Hellerau Photo Gallery
Around the neighborhood
From: "Grand Tour of Modernism" https://www.grandtourofmodernism.com/sites/details/55/
Construction: 1909-1911 Richard Riemerschmidt
Hellerau, located in the northern part of Dresden, was Germany’s first garden city. It was created, beginning in 1909, based on the English model. The furniture manufacturer and Werkbund co-founder Karl Schmidt planned to create a housing estate alongside his new “Dresdner Werkstätten für Handwerkskunst” (Dresden Workshops for Crafts). Influenced by the idea of social reform, he wanted to unite living with work, culture and education. The architects and Werkbund members Richard Riemerschmid, Hermann Muthesius and Heinrich Tessenow were just some of those whose designs were built.
Endowed with ample space and greenery, the new housing development was to provide an alternative to crowded living in the city. With his plans, Karl Schmidt was following the idea of the British reformer Ebenezer Howard, who, in 1898, had developed the garden city model as a way to counteract the poor conditions in England’s rapidly growing big cities.
As an experimental testing ground for modern urban planning, Hellerau featured different types of residential typologies and styles. Richard Riemerschmid designed the master plan, with its clearly structured neighbourhoods and generously dimensioned curving streets. He also designed the workshop buildings, the shopping centre on the market square and the terraced houses with standardised small dwelling units. They were rural in character, with mullioned windows, coloured shutters and half-timbering. More small dwellings, a school, various ancillary buildings and a villa district with about 20 country houses followed, built according to plans by Muthesius, Tessenow and other architects.
In 1934, a group of houses along the street Am Sonnenhang was presented to the public as a showground whose name, “Die neue Zeit”, proclaimed “the new age”. Wilhelm Kreis, Oswin Hempel and Eugen Schwemmle designed the wooden houses, whose appointments were manufactured in the workshops, in accordance with Wilhelm Jost’s overall plan for the model development.
In 1911, Heinrich Tessenow built the Hellerau Festival Theatre and adjoining teachers’ houses and student dormitories in the German reform architecture style. The educational establishment based there, the Bildungsanstalt für Rhythmische Gymnastik – an academy of eurhythmics – became a magnet for reform enthusiasts from all over Europe.
Hellerau was not a company housing estate, but a small town in the countryside where workers, businessmen and commoners lived together on a communal basis. Just a few years after its foundation stone was laid, the garden city already had nearly 2,000 residents. Once an independent suburb, Hellerau became a district of Dresden in 1950. As an important built testament to urban planning and design, it is protected as a historic monument. [KS/DK]
PDF of history as published by European Centre for the Arts Dresden: https://static.hellerau.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-07-14_downloadhistory_hellerau.pdf
Further Links:
The History of Deutsche Werkstatten: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Werkst%C3%A4tten_Hellerau
Images of Furniture from the 50s: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Deutsche_Werkst%C3%A4tten_Hellerau
Images of Furniture just before Re-unification:
Construction: 1909-1911 Richard Riemerschmidt
Hellerau, located in the northern part of Dresden, was Germany’s first garden city. It was created, beginning in 1909, based on the English model. The furniture manufacturer and Werkbund co-founder Karl Schmidt planned to create a housing estate alongside his new “Dresdner Werkstätten für Handwerkskunst” (Dresden Workshops for Crafts). Influenced by the idea of social reform, he wanted to unite living with work, culture and education. The architects and Werkbund members Richard Riemerschmid, Hermann Muthesius and Heinrich Tessenow were just some of those whose designs were built.
Endowed with ample space and greenery, the new housing development was to provide an alternative to crowded living in the city. With his plans, Karl Schmidt was following the idea of the British reformer Ebenezer Howard, who, in 1898, had developed the garden city model as a way to counteract the poor conditions in England’s rapidly growing big cities.
As an experimental testing ground for modern urban planning, Hellerau featured different types of residential typologies and styles. Richard Riemerschmid designed the master plan, with its clearly structured neighbourhoods and generously dimensioned curving streets. He also designed the workshop buildings, the shopping centre on the market square and the terraced houses with standardised small dwelling units. They were rural in character, with mullioned windows, coloured shutters and half-timbering. More small dwellings, a school, various ancillary buildings and a villa district with about 20 country houses followed, built according to plans by Muthesius, Tessenow and other architects.
