Villa Rimpau

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The villa in 2010

The Villa Rimpau , also called Rimpausche Villa , is located in Braunschweig , Wolfenbütteler Straße 2. The building is named after its first owner, the landowner and entrepreneur Arnold Rimpau (1856–1936). The villa was built in the Neo-Renaissance style in 1881/82 according to plans by the architect Constantin Uhde . The listed building is one of the main works of historic villa architecture in Braunschweig.

history

The villa is located in the south of Braunschweig on today's Wolfenbütteler Straße. The extensive property takes up large parts of the area between Adolfstrasse in the east, Campestrasse in the south and the Okerumflutgraben in the north. Wolfenbütteler Strasse, which has been known as this since 1860, was still outside the city limits in the middle of the 19th century in front of the August gate , which was demolished in 1894/95 . It was part of an upper -class residential area with an avenue character. T. double-row planting with linden trees was underlined.

Rimpausche villa

In 1852 the entrepreneur Peter Wilhelm Friedrich von Voigtländer acquired the property and had a country house built on it. After his death in 1878, the merchant August Rimpau acquired the land and buildings in 1881 from Voigtlander's heirs. Rimpau then had the country house demolished and a new villa built for his son Arnold according to plans by the Brunswick architect Constantin Uhde. Arnold Rimpau lived in the building until it was sold in 1932.

architecture

Floor plan of the first floor by Constantin Uhde

The two-storey building, which is symmetrical on the main and entrance sides to the west, was executed in the neo-renaissance style with sandstone blocks. To this end, Uhde designed a landscaped garden that is directly related to the generously proportioned manorial house . The entrance side of the villa is set back from Wolfenbütteler Straße, on the one hand to maintain a certain distance, on the other hand to provide space for a spacious driveway. There is a large flight of stairs to the street side and a garden to the rear. The eye-catching central risalit has eight Ionic columns on the upper floor , each of which is arranged in pairs. The Rimpausche Villa is reminiscent of the Braunschweig Castle in terms of its architectural design and spatial design . Inside the villa is characterized by a circular entrance hall that extends over both floors. The symmetry of the entrance side was not retained either on the other sides of the building or in the interior in terms of the distribution and design of the space.

Rimpaus garden

Road sign (2010)

On the northeastern part of the property in the direction of Oker, a large landscaped garden was created, which is called the "Rimpaus Garden". From 1955 until the sale of the property in 2006, "Rimpaus Garten" was used as a public green area, and from 1975 efforts were made to reconstruct the character of a villa garden. A path that connects Wolfenbütteler Strasse with Adolfstrasse along the Oker is still called "Rimpaus Garten" today.

Adolf Hitler House

In 1932 the Braunschweigische Lebensversicherungsbank acquired the building from Arnold Rimpau and sold it the following year to the NSDAP , which "consecrated" it on September 24, 1933 as the official residence of the NSDAP district leader of the city of Braunschweig. The first district leader was Wilhelm Hesse (1933–1938), followed by Arnold Krebs (1938–1940), Kurt Beier (1940–1944) and finally Berthold Heilig (March 19, 1944 to May 8, 1945). The building was renamed “Adolf Hitler House”. The National Socialists also called it the “ Brown House ” based on the NSDAP party headquarters in Munich . In addition to the NSDAP district leadership, the German Labor Front and the Braunschweig Gauinspektion also had their headquarters in the villa. After the building was badly damaged in the bombing of October 15, 1944 during the Second World War , the district management moved to the Veltheimsche Haus on Burgplatz on November 1, 1944 , where it remained until April 12, 1945.

Social Court Braunschweig

After the end of the war, after repairs, the villa was used by the German Federation of Trade Unions between 1945 and 1952 . The Braunschweig Social Court then moved into the building and stayed there for 54 years until it moved to Am Wendentor in 2006 .

Villa Knapp

In 2006, Friedrich Knapp , entrepreneur and founder of the clothing company New Yorker , acquired the villa from the state of Lower Saxony and had it extensively restored over several years and converted back into a residential building, as the building has been repeatedly used, especially since 1932, for Partly had led to significant changes in the premises. The associated garden was enlarged through purchase. The work was completed in 2010.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Wolfgang Kimpflinger: Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany. Architectural monuments in Lower Saxony , Volume 1.2 .: City of Braunschweig , Part 2, p. 139
  2. ↑ a b Wolfgang Kimpflinger: Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany. Monuments in Lower Saxony , Volume 1.2 .: City of Braunschweig , Part 2, p. 140
  3. ↑ City Chronicle Braunschweig (see September 24, 1933)
  4. ↑ Information on the NSDAP district leadership
  5. ^ Municipal Tourist Office Braunschweig e. V. (Ed.): Guide through Braunschweig , 10., new edit. Edition, Heimatverlag E. Appelhans & Co., Braunschweig 1940, p. 13

Web links

Coordinates: 52 ° 15 ′ 22.4 ″  N , 10 ° 31 ′ 42.5 ″  E