Kaiser Wilhelm Ring 32
The house at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring 32 in Cologne was built between 1883 and 1885 for the city councilor and landowner Wilhelm Meuser, based on designs by Atelier de Voss & Müller based on the model of the Venetian Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi . The plastic facade decoration was a prime example of "the self-esteem of the Wilhelminian-owned bourgeoisie". The building was destroyed in World War II.
description
Three storeys rose above a rusticated base storey, which ended at the top with a strong cornice. The facade, built with red Main sandstone , was divided into three axes with twin windows based on the model of the Venetian Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi . A column-framed portal, gabled with a segmental arch, formed the entrance in the middle of the house. On the first floor, double columns - these were considered the "motif of power" - divided the facade, in the figure niches statues of the gods Pallas Athene (left) and Mercury (right) were placed as symbols of cleverness and trade, these were works of the sculptor Wilhelm Albermann . On the second floor, double columns also divided the facade, in the niches there was a monogram of the host Wilhelm Meuser: W on the left and M on the right - each in a richly framed medallion - also works by the sculptor Wilhelm Albermann. Below the cornice there was a richly ornamented frieze with arched niches in between. Inside were busts of pairs of figures in medallions facing each other: in the middle on the left the master of the house, on the right his wife. The couple were flanked on the left by busts of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt , on the right side of the couple were busts of Goethe and Schiller .
literature
- Hiltrud Kier : Apartment buildings in Cologne in the second half of the 19th century . In: Eduard Trier, Willy Weyres (Ed.): Art of the 19th century in the Rhineland . tape 2 . Architecture: II, profane buildings a. Urban planning . Schwann, Düsseldorf 1980, ISBN 3-590-30252-6 , pp. 413-463, see p. 426 f .
Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 38.5 " N , 6 ° 56 ′ 31.8" E