In 1934, a group of houses along the street Am Sonnenhang was presented to the public as a showground whose name, “Die neue Zeit”, proclaimed “the new age”. Wilhelm Kreis, Oswin Hempel and Eugen Schwemmle designed the wooden houses, whose appointments were manufactured in the workshops, in accordance with Wilhelm Jost’s overall plan for the model development.
In 1911, Heinrich Tessenow built the Hellerau Festival Theatre and adjoining teachers’ houses and student dormitories in the German reform architecture style. The educational establishment based there, the Bildungsanstalt für Rhythmische Gymnastik – an academy of eurhythmics – became a magnet for reform enthusiasts from all over Europe.
Hellerau was not a company housing estate, but a small town in the countryside where workers, businessmen and commoners lived together on a communal basis. Just a few years after its foundation stone was laid, the garden city already had nearly 2,000 residents. Once an independent suburb, Hellerau became a district of Dresden in 1950. As an important built testament to urban planning and design, it is protected as a historic monument. [KS/DK]
PDF of history as published by European Centre for the Arts Dresden: https://static.hellerau.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-07-14_downloadhistory_hellerau.pdf
Further Links:
The History of Deutsche Werkstatten: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Werkst%C3%A4tten_Hellerau
Images of Furniture from the 50s: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Deutsche_Werkst%C3%A4tten_Hellerau
Images of Furniture just before Re-unification:
The Festival Theatre
From: Grand Tour of Modernism, https://www.grandtourofmodernism.com/sites/details/37/
Construction 1911-1912 Heinrich Tessenow
Renovation 2004-2006 Josef-Peter Meier-Scupin & Partner
The Festival Theatre in Dresden-Hellerau was a radical alternative to traditional theatre buildings of the time and it revolutionised the dance theatre of the 20th century. It was built in 1911/1912 as an “educational facility for music and rhythm” according to plans by the architect Heinrich Tessenow. The Festival Theatre honours that harmonious combination of living, working and culture in a setting close to nature which the European Lebensreform (life reform) movement had been striving for in Saxony’s garden city of Hellerau since 1909.
The Festival Theatre was the centre of cultural life in the housing estate. Tessenow’s design was groundbreaking and influential in its clarity and functional structure. With the ensemble of theatre, forecourt, open-air arena and surrounding atriums and sunlit yards, the architect brought to life the visions of the music educator Émile Jaques-Dalcroze and the stage designer Adolphe Appia in a futuristic spatial composition. With the orchestra pit, audience seating that could be freely adapted and the lack of stage and curtain, Appia named the Festival Theatre a “cathedral of the future”. The idea was for the audience and performers to merge as a spiritual unity. The focus here was on the “bewegter Mensch” (person in motion) – who, by training his rhythmic abilities, was to become a holistic individual.
With world-famous students like Mary Wigman, a fundamental renewal of theatre and the dance movement proceeded from Hellerau. When the First World War broke out, however, this very promising start ended abruptly. Several attempts to revive it later failed. The Festival Theatre was subject to decades of military use, first when the Nazis seized power and then after 1945 by the Soviet Army.
In 1992 the building was handed back to the Free State of Saxony, which had it restored to its original state. Today, as a venue of the state capital of Dresden, the Festival Theatre is again one of the most important interdisciplinary centres of the contemporary arts. The ensemble of Hellerau as a whole is listed as a protected heritage area. [DB/DK]
Construction 1911-1912 Heinrich Tessenow
Renovation 2004-2006 Josef-Peter Meier-Scupin & Partner
The Festival Theatre in Dresden-Hellerau was a radical alternative to traditional theatre buildings of the time and it revolutionised the dance theatre of the 20th century. It was built in 1911/1912 as an “educational facility for music and rhythm” according to plans by the architect Heinrich Tessenow. The Festival Theatre honours that harmonious combination of living, working and culture in a setting close to nature which the European Lebensreform (life reform) movement had been striving for in Saxony’s garden city of Hellerau since 1909.
