Old Kurhaus Aachen
The Old Kurhaus of Aachen was built between 1782 and 1786 according to designs by Jakob Couven at Komphausbadstraße 19 as a new redoubt and extension to the neighboring old redoubt Aachen at number 11. In contrast to the Old Kurhaus, the Kurhaus at Monheimsallee 44, which was inaugurated in 1916, is known as the Neues Kurhaus Aachen , which also housed the Aachen Casino until June 11, 2015 .
On July 14, 1943, the Kurhaus burned down in a bomb attack. In the years 1965 to 1969, part of the old spa house with the ballroom was rebuilt under the direction of the Aachen city curator Hans Königs . The garden wing with the large concert hall had to give way to a new street layout and was demolished. Today the so-called sound bridge marks the course of the former wing of the building . The building has been a listed building since 1985 .
The Neue Redoute is now considered an important spa building from the 18th century. The redoubt was the center of social spa life. The functionally structured building is regarded as one of the important precursors for the popular spa houses of the 19th century.
history
When the New Redoute was planned, the spa district on Komphausbadstrasse had existed for around 100 years. So the large spa building was not part of the overall structural concept from the start. The construction of the redoubt became necessary because since the middle of the 18th century - among other things as a result of the Seven Years' War - the number of spa guests in Aachen has steadily declined. In addition, great urban development efforts were made, particularly in Bath in England and in Spa, Belgium , in order to attract well-off spa guests in particular. Aachen's greatest attraction was the variety of opportunities to gamble. With the new construction of the Redoute, the city intended to create a new point of attraction for the foreign spa guests and hoped to generate ample tax income and income from the leasing of the Aachen casino.
The planning of the spa building goes back to Jakob Couven. Jakob Couven was the son of the Aachen city architect Johann Josef Couven, who died in 1763 . On August 30, 1782, a council resolution approved the outline and elevation of the design by Jakob Couven for immediate execution. The original construction time for the spa building was two years. Couven was given construction supervision, building contractor Johann Joseph Scheins was entrusted with the construction.
Building site and laying of the foundation stone
The Neue Redoute (French ballroom) was built in place of the two-storey gallery building that was demolished in 1780 and which also housed the city's printing press . In 1809 the Müller Stadtbuchdruckerei, the shipping company of the Allgemeine Zeitung, was located at Marschierstrasse 1148. The suitable spoilers were to be used for the new building in accordance with the instructions of the City Council of Aachen. The foundation stone was laid on September 13, 1782. According to a decision by the city council, sandstones from the Steinkuhle (Steinkaul) in front of the Adalbertstor were planned as building material for the foundation . In addition, quarry stones were used that came from the demolition of parts of the Aachen city wall , including the Besteder Middle Gate. The expensive new building was very controversial among the Aachen population and gave rise to the following comment :
“For 10,000 thalers trees / you can clear the forest, walls are torn down, towers are thrown over piles, all of this for the Redoutensaal. / Take note of this. What use does the city have in this? / Nothing but cleaning a square that the high magistrate / has sold for two louis dor. The redoubt man arrives / and stands at the high rate: shows an obligation / from a reliable person, what the city should be guarantor for / and this one agrees without even looking / how we will be afterwards. What does the mayor care / if he can only proliferate for himself, whether he sells the whole city because he has no mess inside? But one speaks of lanterns, / to remove thief and murderer, one speaks of security and of having a spinning house built. Yes, the cash register cannot tolerate that, / the poor city has too much debt and is giving the Redoutensaal / 10,000 thalers in capital. "
Jakob Couvens monumental building
The redoubt was Jakob Couven's only monumental building . In Couven's work, the architecture of the building documents the transition from a baroque vocabulary of forms to the Louis-seize style. The seven-axis couven building presents itself over three floors with a three-axis risalit , balcony with wrought-iron lattice, the bel étage and curved gable profile, whose decorative pilaster strips take up the curved window gable form . An oval window with two eagles flanking it represents the gable decoration. The smaller windows on the second floor and the central projecting crowned with a curved gable are characteristic of the Couvens construction. The corners of the high mansard hipped roof merge into the main cornice in the middle building (with tent roof ). The entrance hall of the building opened into the arcades on Komphausbadstrasse. Couven relocated the thermal water drinking fountain in the arcades on the garden side. The Marienbrunnen had been on Komphausbadstrasse until this time. The adjoining spa garden was also used for exhibitions and commercial trade fairs. Instead of the large balcony, Couven installed four consoles for statues on the garden side. The straight risalit gable is decorated by four palm fronds. In contrast to today's musical reliefs, Couven had decorated the rectangular decorative surfaces with a draped cloth. The first floor is characterized by the construction of arched windows, while lower, elliptical arched windows can be found on the second floor. In the recessed façade, Couven implemented arched windows on the first floor and straight lintel cuboids on the second floor. In addition, the risalit windows were crowned. Between the floors of the reserve window wide decorate reliefs the facade with the presentation of various musical instruments.
