Dictionary
Darmstadt Art Nouveau
Next to Munich, Darmstadt was the second big Art Nouveau center in Germany. Grand duke Ernst Ludwig von Hessen und bei Rhein, a grandson of the English queen Victoria, shaped the development of arts in Darmstadt with his cosmopolitan mindset. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement, he established the Darmstadt artists' colony for the promotion of arts and crafts. In order to realize this project, he picked seven young artists in 1899 that obligated themselves to work in Hesse for three years. The grand duke's former park, called " Mathildenhöhe" was turned into the artists' home, with residences and studios.
The basic idea that the artists' colony followed was the principle of the gesamtkunstwerk. Not only architecture and interior design, but also catalogues, brochures, posters and events were subordinate to a uniform concept, which had been coined by the two great Art Nouveau personalities Joseph Maria Olbrich (1867-1908) and Peter Behrens (1868-1940).
Most buildings were made by the Austrian Olbrich, who had already made his mark with the exhibition building of the Vienna Secession and who was the grand duke's favorite artist. His main work on the "Mathildenhöhe" was the studio entrance, the Ernst-Ludwig house. The symmetry and the portal's fine geometric decorations are typical features of Vienna Art Nouveau. However, the work's harmonious elegance is somewhat impaired by the two massive sculptures "Mann" and "Weib" (Man and Woman) by Ludwig Habich.
The style of Peter Behrens from Hamburg differs from that of Olbrich in terms of the latter's airiness. His solid buildings seem austere and strict, whereas their outer simplicity contrasts the splendor inside. His residence on the "Mathildenhöhe" embodies these ideals, which he saw in connection with Nietzsche's "Zarathustra". Behrens stayed in Darmstadt for four years and made numerous furniture-, textile- and stage designs.
Other members of the group of the "Ersten Sieben" (First Seven) were Hans Christiansen, who was strongly influenced by Parisian Art Nouveau, the sculptor Ludwig Habich, Patriz Huber, who mostly made jewelry, Paul Bürck and Rudolf Bosselt. Further artists were called to Darmstadt until the colony broke up in 1914.
Next to Munich, Darmstadt was the second big Art Nouveau center in Germany. Grand duke Ernst Ludwig von Hessen und bei Rhein, a grandson of the English queen Victoria, shaped the development of arts in Darmstadt with his cosmopolitan mindset. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement, he established the Darmstadt artists' colony for the promotion of arts and crafts. In order to realize this project, he picked seven young artists in 1899 that obligated themselves to work in Hesse for three years. The grand duke's former park, called " Mathildenhöhe" was turned into the artists' home, with residences and studios.
The basic idea that the artists' colony followed was the principle of the gesamtkunstwerk. Not only architecture and interior design, but also catalogues, brochures, posters and events were subordinate to a uniform concept, which had been coined by the two great Art Nouveau personalities Joseph Maria Olbrich (1867-1908) and Peter Behrens (1868-1940).
Most buildings were made by the Austrian Olbrich, who had already made his mark with the exhibition building of the Vienna Secession and who was the grand duke's favorite artist. His main work on the "Mathildenhöhe" was the studio entrance, the Ernst-Ludwig house. The symmetry and the portal's fine geometric decorations are typical features of Vienna Art Nouveau. However, the work's harmonious elegance is somewhat impaired by the two massive sculptures "Mann" and "Weib" (Man and Woman) by Ludwig Habich.
The style of Peter Behrens from Hamburg differs from that of Olbrich in terms of the latter's airiness. His solid buildings seem austere and strict, whereas their outer simplicity contrasts the splendor inside. His residence on the "Mathildenhöhe" embodies these ideals, which he saw in connection with Nietzsche's "Zarathustra". Behrens stayed in Darmstadt for four years and made numerous furniture-, textile- and stage designs.
Other members of the group of the "Ersten Sieben" (First Seven) were Hans Christiansen, who was strongly influenced by Parisian Art Nouveau, the sculptor Ludwig Habich, Patriz Huber, who mostly made jewelry, Paul Bürck and Rudolf Bosselt. Further artists were called to Darmstadt until the colony broke up in 1914.
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