Interiors Design/Architecture/Culture

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A Renovated Renaissance: Richard Riemerschmid's Modern Interiors for the Thieme House in Munich

Freyja Hartzell

To cite this article: Freyja Hartzell (2014) A Renovated Renaissance: Richard Riemerschmid's Modern Interiors for the Thieme House in Munich, Interiors, 5:1, 5-35

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/204191214X13944457108631

Published online: 27 Apr 2015.

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current bookproject examines of velvetinnineteenth-century nineteenth-century Berlin.Her how MunichdesignerRichard School forDesign,NewYork. ranging from thesignificance She haspublishedontopics Culture atParsonsTheNew Freyja HartzellholdsaPh.D. French fashionandinteriors in ArtHistoryfrom Yale and is currently aPost-Doctoral Fellow in Material & Visual Fellow inMaterial&Visual housewares, andclothing qualities ofK.F. Schinkel’s Riemerschmid’s interiors, [email protected] to thetheatrical,magical interior architecture and force areconception of modern design history.modern Biedermeier objectsin Volume 5,Issue 1 pp 5–36 Interiors Dürer, andmodernGermandesign –seemingly Germanart,includingthatofAlbrecht century exposes connectionsbetween earlysixteenth- Volkskunst, or“artofthepeople.”Thearticle Riemerschmid’s interiorsasamodernGerman cultural reformerHermannMuthesiushailed look andfeelofamodernGermanart– Germany’s pastplayedindeterminingthe as anexampleofthedefiningrolethat seminal ThirdGermanAppliedArtsExhibition, Thieme, displayedin1906atDresden’s Herrenzimmer (gentleman’s study)forCarl during theearly1900s.Itconsidershis approach tothedesignofmoderninteriors German designerRichardRiemerschmid’s apparently anti-modernforcesthatinformed ABSTRACT Freyja Hartzell Munich the ThiemeHousein Modern Interiorsfor Riemerschmid’s Renaissance: Richard A Renovated © BloomsburyPublishing Plc2014 Photocopying permitted bylicenseonly Reprints availabledirectly from thepublishers This articleexploresthe Printed intheUK

5 Interiors DOI: 10.2752/204191214X13944457108631

6 Interiors Freyja Hartzell exhibit the complete interior at Dresden in the summer of 1906, 1906, of summer autumn. the following the villa Munich Thiemes’ the in beforeit installing in Dresden at interior complete the exhibit to chose Riemerschmid company), insurance Munich a of director wealthy the Thieme, (Carl client private a for study the designed he a in interior domestic Herrenzimmer the – a gentleman’sfurnishing to workroom or approach study (Figure different 2). very Although a working-class familyfrom bondage to“badtaste.” reasonablydesigned, priced compressed it As feet. rationally the function, into form collapsed and planted form into decoration stubbornly its of toes upturned the together; it held supple that bowing of the pegs flexed legs upon whichthe it stood; andsurfaces; of the slightly its heads exposed patterned round, that the grain wood natural the in consisted The 1). (Figure room” of Riemerschmid’s with photograph a sturdy,in featuredsimple, as affordablefurniture, and households lower-income providing by design” “good ratize democ- to intended was machines, of aid the with fabricated nents and compo- standardized produced, sparsely serially from constructed efficiently furniture,” “machine Riemerschmid’s (1868–1957). line of furniture designed by the Munich artist Richard Riemerschmid the eyesofmiddle-classGermans. in predecessors nineteenth-century its outmoded but outnumbered only not art industrial twentieth-century progressive, time, first the among modern of sidelines network the vast Dresden’s to relegated were – exhibitions arts applied teriors – which had occupied positions of honor at previous German in- historicist and products Handcrafted stage. center nology,took tech- machine of use extensive the and celebrating objects, household furniture for designs modern strikingly Dresden, in Exhibition Arts Applied German Third the At design. point modern of history turning the a in witnessed Germany 1906, of summer the During Volkskunst, wood niture, design,Raumkunst,Richard modern Riemerschmid,Stube, KEYWORDS: Albrecht Dürer, GermanRenaissance,machinefur “room-art.” Munich, andinRiemerschmid’s modernRaumkunst, or prints, intheRenaissance-revivalinteriorsof1870s and asoulfulspiritualitythatwastraceableinDürer’s cultural character, embodyingbotharoughmateriality Munich. ThematerialofwoodsymbolizedtheGerman the visualandmaterialcultureoflatenineteenth-century strange bedfellowsthatwereaccommodatedthrough Alongside this rationalized revelation, Riemerschmid displayed displayed Riemerschmid revelation, rationalized this Alongside new a was program art Dresden’sindustrial of centerpiece The Wohn- und Eßstube – literally, a “living and eating Machine Chair Machine promisedChair Machine the liberate to Raumkunst ’s humble hints at ornament ornament at hints humble ’s , or “room-art.” For For “room-art.” or , - study’s historicizing furniture and the sleek the study’sand furniture historicizing the between contrast the as puzzling as just seem first at may ture” - furni “machine of inventor the by created interior model a in artist Renaissance a of image crafted meticulously 400-year-old, this of Self-portrait from theyear1500(Figure 4). Dürer’s Albrecht of reproduction lithographic a is wall wooden the against hanging system: root nation’scultural the into deeply more digs Wagner’s right to picture the nineteenth-century Wagner. But Richard composer, celebrated the of portrait a hangs cupboard, the right-hand portion of the photograph, directly to the left of a large In Germany’s heritage. of aspects specific to references direct into focuses them sharpening however, dwelling, old-fashioned an to allusions hazy these photograph, 1906 the in walls wood-paneled the at look closer A 3). (Figure 1870s the in designed room, living “old-German” an of revival rustic the in home at feel might chairs its and room, dining Renaissance-style century nineteenth- a suggest ceiling coffered and paneling wood dark Its elements formal and seem to perpetuate the nineteenth-century penchant for historicism. structural its of many and crafts, glorify to traditional appears woodwork on emphasis its rejected: exhibition The The presence, at a landmark exhibition of modern design in 1906, seems to champion everything that the Dresden the that everything champion to seems Herrenzimmer Richard Riemerschmid,MachineFurnitureProgramI,Living-DiningRoom(Wohn- undEßstube), Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern itself. Did itself. Chair Machine , or family or Wohnstube, designed in1905.2013VGBild-Kunst,Bonn. Figure 1

