Robinson Crusoe House

The Robinson - Crusoe -Haus in Bremen Böttcherstrasse No. 1 and Martini Road No. 19 was built in 1931 according to the preliminary draft of Ludwig Roselius as the last house on the street. It is one of the most interesting contemporary German architecture of the interwar period and is since 1973 under monument protection.

History

At the south end Böttcherstrasse (formerly Bötticherstraße ) were around 1900 several two-story eaves constant, small warehouses, which were demolished at the disrepair Böttcherstrasse around 1921 as part of the new development. The coffee merchant and founder of the company Kaffee HAG Ludwig Roselius initiated before the First World War, the purchase of the first land. He had the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and the build-official bodies of the city convinced the early 1920s, with the plan to give rise to artists and small artisans with studios, shops and apartments in the vicinity of the market place in accordance with the North German building tradition a small colony. After the further north lying land had already built the two houses could be dedicated to Martinistraße 1931. With the gable fronts to Martinistraße closed the Robinson Crusoe House (left ) and the House Atlantis the building of the road to the south.

Until 1944, many premises of Robinson Crusoe house served the Club to Bremen for his meeting. The oldest social club in Germany was built in 1931 by the merger of the Bremen company founded in 1783 and the company museum. In addition to the club rooms ( dining room, bar area, and Scotland- room ) there was also a Vogeler room on the second floor, in the nine paintings exemplified Heinrich Vogeler represented artistic development. The hall on the ground floor initially used for the presentation of the Kaba cocoa drink that was invented by Ludwig Roselius.

In October 1944, incendiary bombs destroyed almost the entire Böttcherstrasse. The building has been restored to 1954 by the Kaffee HAG mostly in their original condition.

Today, visitors can see the history in the stairwell of the house on carved wooden panels. This emerged in the course of reconstruction in 1954 and were designed by Theodor Schultz- Walbaum.

1979 sold Ludwig Roselius jun. the Kaffee HAG together Böttcherstrasse at General Foods in 1981 and the repurchase of the Böttcherstrasse. 1989 bought the Sparkasse Bremen to the house Atlantis, the entire road, including their buildings. In 2004, the Böttcherstrasse in the Bremer Foundation saver Thanks over. It is operated by the Böttcherstrasse GmbH, a subsidiary of the financial holding company of the Sparkasse in Bremen.

There are in this house, the Crusoe - hall, are shown in temporary exhibitions as well as offices and homes (as of 2014).

Name

The fictional character Robinson Crusoe, the novel by Daniel Defoe 1719 chose Roselius, symbolizing the Hanseatic zest for action and a pioneering spirit. Moreover, Crusoe was the son of emigrated to England and then Hull ( York) Bremen merchant named Kreutzner who came there to prosperity. In English way of speaking the name Cruseo was formed at Robinson Kreutzner, so to read at the beginning of the novel.

Building

For the Robinson Crusoe House Roselius had delivered the preliminary design. His house architect Charles of consecration attacked the sketchy little drawing of Roselius "excited" to. Daughter Hildegard Roselius writes: "Together the two friends designed the house as it was newly formed again today. " The detailed elaboration took over the building department for the Böttcherstrasse led by consecration. Roselius designed a system modeled partly on more conventional, historic Lower Saxony house designs with a modern and more expressionistic stepped gables. The daughter said: " I ​​can still see before me today, this sketch, a torn leaf of a notebook. And I can still see the gables grow up under the hands of my father. [ ... ] He drew the gable as high as his sense of proportion allowed him. Then he finished the drawing with a vigorous stroke. [ ... ] In this Querstrichlag his whole being. Controlled energy, will, clarity and a sense of a balanced level " The stepped gable to Martinistraße takes in the new version of old design elements of Bremen gabled houses, and divided the gable by large-sized windows with small-scale sprouting. This gable was significantly more stringent in its original version from 1931, when the gable after 1954.

Like all buildings on Böttcherstrasse characterize the red brick facades. The house Atlantis the common arcade motif is taken, each with a thick, round column and the entrance to Böttcherstrasse thus marked on both sides.

Interior Design and Art

The interior designed, the architects Alfred Runge and Eduard Scotland, who had already designed two other houses in the Böttcherstrasse.

The equipment of the house was lost. As the rest have the staircase wooden panels depicting scenes from the story of Robinson Crusoe, get carved and colored by Theodore Schultz- Walbaum.

Remarkably, the products manufactured by Bernhard Hoetger twelve colored stained-glass windows from 1926 on the ground floor and the bronze figures silver lion, the day are supporting and Panthers, the night in foal to 1912.