Reuchlinhaus
The Reuchlinhaus is a cultural center in the city garden of Pforzheim . It was built between 1957 and 1961 according to plans by Manfred Lehmbruck (1913–1992). A central foyer with a freely swinging staircase connects the individual cuboid components. These house the Pforzheim Jewelery Museum and the Pforzheim Art Association in Reuchlinhaus eV The house was named after the humanist Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522), who is considered the most important son of Pforzheim.
history
From 1900 to 1945 the Reuchlinhaus was replaced by a hall, planned by Alfons Kern , which was used as an event location during this time and as a hospital in times of war .
In the last months of the Second World War , the inner city of Pforzheim was largely destroyed by air raids . After the infrastructure had been rebuilt, a cultural center with a local history and jewelry museum was planned north of the castle church . In 1953 Manfred Lehmbruck won the architectural competition for it. Then, however, it was decided to locate it in the city garden at the former location of the core hall building, which required some rescheduling. Construction began in 1957. The first building sections for the Pforzheim City Library and City Archives were ready for occupancy in 1959, and the entire complex was inaugurated on October 20, 1961.
The Reuchlinhaus is a building complex made of pavilion-like cuboids grouped around a fully glazed foyer with a free-swinging spiral staircase . The individual pavilions are designed differently. The library pavilion is an exposed concrete building with large windows facing the south, the exhibition hall of the Kunstverein Pforzheim is a steel and glass construction, the city museum is clad with regional sandstone and the jewelry museum with artistically processed aluminum panels .
Lehmbruck not only designed the architecture, but also the interior of the building. This started his turn to type building programs and system furniture. Finally, the Reuchlinhaus also formed the starting point for Lehmbruck's designs for other museums in Duisburg and on the Federsee.
Although the architecture of the building attracted national attention, it also had significant weaknesses in practical operation. Flat roofs and skylights were often leaky, the single glazing of the art gallery did not offer the constant climatic conditions necessary for exhibitions and an effective anti-theft protection was missing in the jewelry museum. When an expansion of the jewelry museum and the establishment of computer workstations in the city library were planned around 1990, extensive requirements in terms of fire protection and security technology were added. At the same time, however, the scientific examination of the building and its history had already begun. In 1994 the Reuchlinhaus was finally placed under monument protection, whereby not only the architecture, but also wall-mounted fixtures and furniture from the period of construction were recognized as worthy of protection, since these "form a common system that excellently documents the architecture of the late 1950s and is artistically designed by of supraregional importance ".
The first renovation in line with listed buildings took place in 1993/1994 during the renovation of the jewelry museum, whereby the hanging and table showcases designed by Lehmbruck were retained, while the wall showcases were renewed while maintaining the original dimensions. In 2000 the city archive moved to rooms in the north of the city, the city library moved to other buildings in 2002. Subsequently, the Reuchlinhaus was further rebuilt and renovated from 2002 to 2006 by the Stuttgart architectural office hG Merz.
literature
- Manfred Lehmbruck: The Reuchlinhaus Pforzheim. In: Aluminum , Volume 38, Issue 2 (1962)
- Manfred Lehmbruck: The Reuchlinhaus in Pforzheim. In: Deutsche Bauzeitschrift , Volume 10, Issue 8 (1962), pp. 1169ff.
- Manfred Lehmbruck: The Reuchlinhaus in Pforzheim. In: Bauwelt , Volume 53 (1962), No. 12, pp. 307ff.
- Manfred Lehmbruck: The Reuchlin House in Pforzheim. In: Werk , 52nd year (1965), No. 6, p. 212ff.
- Elke Breusch: The Reuchlinhaus in Pforzheim (1957–1961) by Manfred Lehmbruck. Master thesis. Heidelberg 1991.
- Hermann Diruff and Christoph Timm: Art and cultural monuments in Pforzheim and in the Enzkreis. Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, pp. 79f.
- Christoph Timm: Monuments of the post-war era in Pforzheim and their problems. In: Badische Heimat , issue 3/1995, pp. 421–440, here pp. 436–439.
- Christoph Timm: "From one world to a completely different one". 50 years of Reuchlinhaus in Pforzheim. In: Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg , 40th year 2011, issue 3, pp. 135–142. ( PDF ) link
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lower monument protection authority Pforzheim: Reuchlinhaus building file (Jahrnstrasse 42), quoted from Timm 1995, p. 439.
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 53 ′ 9.6 " N , 8 ° 41 ′ 51.2" E