Ballroom
The 24 × 11 meter ballroom located behind the windows of the risalit extends over the first and second floors. The hall now offers space for up to 340 people. The current stucco decoration of the ballroom is a replica of the 1960s, as the Old Kurhaus was almost completely destroyed in the Second World War on July 14, 1943, except for a few surrounding walls.
Pre-classical stucco ornaments line the interior. The lower part is structured by niches and Corinthian fluted double pilasters. At the beginning of the 20th century, marble busts were set up in the niches of the ballroom on one side, while round, ornate iron stoves on the other side helped to heat the room.
A flat ceiling on two large coves forms the upper end of this ballroom. The ballroom was one of the most beautiful Rhenish total works of art of architecture, sculpture and painting of the second half of the 18th century. The interior decorations were made by plasterer Würth and Petrus Nicolaas Gagini .
After the restoration in 1967, the only adornment of the ballroom was the white stucco work, while large-format paintings also adorned the ceiling before the destruction. During a restoration in 1885, numerous gold decorations were added to accentuate the spatial artwork.
Stucco
Above the entrance portal on the Supraporte -relief, framed by two eagles, today to read the following inscription:
- BY JAKOB COUVEN
- BUILT 1785
- DESTROYED 1943
- AGAIN
- MANUFACTURED
- 1967
The two entrances, which are located on the respective long sides of the hall, are each flanked by two atlases . These rise from architectural elements that taper downwards like a pilaster and support the beams between the first and second floors. The wearing motif varies with each figure. The symbolism of carrying is continued in the double pilasters of the wall structure, characterized by Corinthian capitals and fluting. In the upper part of the ballroom there are twelve windows, interrupted on the long sides by four large relief images in glare fields. The blending fields contain high reliefs depicting Jupiter , Juno , Ceres and Pluton in the form of groups of mythological figures. The lunettes above the entrance doors are decorated with numerous putti .
In the ceiling area above the atlases, there are detailed decorative fields with musical instruments, cadres and masks that peek out from under the stylized drapery. The flat ceiling is divided into two large rounded rectangular fields. The central crystal chandelier hangs in the middle, surrounded by four large putti. The inner skirt of the rectangles form nested Kallas blossoms, the outer various round bars. The four ceiling corners decorate according to the contemporary image program the portraits of the musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Christoph Willibald Gluck , Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel , each surrounded by cherubs and floral decoration elements.
Handel hall
A translocated stucco relief by the Italian plasterer Petrus Nicolaas Gagini is located in the smaller, 36 m² large and 5 m high Handel hall to the side of the ballroom . The artwork created in 1807 is a genre - relief depicting a rural-rural idyll of the Frankish court Good Soerser Hochkirchen with animals and people at work. The scenery is framed by strings of fruit. Gagini originally created the relief for a garden pavilion at the Süsterfelder Hof in the large building . The entire courtyard was destroyed in 1944. In 1945 , Hans Königs was able to recover the remnants of the originally larger relief, which was attached to clay plaster, and store them in the Suermondt Museum .
In 1968 the 2.80 m high and 2.68 m wide relief was installed in the Handel Hall by the Viennese restorer J. Souchill. Individual parts were restored and the fruit cords added. As early as 1970 the valuable stucco picture was hidden by a partition wall in connection with the move into the New Gallery and only rediscovered during renovation work in August 2008.
Structural extensions
The building was sold to the city of Aachen in 1842 for 42,000 Thaler. Between 1841 and 1843 the Neue Redoute was extensively renovated according to plans by the city architect Friedrich Joseph Ark . Among other things, stoves were installed in the vestibule and ballroom, the parquet floor in the ballroom was renewed and the marble floors in the vestibule and staircase were restored.
A fundamental expansion of the building complex was carried out between 1863 and 1864 according to plans by Wilhelm Wickop , an Aachen architect. The new wing, built at right angles to the redoubt, in the Moorish style , stood unconnected next to Couven's building. At that time access was via the Neue Redoute or the Kurhausgarten. On the ground floor, a cast-iron hall was built in front of the garden. The central focus of the extension was a 45 × 14 m performance hall designed as a stage space, also known as the Great Kursaal or Great Concert Hall. On May 15, 1864, the hall was inaugurated by the 41st Niederrheinische Musikfest . On May 8, 1876, a new Stahlhut organ was inaugurated. The new wing becomes the residence of the municipal music directorate . Orchestra rehearsals and performances by the city orchestra as well as numerous guest performances and music festivals take place here on a regular basis.
