Barkenhoff

Barkenhoff (east side)

Barkenhoff, look into the garden

Barkenhoff (north side)

The Barkenhoff ( Low German for Birkenhof ) is a converted farm in Worpswede in Lower Saxony , which became the center of the Worpswede artists' colony and which now houses the Heinrich Vogeler Museum .

description

The Barkenhoff was acquired by the artist Heinrich Vogeler in 1894 and converted into an impressive Art Nouveau building within a few years . A poem by Rainer Maria Rilke can be read above the portal on the east side : "Light is his lot, / is the Lord only the heart and hand of the building, / with the linden trees in the country / his house will also be shady and large." Soon the farm became the center of the Worpswede artist movement and thus the entire “Worpswede artists' colony”. After the First World War , the Barkenhoff became the Barkenhoff municipality and work school in 1919 .

Among the numerous visitors to the Barkenhoff was Sonja Marchlewska, Heinrich Vogeler's second wife since 1926, daughter of the Polish Marxist Julian Marchlewski , who was a friend and colleague of Rosa Luxemburg and a confidante of Lenin . Marchlewski was also rector of the Communist University of the National Minorities of the West in Moscow and founder of International Red Aid . He persuaded Vogeler to transfer the Barkenhoff to the Red Aid. From 1923, the Barkenhoff was run as the Barkenhoff children's home of the newly founded Red Aid Germany (RHD) before the home had to close in 1932.

In 1932 the Barkenhoff was sold to the garden architect and anthroposophist Max Karl Schwarz (1895–1963), who came to Worpswede through the life reformer Leberecht Migge . There he founded the Worpswede Horticultural and Settlement School together with the engineer Martin Schmidt (1892-1964) between 1932 and 1936 , where biodynamic work was taught and researched with anthroposophically oriented teachers. Schwarz is considered a pioneer of biodynamic agriculture and horticulture, composting, and a developer and promoter of the Gärtnerhof idea. In 1954, Schwarz designed the landscape park at the Goetheanum in Dornach .

In the following years the farm fell into disrepair and was handed over to the public sector in 1981. In 2003/2004 the farm was completely renovated. Since then it has served as a museum and as a space for exhibitions. Until the end of 2009, the adjoining remises served as studios for the Barkenhoff Foundation scholarship holders .