The Festival Theatre was the centre of cultural life in the housing estate. Tessenow’s design was groundbreaking and influential in its clarity and functional structure. With the ensemble of theatre, forecourt, open-air arena and surrounding atriums and sunlit yards, the architect brought to life the visions of the music educator Émile Jaques-Dalcroze and the stage designer Adolphe Appia in a futuristic spatial composition. With the orchestra pit, audience seating that could be freely adapted and the lack of stage and curtain, Appia named the Festival Theatre a “cathedral of the future”. The idea was for the audience and performers to merge as a spiritual unity. The focus here was on the “bewegter Mensch” (person in motion) – who, by training his rhythmic abilities, was to become a holistic individual.
With world-famous students like Mary Wigman, a fundamental renewal of theatre and the dance movement proceeded from Hellerau. When the First World War broke out, however, this very promising start ended abruptly. Several attempts to revive it later failed. The Festival Theatre was subject to decades of military use, first when the Nazis seized power and then after 1945 by the Soviet Army.
In 1992 the building was handed back to the Free State of Saxony, which had it restored to its original state. Today, as a venue of the state capital of Dresden, the Festival Theatre is again one of the most important interdisciplinary centres of the contemporary arts. The ensemble of Hellerau as a whole is listed as a protected heritage area. [DB/DK]
From World Monuments Watch: https://www.wmf.org/project/festspielhaus-hellerau
1996 World Monuments Watch
The Festspielhaus Hellerau is one of the birthplaces of modernism as well as an important artifact of European architectural and cultural history. Designed by Heinrich Tessenow to house the Rhythmic Dance School of Jacques Dalcroze and the innovative stage designs of Adolphe Appia, the Festspielhaus introduced new concepts regarding the unity of the arts – architecture, music, dance, and theater. The institute rapidly gained worldwide attention until Dalcroze's departure from Germany during World War I. In 1938 it became a police academy and then an SS barracks. Under Communism the Soviet Army occupied the Festspielhaus, which deteriorated due to neglect. Germans were forbidden to enter and only occasional maintenance took place. Liberated in 1990, the building can now be returned to appropriate use and its rich history preserved. Recognition by the international community is key to ensuring the survival of the Festspielhaus as a dynamic center for culture in Europe.
Since the Watch
Restoration of the Festspielhaus Hellerau was spearheaded by a $250,000 grant from the Getty Foundation, and a complete restoration was carried out with the support of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Free State of Saxony, the City of Dresden, and the German Foundation for Monument Protection (Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz). The entrance hall, foyer, and parts of the portico of the Festspielhaus were restored. The space was initially colonized by several performing arts groups, and in 2004 the Hellerau European Arts Centre (Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Hellerau) was formally established. Today Hellerau houses a number of different arts institutions, which aspire to transform the former Festspielhaus into one of the most important centers for contemporary art in Europe for the second time in its history.
February 2011
Last updated: April 2018.
1996 World Monuments Watch
The Festspielhaus Hellerau is one of the birthplaces of modernism as well as an important artifact of European architectural and cultural history. Designed by Heinrich Tessenow to house the Rhythmic Dance School of Jacques Dalcroze and the innovative stage designs of Adolphe Appia, the Festspielhaus introduced new concepts regarding the unity of the arts – architecture, music, dance, and theater. The institute rapidly gained worldwide attention until Dalcroze's departure from Germany during World War I. In 1938 it became a police academy and then an SS barracks. Under Communism the Soviet Army occupied the Festspielhaus, which deteriorated due to neglect. Germans were forbidden to enter and only occasional maintenance took place. Liberated in 1990, the building can now be returned to appropriate use and its rich history preserved. Recognition by the international community is key to ensuring the survival of the Festspielhaus as a dynamic center for culture in Europe.
Since the Watch
Restoration of the Festspielhaus Hellerau was spearheaded by a $250,000 grant from the Getty Foundation, and a complete restoration was carried out with the support of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Free State of Saxony, the City of Dresden, and the German Foundation for Monument Protection (Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz). The entrance hall, foyer, and parts of the portico of the Festspielhaus were restored. The space was initially colonized by several performing arts groups, and in 2004 the Hellerau European Arts Centre (Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Hellerau) was formally established. Today Hellerau houses a number of different arts institutions, which aspire to transform the former Festspielhaus into one of the most important centers for contemporary art in Europe for the second time in its history.
February 2011
Last updated: April 2018.
The People at Hellerau
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Committee formed to establish a Jaques-Dalcroze music school (Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Adolphe Appia, Alexander von Salzmann and Heinrich Tessenow), financed by the brothers Wolf and Harald Dohrn.