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8 Interiors Freyja Hartzell Richard Riemerschmid, Gentleman’s Study (Herrenzimmer) installed at the Third German Applied Arts Exhibition, Dresden, summer1906.InDirektorium derAusstellung(ed.),DasdeutscheKunstgewerbe1906,159. Art” foreveryday living–anAlltagskunst. Raumkunst of concepts German Kunstindustrie twentieth-century the in reincarnated was of vision The ject. not pro­ culture modernist emphatically an enabled Renaissance actually but informed which only in ways the explore and interior the German twentieth-century early the for assertion investigate this of implications will pages following The 6). 1906: (Naumann out” “rebuildwould machine” Albrechtof world the Dürer, from inside the it asserts that Riemerschmid’s furniture, animated by the “spirit of the riddle: a like something with readers its providespurchase for listed the which in catalog sales 1906 the answer, In era? faded a of spirit the to revive figures calculated and furnishings Riemerschmid’s of agenda and appearance avant-garde the reconcile to way a there is Or room? Renaissance his of anachronism apparent the in modernism fail Riemerschmid (“room-art” or interior art) to arrive at a “New German German “New a at arrive to art) interior or (“room-art” (applied art produced by industrial means) and and means) industrial by produced art (applied – art – rooted in the German Renaissance German the in rooted – art – Kunst 2013 VGBild-Kunst,Bonn. Machine Chair Machine Machine Chair Machine Figure 2 with with is is

general financialinstabilitylasting until1896. ensuing Gründerzeit riche nouveau the of dwellings new lavish the adorn to goods luxury especially kinds, a to led all of objects everyday for demand increased expansion an and boom building Economic industries. thriving their for known territories French Lorraine, and Alsace of annexation German as the well as francs, million five of payment indemnity French the by facilitated capital of availability real regarding very the was optimism endeavor German euphoric of sense general the Underpinning unification. of heels the on up sprouted that companies new many the for named was ers,” War.Franco-Prussian The the in 1871 unification as a result of pan-German collaboration and victory next by economic depression and social anxiety, and followed Germany’sspeculation euphoric by first characterized history, German in Born into a liberal, cultured Munich merchant family in 1868, 1868, in family merchant the Munich of child a was Riemerschmid cultured liberal, a into Born Vagueness andLoveinGründerzeitMunich financial instability stimulated it even further. As the French recovered Unification had fueled a pre-existing desire for a national style, and Gründerkrise (Gründer-crisis), an aftermath of recession and led directly to the historic market crash of 1873 and the and 1873 of crash market directlyhistoric led the to . But the wild financial speculation of the of speculation financial wild the But Gründer. Print ofGabrielvonSeidl’s “GermanLivingRoom”(DeutscheWohnstube), Munich,1876. , the speculators who founded the founded who speculators the Gründer, Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern Reproduced inGeorgHirth,DasdeutscheZimmerderRenaissance,45. , or “age of the found- the of “age or Gründerzeit, Gründerzeit 1 . This heady episode episode heady This . Figure 3