In 1901 the building was rebuilt and expanded according to plans by the Aachen architect Josef Laurent, and both parts of the building were connected to one another. With the exception of the corner tower, the new components are based on the style of Couvens Neuer Redoute in neo-baroque style . The old, iron construction, open foyer facing the spa garden was replaced by a glazed foyer in the French style. A planned additional large Kursaal, which was to hold 1,500 people, was not carried out. In the smaller halls, parts of the stucco decoration from the abandoned old redoubt were reused. After the extensive destruction of the Kurhaus and its extensions in 1943, some parts of the building were makeshift repaired in 1948 and temporarily used as a restaurant and concert café.
In the years 1951 to 1956, sporadic repair work was carried out on the heavily weathered and damaged walls of the Couven ballroom, which was temporarily secured with a makeshift roof. In 1961 a fundamental straightening of the alignment was carried out in the area around the Kurhaus and all parts of the Wickop annex were laid down. The Couven ballroom was rebuilt in the late 1960s. The front of the Neue Redoute facing Komphausbadstrasse was restored according to Couven's construction plans, while the garden facade was designed according to Wickop's draft drawings. The so-called bridge construction was added to the west side in 1970, spanning the newly built Kurhausstraße. The windowless concrete surfaces are clad with cast aluminum panels designed by Ernst Wille .
Kurhausgarten
The garden behind the spa house was already used as a so-called promenade area for spa guests in the 17th century. One of the earliest depictions of the garden from 1736 can be found near Pöllnitz .
After the construction of the New Redoute, the thermal drinking fountains and the toilets were also relocated to the Kurhausgarten . The garden area was used in a variety of ways as an exhibition area and Bendplatz . In September 1804 Napoléon Bonaparte visited an industrial exhibition of the local manufactories here.
The thermal fountain in the garden was finally closed around 1855 after the Elisengarten was completed. The former spa garden has been used as a garden restaurant since then. After the Second World War, the garden initially became overgrown, but in 1961 it had to give way to the new Kurhausstrasse.
use
In 1785 Richard Reumont, a casino leaseholder and hotel manager, acquired a license to operate a casino in the building. With the proceeds from the profits of the casino, Reumont committed himself in 1793 to maintaining the redoubt for 15 years, building a comedy house, cleaning the city promenades, building a drinking fountain on Bergdriesch and donating money for the poor house and the grain kiosk.
Under the Napoleonic rule, the casino was temporarily banned several times and from December 20, 1794 to January 29, 1795, the Temple of Reason was set up in the Redoute . Numerous balls and concerts, including in the presence of Napoléon Bonaparte and Empress Joséphine , were held in the Great Hall during the French era.
During the Prussian period that followed, the large hall of the Neue Redoute was mainly used for festive balls and banquets for state visits and for concerts. During the Aachen Congress , numerous balls were held in the Redoute, including on October 4, 1818 on the name day of Emperor Franz of Austria and on November 2, 1818 to bid farewell to the monarchs staying in Aachen.
In 1832, King Friedrich Wilhelm III approved . the resumption of casino operations. The contract between the city of Aachen and the Aktiengesellschaft der Spielbanken-Entreprise von Aachen provided for an annual lease of 10,500 thalers plus a third of the net profit until 1841 . After the city of Aachen bought the Redoute in 1841 for 42,000 thalers, it continued to run the casino business on its own account.
In 1849 the Prussian king forbade the city to continue running the casino. The casino was reopened in the premises as early as 1850 after the city declared the New Redoute a spa house and a meeting point for season guests and the newly created spa committee organized entertainment for the spa guests, including gambling. After the Prussian king issued a general ban on gambling in 1854, the casino in the Neue Redoute was finally closed. In the following 15 years, the city had to cope with a drop in the number of spa guests of 50%.
After the extension to the Redoute was built, concerts were held regularly from 1864 onwards as part of the Lower Rhine Music Festival. Concerts by famous musicians had already been given in the ballroom, for example on November 28, 1836 Johann Strauss (father) made a guest appearance with his orchestra in the hall of the Neue Redoute. One of the most famous conductors at the time who conducted concerts in this building was Peter Raabe . He was followed by Herbert von Karajan, who was still quite unknown at the time . Both open the list of Aachen general music directors who are responsible for shaping the musical life of Aachen within the framework of the Aachen Music Directorate, which is a section of the Theater Aachen .
In the course of the renovation at the beginning of the 20th century, several dining facilities and reading rooms were created in the Neue Redoute.
After the opening of the New Kurhaus Aachen in 1916, the Neue Redoute took over the function of the municipal concert hall.
After it was rebuilt in the late 1960s, the Alte Kurhaus housed the art museum for modern art Neue Galerie - Ludwig Collection until 1990 (since 1991 Ludwig Forum for International Art elsewhere). The west wing with the sound bridge then became a stage and center for modern music. The Society for Contemporary Music Aachen eV has its seat here.