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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EmileJaquesDalcroze-HellerauSchool_1910-1914_BibliothequeDeGeneveIconographie-ijd-b-2-04-p-44-09.jpg
Karl Schmidt-Hellerau
Lucien Fugere
Mary Wigman
Helen Moller
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Frances Parker school?
Laban Page
Kandinsky Page
Summerhill
Dalcroze at Bennington, Paul Boepple
World Monumens Fund
other examples of intentional/communal living
Laban Page
Kandinsky Page
Summerhill
Dalcroze at Bennington, Paul Boepple
World Monumens Fund
other examples of intentional/communal living
A. S. Neill
Paul Boepple, Choral Conductor at Bennington
Born: July 19, 1896 - Basel, Switzerland
Died: December 21, 1970 - North Bennington or Brattleboro, Vermont, USA
The Swiss-Americam leading choral conductor and pedagogue, Paul Boepple, took courses at the Dalcroze Institute in Geneva, and adopted the Dalcroze system in his own method of teaching music; from 1918 to 1926 he was a member of the faculty of the Institute.
In 1926 Paul Boepple emigrated to the USA. He directed the Dalcroze School of Music in New York (1926-1932); then taught at the Chicago Musical College (1932-1934) and at the Westminster Choir School in Princeton, New Jersey (1935-1938). Subsequently he taught at Bennington College in Vermont (1944-1964).
In 1934 Paul Boepple founded the Cantata Society of New York by Paul Boepple as an adjunct of the Dalcroze School, of which he was then director . He conducted the choir for only two years before he assumed conductorship of the Dessoff Choirs upon Madame Margarethe Dessoff’s retirement. Arthur Mendel became Boepple’s successor of the Cantata Society of New York in 1936 and the organization soon after became known as The Cantata Singers.
Paul Boepple was director of the Dessoff Choirs from 1937 to 1968, when he retired. He is credited with exposing USA audiences to Josquin de Pres, Claude LeJeune, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Heinrich Schütz and other previously unheard composers for most Americans. He also reintroduced such neglected oratorios as Georg Frideric Handel’s Israel in Egypt, which he recorded, to USA audiences. As a choral conductor, he gave numerous performances of modern works. Among the premiers he led was the world premiere of Arthur Honegger’s Judith in Switzerland in 1924. His recordings with the Dessoff Choirs appeared on Vox and Counterpoint.
Paul Boepple died of pneumonia in 1970 at age 74.
Born: July 19, 1896 - Basel, Switzerland
Died: December 21, 1970 - North Bennington or Brattleboro, Vermont, USA
The Swiss-Americam leading choral conductor and pedagogue, Paul Boepple, took courses at the Dalcroze Institute in Geneva, and adopted the Dalcroze system in his own method of teaching music; from 1918 to 1926 he was a member of the faculty of the Institute.
In 1926 Paul Boepple emigrated to the USA. He directed the Dalcroze School of Music in New York (1926-1932); then taught at the Chicago Musical College (1932-1934) and at the Westminster Choir School in Princeton, New Jersey (1935-1938). Subsequently he taught at Bennington College in Vermont (1944-1964).
In 1934 Paul Boepple founded the Cantata Society of New York by Paul Boepple as an adjunct of the Dalcroze School, of which he was then director . He conducted the choir for only two years before he assumed conductorship of the Dessoff Choirs upon Madame Margarethe Dessoff’s retirement. Arthur Mendel became Boepple’s successor of the Cantata Society of New York in 1936 and the organization soon after became known as The Cantata Singers.
Paul Boepple was director of the Dessoff Choirs from 1937 to 1968, when he retired. He is credited with exposing USA audiences to Josquin de Pres, Claude LeJeune, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Heinrich Schütz and other previously unheard composers for most Americans. He also reintroduced such neglected oratorios as Georg Frideric Handel’s Israel in Egypt, which he recorded, to USA audiences. As a choral conductor, he gave numerous performances of modern works. Among the premiers he led was the world premiere of Arthur Honegger’s Judith in Switzerland in 1924. His recordings with the Dessoff Choirs appeared on Vox and Counterpoint.
Paul Boepple died of pneumonia in 1970 at age 74.