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10 Interiors Freyja Hartzell Albrecht Dürer, Self-portrait,1500,oilonboard. AltePinakothek,BayerischeStaatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, Germany. Photograph:bpk, Berlin/Art Resource, NY. Figure 4 tors employed the hybridized term “altdeutsche Renaissance” to to Renaissance” “altdeutsche term hybridized the employed tors decora- Renaissance,” “deutsche the to merely referring of instead long, Before 967–8). 1873: (Lübke ease and with attributes medieval vernacular “old-German” favored already encompass to it ing elasticized the “deutsche Renaissance,” in 1870s parlance, expand- liveliness,” and warmth native familiar “a even and freedom” ability, individual genius, “original by once at Lübke, Wilhelm historian architectural nineteenth-century the of words the in characterized, – intimate more been have to Renaissance German the believed they decor, and art Renaissance Italian of elegance and beauty the knowledged aristocratic life, but in the middle-class home. Although Germans ac- of atmosphere rarefied the in which just not flowered, had during culture and art period a as understood was Renaissance German 1870s the with parallels of number a present to seemed century sixteenth The livable. and – flexible more much something into corrupted quickly was style “pure” a for admiration an as began what but Renaissance; the of style the with fascination and historical of array an geographical meanings. Following unification, Germany developed a with Renaissance German in the fervor vested nationalistic – birth Dürer’s of anniversary 400th the as inherent, enduring,anduncontrivedinGermanculture. seemed which that celebrating by fashion French of elegance the opposed They class. middle and unpretentious as seen were ’60s decor and decorative objects available to Germans in the revived 1850s and The 224–30). 2009: 1994 Muthesius Muthesius S. 62; (H. [1902]: art German of epoch inaugural in the as described 1902 Muthesius, Hermann reformer design and architect uncle, great Muthesius’ which Gothic, German medieval late the to linked was “altdeutsch” designation the Muthesius, Stefan historian design to According imagination. Germanic the occupy to began new things all the with of fascination Germany,a founding the and 1851 Exhibition in Great Palace the Crystal London’s at between decades two the During interiors. domestic their in replicate to Germans culture-consciousright for epoch the as itself suggested had lived he which in age the public, the to opened first was Nuremberg in house Dürer’shalf-timbered re-establish industrialworld. Germanidentityinamodern, to way a for ever than deeply more past the scan to began culture freewheeling ex the the at of aftermath sobering the In counterparts. French their of pense values cultural German of ascendency the but power, military German of triumph the simply not signified had unification applied-arts German Germans, many For a downturn. financial by to weakened now industry threat a pose to continued British the market, luxury the on position their reclaim to began and war from But after 1871 – celebrated both as the year of unification and and unification of year the as both celebrated – 1871 after But Albrecht when century, nineteenth the of beginning the Since gemütlich , those with a stake in the fate of German of fate the in stake a with those Gründerzeit, , or cozy. This view of a German Renaissance Renaissance German a of view This cozy. or , Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern , or “old German,” “old or altdeutsch, Gründerzeit altdeutsche . Dürer’s . - -