The ballroom of the Alten Kurhaus is now used by the city of Aachen's cultural operations as a venue for numerous events, including the lecture series Word meets music , world classics on the piano , the annual animal welfare gala and numerous carnival events . The large ballroom as well as the Bach and Handel hall can also be used for private events; the Glucksaal now houses a kitchen, while the Mozart hall usually stores technical equipment. In addition to catering facilities in the arcades, the upper floor of the Neue Redoute now houses the Aachen Carnival Association (AKV) and the Crous collection of urban history .
List of monuments
In 1977 the Alte Kurhaus (Neue Redoute) was entered in the register of monuments by the Rhineland State Conservator :
- Komphausbadstrasse 15
- 1782–1786 (Jak. Couven), reconstruction;
- 3-storey in 7 axes and mansard roof, 3-axis central projection with curved gable; open arcades on the ground floor; Brick with plaster structure.
literature
- Heinrich Böckeler : Description of the new organ in the Kurhaussaale in Aachen, built by G. Stahlhuth, master organ builder in Burtscheid near Aachen: together with a historical overview of the art of organ building in Germany. Aachen 1876.
- Joseph Buchkremer : The architects Johann Joseph Couven and Jakob Couven. In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . Vol. 17 (1895), p. 179.
- Ernst Günther Grimme : The Aachen Suermondt Museum and the Aachen Museum Association . In: Aachener Kunstblätter . Vol. 28 (1963), p. 6ff.
- Alfons Fritz : To the history of the museum. In: Anton Kisa (ed.): Memorandum on the occasion of the twenty-five year existence of the Suermondt Museum. Aachen 1903, pp. 58-68.
- Bernhard Poll : Aachen contributions for building history and local art. Vol. 6. Published on behalf of the Aachen History Association , Aachen 1974, DNB 790521474 .
- Ulrich Coenen: From Aquae to Baden-Baden. The building history of the city and its contribution to the development of the spa architecture. Mainz-Verlag, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8107-0023-0 .
- Lutz Felbick : dates of Aachen music history, chronology and bibliography. Publication of the Aachen City Library, Aachen 1993.
- Lutz Felbick: Aachen. In: Music in the past and present. Sachteil, Vol. 1, Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel 1994f.
- Adelheid Siebigs, Béatrice Oesterreich: The New Redoute as part of the Komphausbadstrasse spa district. Information about the Open Monument Day , published by the community foundation Lebensraum Aachen , Aachen 2010.
- Winfried Pape and Hans-Walter Staudte: The Society for Contemporary Music Aachen. In: Robert von Zahn (Hrsg.): New Music in North Rhine-Westphalia - The nine societies for new music between Aachen and Lippe. Kassel 2014, pp. 42–52.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carl Rhoen : The city architect Johann Joseph Couven. Father and son. Kaatzer, Aachen 1885 (see Historical Lexicon Aachen ).
- ↑ Allgemeine Zeitung. June 2, 1809.
- ^ Hans Siemons : Gambling in Aachen. Casino then and now. Helios, Aachen 2004, ISBN 3-933608-89-9 .
- ↑ Cf. Fig. 116 in: Das Alte Kurhaus, status 1943. In: Ludwina Forst: Königs Weg. In the footsteps of the first Aachen city curator, Hans Königs (1903–1988). Thouet, Aachen 2008, p. 154.
- ↑ Cf. Karl Faymonville et al.: The art monuments of the city of Aachen . In: Art Monuments of the Rhine Province . 10, section 3. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1924, p. 187-192 .
- ↑ Buchkremer, pp. 179ff., 205.
- ↑ Cf. Karl Faymonville et al.: The art monuments of the city of Aachen . In: Art Monuments of the Rhine Province . 10, section 3. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1924, p. 187-192 .
- ↑ Hans Königs: The estate "The Great Building" with Gagini's stucco pictures. ZAGV 60 (1939), pp. 200-211.
- ↑ Ludwina Forst: King's Way. In the footsteps of the first city curator, Hans Königs (1903–1988). Thouet, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-930594-33-7 , pp. 183-184.
- ↑ Mirja Ibsen: stucco relief from 1807 rediscovered. In: Aachener Nachrichten. August 6, 2008, p. 15.
- ^ Karl Faymonville among others: The art monuments of the city of Aachen . In: Art Monuments of the Rhine Province . 10, section 3. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1924, p. 188 .
- ^ City of Aachener Zeitung. August 24, 1863.
- ^ Karl-Ludwig Pöllnitz: Amusemens des eaux d'Aix la Chapelle. Volume 1, plate 7: Plan du quarré près de la fointaine qui sert de promenade aux beuveurs. Amsterdam 1736.
- ^ Richard Reumont: Submissive petition. 1793 (facsimile: Klette-Verlag, Aachen 1976).
- ↑ Aachener Volkszeitung. November 26, 1936.
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 37 " N , 6 ° 5 ′ 20.2" E