Although the history of Böttcherstraße in Bremen dates back to the Middle Ages, it was not until the 20th century redevelopments that it became a true work of art. A businessman built up the street with beautiful townhouses in the style of German Brick Expressionism. The fanciful forms of red brick combined with sculptures and reliefs create a unique monument. Unfortunately, behind the beautiful red brick lies a ‘brown’ history of a man who was very keen to please a famous… and unfulfilled watercolourist from Austria.
The New Hanseatic League
In the Middle Ages, the Böttcherstraße (Bednarska Street) was an important link between the market square and the river port of Bremen. The river Weser, which flows into the North Sea, was the main centre of transport and trade for the Hanseatic city. However, in the 19th century the port was relocated and the connecting street fell into disrepair.
This is not the end, or rather the beginning of the story of the surprising fate of Böttcherstraße. At the beginning of the 20th century, the future coffee magnate Ludwig Roselius bought a plot of land on the decaying street. In 1906. Roselius founded the Kaffee HAG company producing one of the first decaffeinated coffees. Böttcherstraße soon became its headquarters, and the owner’s growing wealth encouraged the purchase of more addresses.
After the First World War, the businessman began to demolish the Renaissance townhouses and build them from scratch. Although their facades were originally intended to refer to the bygone Hanseatic era, they are in fact not faithful reconstructions. The Roselius House is an example of an altered façade that blends in well with the rest of the brick street. Inside, the owner set up his residence and later the building was used as an art museum. Notable among the extensive collections are the famous portrait of Martin Luther by Lukas Cranach, treasures bought back by the Blackfraternity and collections of outstanding works of late medieval art. Fascinated by the Hanseatic League, Roselius wanted his museum to replicate the home of a wealthy merchant at the end of the Middle Ages.
Liquid brick
Interestingly, the Hanseatic League was not the businessman’s only passion, as his love of German Expressionism was equally strong. The modern style, which combined imaginative forms with art, broke with traditional architectural principles. In the 1920s, the first buildings representing brick expressionism appeared on Böttcherstraße. Architect Bernhard Hoetger created a building with a small dome, irregular clinker patterns and delightful details. The rounded blue windows and metal balustrades are signs of the ornate style of the 1920s, and the Bremen coat of arms held by two lions is a reference to the Hanseatic tradition of the city. According to the architect, the building was intended to be a seamless evolution of historic buildings into a modern fantasy. Interestingly, the building’s interiors are an example of organic architecture.
The building described was designed to house a museum for Paula Modersohn-Becker, the expressionist painter. Roselius collected her works and was fascinated by her modernist style. It was these modern, somewhat romantic and fairy-tale inspirations that contributed to the businessman’s subsequent interests. Unfortunately, expressionism was not his only motivation, but more about that later.
It is worth looking at examples of the street’s imaginative buildings. The House of the Seven Lazy Brothers is a combination of brick expressionism and traditional North German construction. A distinctive element of the house is the classical roof, on which sculptures of the ‘seven lazy brothers’ have been placed. In contrast, the walls of the Paula Modersohn-Becker museum described here are decorated with seven figures blended into a brick wave. These are the ‘lazy brothers’ from Friedrich Wagenfeld’s fairy tale. The Bremen-based writer presented the tale of seemingly lazy brothers who in fact invented ingenious systems to prevent flooding in the city.
Bells, Vikings and explorers
Another important building built in the 1920s is the Bells House (Haus des Glockenspiels). The Neo-Renaissance edifice is distinguished by historicising details and a carillon suspended between the pitched roofs. The instrument, consisting of 30 bells made of Meissen porcelain, plays a melody lasting more than 8.5 minutes. Interestingly, a mechanism mounted in the tower translates plaques depicting travellers, sailors and explorers. The ten plaques depict, among others: the inventor of the airship, Ferdinand von Zeppelin; the Icelandic explorers Leif Erikson and Thorfinn Karlsefni; Christopher Columbus; and the 20th century transatlantic aviators v. Hünefeld and Hermann Köhl. Although Hoetger was not the architect of the entire building, the plaques are his work. Eduard Scotland and Alfred Runge are responsible for the design of the Bell House.
At the end of the just over 100-metre-long street are two buildings that conclude the story of Roselius’ work. The Robinson Kruzoe House, standing on the left, is reminiscent of the buildings of Lower Saxony and of course of the brick expression. Noticeable are the stepped gable, the wooden bay window and the herringbone arrangement of the bricks. Interestingly, the building’s name is not just an homage to the shipwrecked sailor character created by Daniel Defoe. Kruzoe was the son of a Bremen merchant, and his adventures capture the spirit of Hanseatic aspirations.
Standing next door, Haus Atlantis is an unassuming historicist building with bay windows that conceals Roselius’ dark legacy. The building’s name refers to Atlantis, which for some Germans in the 1930s became their mythical land. According to Nazi historian Herman Wirth, Atlantis was located in the North Sea and the Germans who inhabited it led civilisation to Egypt and Mesopotamia. Roselius was fascinated by the racist myths and legends produced by the amateur NSDAP.
the “brown” truth
The myth of the Nordic origin of the Germans is reflected in many of the buildings on Böttcherstraße, and the mention of Leif Erikson and runes is no coincidence. The façade of Haus Atlantis featured pagan symbols of the Wheel of the Year, and inside stretched a mysterious tree of life. However, what stood out against the background of the occult symbols ‘explaining’ German power was the cross with the suspended figure of Christ mixed with Odin. This makes the true purpose of the Himmelssaal (heavenly hall) located upstairs all the more puzzling. The room with its two-coloured glass vaulted ceiling was a ceremonial dance hall, but the copper circle with its opening and spouting ribs is somewhat reminiscent of an altar. It is also worth mentioning that a modernist spiral-shaped staircase leads to the hall. In all this occult-Nazi madness, the faithful architect Hoetger participated.
During the depths of Nazism in Germany, Roselius wanted to please the Führer by installing a large relief above the gate leading into the street. The gold relief by Hoetger shows a woman with a sword fending off three snakes. Entitled ‘Der Lichtbringer’ (‘The Bearer of Light’), the work was intended as an analogy to Hitler’s mission. Fate would have it that Roselius’ sympathies were unrequited, as Hitler hated expressionist art and romanticised Nordic mythology. Roselius was condemned at the party congress and the entire Böttcherstraße was to be a display of pre-NSDAP ‘degenerate art’.
During the bombing of Bremen in 1944, the street suffered considerable damage. In turn, its creator had died the year before in a Berlin hotel. After the war, Böttcherstraße became an inconvenient monument from which occult-Nazi symbolism had to be weeded out. As the Nazi enthusiasts did not lose their property after the war (in due course), it was Roselius’ son who inherited the street. Over time, however, the buildings began to deteriorate, so the city bought the monument. Today the street is renovated and one looks in vain for a crucified Odin or pagan circles in it. Nowadays, the golden relief on the entrance is supposed to represent St Michael, but we must not forget who was actually behind Böttcherstraße in Bremen.
Source: Museen Boettcherstrasse
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