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12 Interiors Freyja Hartzell Association unveiled the new “Munich Style” of interior decor at at decor interior of Munich’sPalace. Crystal Style” “Munich new the unveiled Association Applied-Arts Bavarian the Exhibition, Art-Industry the and at Art 1876, German 15, July On fabric. interior familiar cozily into yet – fresh, a vernacular naive its and self-awareness sophisticated its – and designers (S. Muthesius 2009: 265–8). architects, Munich’s artists, on influence decided a exerted interior in Germany, and the materials, colors, and textures that made up its was the first building vernacular type to undergo ethnographic study house peasant Alpine The outsiders. to Bavaria represent to came share of the Alps was relatively small, its Alpine material culture soon to retain and assert their native, regional culture. And while Bavaria’s strove Bavarians Berlin, in government central Prussian-based new the of face the in and unification German the to response In 1870s. the during Bavaria with synonymous became that decor interior of mixture of sophistication and naivety by concocting an “Alpine” style folklorists, artists, and architect-designers capitalized on this regional and and milky light. in room the bathed that window bottle-glass a and stove, heating large a of tiles ceramic lead-glazed the grain, wood coarse teristics: and a carved wood ceiling and emphasized certain material charac- walls, whitewashed paneling, pine untreated brown, light featured middle-class house through the sixteenth century. Seidl’s southern the of component standard a remained and 1300 around region, Alpine the Germany,including southern in popular become a essentially was – “Seidlzimmer” (Seidl-room) the as casually more to referred but Room), Living the titled officially – room Seidl’s Domesticity The Old-GermanStube:AModelforModern as the regional, well as museum, encyclopedic grand and house, coffee opera, the of culture cosmopolitan the visitors offered It alike. foreigners and Germans for destination tourist primary its and Alps the to gateway as the capital of the Bavarian kingdom. Munich served as Germany’s capital was conflated in public sentiment with its pre-existing position amounting to a local style. Munich’s status sophistication, and as simplicity present, the and past of united confection a Germany’sinto art vagueness, but also a much deeper love” (S. Muthesius 2009: 212). greatercozy, “a a towardsindicated accuracy pastiche old-German historical and purity stylistic from away shift this Muthesius, Stefan describe a composite, yet still thoroughly German, style of decor. To of thenewMunichmovement(seeFigure 3). ited a room at the 1876 exhibition that would become the touchstone Munich’s local designers wove the two strands of “Munich-ness” Munich’sof strands two the wove designers local The southern Bavarian city of Munich folded vagueness and love and vagueness folded Munich of city Bavarian southern The Bierkeller . As Stefan Muthesius has recently shown, Munich’s shown, recently has Muthesius Stefan As . altdeutsche Alpine vernacular of 2 Munich architect Gabriel von Seidl exhib- Seidl von Gabriel architect Munich Stube Deutsche Wohnstube Deutsche , a type of room that had had that room of type a , Lederhosen, Wohnstube (German (German Dirndl, ing above, along with the candle chandelier constructed from antlers basin hand-washing pewter mounted on the left wall, with its accompanying pewter kettle hang- The 5). (Figure table writing carved heavy,a scantily and chair” “Luther bow-legged a as well as wood, of also furnishings, few its and benches, wooden built-in its dows, win- bottle-glass its ceiling, and walls, floor, wooden characteristic Renaissance as understood contemporaries what displays study the of photograph nineteenth-century late A 1880s. and 1870s the in visitors for attraction particular Dürer’sa became house Nuremberg magnanimous. and ease, at content, warm-hearted, were ceremonious, and aloof reflected an individual, and by extension a family, who, far frommaterials being and construction Its homespun. homely,and plain, – cht The the furnished. sparsely chairs, generally was and tables, from wooden Aside benches, wooden ornamented. built-in minimally was tile-stove large Its bare. floors, wooden its and unornamented, were walls wooden its low, were ceilings wooden its elegance: stiff of opposite the was Stube self-fashioning owner’sand self-presentation. And yet the atmosphere of the south German house the of locus the it made amenities The street. the from Stube’sdirectly costly floor-to-ceilingnever wood – construction and state-of-the-art room vestibule, a another through or hallway, entered a always was it house; the of corner its enhance To timber. solid the insulation, of of powers made all were floor, ceiling Its and house. walls, half-timbered the of structure existing the within the windows, heat the abundant the of effects the counter and conserve tile-stove the by generated to order In nature construction. its the of was substance and characteristic evocative most perhaps and third but aspacewhere theymightentertainguests(Bedal2007:28). house; it was not just a room where the family could gather in private, bright Stube quickly became surprisingly the most and prestigious room warm in the late medieval pleasantly The daylight. of amounts generous unusually yielded that windows by punctuated richly also was it winter-proofwarmth, create to was function Stube’sprimary including working, reading, playing games, and eating. Although the the making thereby atmosphere, smoke-free clean, a guaranteed also it heat, radiant efficient more much provided only not tile-stove the hearth, a comfortable warmth in the winter (about 20 ºC). In place of an open Renaissance southern German house, the early and medieval late the in rooms ceramic-tiled other the to large, contrast In stove. a was feature central whose parlor heated a The second-floor study, or In addition to its tile-stove and ample fenestration, the the fenestration, ample and tile-stove its to addition In word The Stube comfort, based on the model of the the of model the on based comfort, Stube Stube the most desirable space for family activities, activities, family for space desirable most the , cognate with the English, “stove,” referred to to referred “stove,” English, the with cognate , was built as an outsized wooden cabinet set set cabinet wooden outsized an as built was was generally positioned in a back a in positioned generally was Stube Schreibstube Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern was, in a word, a in was, Stube Stube could be heated to (writing room), in Albrecht Stube altdeutsche , with its its with , Stube Stube schli- ’s

