautiful colliery in the world”, but was also the basis, in 2001, for the decision by Unesco to include the Zollverein colliery and smelting works in the list of world heritage sites as the “Zeche Zollverein industrial complex”. The special guided tour sets the new objective Zollverein architecture in the context of the architecture of the modern era, while also focussing on the influence of the Bauhaus on the building complexes of the Schachtanlage XII shaft system.
Folkwang idea and Bauhaus100
While the Folkwang idea originated in Hagen, with the death of the collector Karl Ernst Osthaus and the relocation of his collection to Essen, it became the “Folkwang city”. Buildings still stand in testimony to the Folkwang idea today, and show personal interconnections between Folkwang and the Bauhaus. Important names are: Otto Bartning, Hannes Meyer, Josef Albers and Oskar Schlemmer.
Well-known architects such as Georg Metzendorf, Edmund Körner, Fritz Schupp, Martin Kremmer and Otto Bartning left a large number of impressive architectural monuments in Essen. The architectural highlights passed during the bus tour include the Zeche Zollverein Unesco World Heritage Site by architects Schupp and Kremmer, and the resurrection church designed as a round structure by Otto Bartning.
Modern-era architecture in Essen
Whether as a digital guide or a guided tour, on the “Architekturroute der Moderne” (“Architecture route of the modern era”), visitors can discover former and still existent buildings from the 1920s and 1930s and obtain background information on the locations and important individuals. The focus is on the connection with the Folkwang idea and the Werkbund and Bauhaus concepts.
Werkbund, Bauhaus, new objectivity!? – Architecture of the modern era in Essen
The focus of the guided tour is on the “new objectivity” style and on architects who have a biographical or artistic connection to the Bauhaus, the Werkbund and Folkwang. Relevant buildings such as the Zeche Zollverein Unesco World Heritage Site and important locations such as the former site of the Villa Henke by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe are included on the tour.
Margarethenhöhe colony in Essen
In 1906, work began on the construction of the Margarethenhöhe colony in the south of Essen, founded by Margarethe Krupp. The aim was to create low-cost housing for employees and staff of the Krupp Group. It was designed by the architect Georg Metzendorf. Visitors can book various tours through the colony, into a sample apartment and the “Small studio building”.
Bauhaus vordenken: the history of the Osthaus Museum
The Museum Folkwang, which was founded in Hagen by Karl Ernst Osthaus in 1902, quickly became famous as the first museum worldwide for contemporary and modern art. In the interior rooms designed in the art nouveau style by Henry van de Velde, works of art from different eras and cultural circles were organically presented together. Osthaus not only pursued the goal of merging art with life with this unusual exhibition concept. The Osthaus Museum collections offer an insight into different aspects of the museum’s history.
Bauhaus vordenken: Hohenhof and Stirnband
the patron of the arts and cultural reformer Karl Ernst Osthaus had inaugurated his private Museum Folkwang in Hagen, he founded the Hohenhagen artists colony in 1906. Osthaus arranged for the house in which he lived, the Hohenhof, to be built by the Belgian artist and architect Henry van de Velde, who also designed the interior. On the “Am Stirnband” road, the Dutch architect J.L.M. Lauweriks built nine houses based on a system principle that he himself had developed. A public guided tour leads to the former building where Osthaus lived and to the houses on the Stirnband.
A model standard for worker colonies: the Riemerschmid House
In around 1907, the Hagen textile workers would see their dreams come true in the form of a separate, small house with a vegetable garden. In 1905, Karl Ernst Osthaus brought the participants of a conference on “worker welfare facilities” to Hagen and as a result was able to procure a building order for the artist and architect Richard Riemerschmid. From 1907, he began building the “Walddorf colony”, with eleven houses. During the public guided tour through house no. 17, visitors gain an insight into the lives of the workers during this time.
Gropius’ architectural model: the prayer house by Eduard Müller
The first crematorium facility in Prussia was built in Hagen, by Peter Behrens, who later became world-famous as the AEG designer, who was a trainer, pioneer and model for many participants in the Bauhaus movement. During the guided tours on Wednesday, there is a circular walk, after the visit to the prayer house, to the graves of well-known figures, such as the politician Eugen Richter.
Objectification in cemetery culture - the Buschey cemetery
From historicism to art nouveau to the modern era - each period has left its traces in the cemetery, which was officially opened in 1810. Some graves are even of great artistic value, such as those designed by Georges Minnes and J.L.M. Lauweriks.