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14 Interiors Freyja Hartzell Photograph ofDürer’s Study(Schreibstube)inhishouseNuremberg, c.1896–98.TheSchlesingerLibrary, would mostlikelystandjustout ofview, tothesaint’s left. those recall Dürer’s in benches wooden built-in the Even plate. copper the into etched carefully been all have ceiling floor, and of texture walls, case the is Dürer’s in As windows. bottle-glass two from in streaming rays light” radiatingout from thenimbus about his head,but by themilky table with inverted U-shaped legs, he works, not merely by the “inner as Jerome stoops over a wooden writing stand placed on a wooden a anachronism, meticulous occupy,in Study His in Jerome the wash hishandsoftheoutsideworldandengageininteriorpursuits. could artist the where place a – study the of nature refined yet cal, practi- the to testify ceiling, fromthe dangled that wood carved and eval medi- late with features key its shared it truth, in Alps; Bavarian the Wohnstube Wohnstube Deutsche Dürer depicts this quiet, contemplative inner life – nurtured by by nurtured – life inner contemplative quiet, this depicts Dürer The tile-stove was a prominent feature of Gabriel von Seidl’s Seidl’s von Gabriel of feature prominent a was tile-stove The Stube’s “creature comforts” – in his copperplate etching of Stuben . While no tile-stove is visible in Jerome’sin visible is tile-stove no While Stube. , Jerome’s study is thoroughly woody: the grained grained the woody: thoroughly is Jerome’s study , Stube was thought to derive from a type of room found in in found room of type a from derive to thought was found across southern Germany (S. Muthesius 2003: 2003: Muthesius (S. Germany southern across found (Figure 6). The fifth-century saint seems to seems saint fifth-century The 6). (Figure , displayed at Munich in 1876. Seidl’s Seidl’s 1876. in Munich at displayed , Radcliffe Institute,Harvard University. very like Dürer’sown: like very Stube 3 , it Stube, Figure 5 Saint

Albrecht Dürer, StJeromeinHisStudy , 1514,engraving.TheMetropolitan MuseumofArt,Fletcher Fund, 1919 (19.73.68).TheMetropolitan MuseumofArt,NewYork, NY, USA.Image:©TheMetropolitan Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern Museum ofArt;source: ArtResource, NY. Figure 6

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16 Interiors Freyja Hartzell ing table in front of the tile-stove was laid for a casual family meal. family casual a for laid was tile-stove the of front in table ing window nook, were angled invitingly towards the visitor; and the din- bay- the into cozily fitted table, little the of side either on chairs the basin; hand-washing the to next ready hung towel a use: in room a Dürer’sboth by impression,given the fictional and actual work andwillshortlyreturntoit. desk, his from angle slight suggests that the artist has only moments before gotten up froma his at out pulled room, own Dürer’s in chair Luther the And arches. window the on distortion gay in them reproducing by unruly windows bottle-glass the of patterns regular the renders sun the Even abound. industry mental from results that disarray benign the of signs little desk, his behind wall the on place proper its in neatly hangs implement each while disorder: and order lived-in and livable qualities. Jerome’s room is a cozy coincidence of Seidlzimmer staged artfully The 1). Figure (see Dresden at 1906 in exhibit would Riemerschmid room furniture” “machine the to concept in identical a truth, in was, This “our forefathers enjoyed their lives in youthful freshness,” youthful in lives their enjoyed forefathers “our whose tile-stove acted as a true “comrade, warm with life” (Hirth (Hirth life” 172). 1880: with warm “comrade, true a as acted tile-stove whose first was was first the terms: descriptive two on hinged which discourse, applied-arts presentthe enlivening past living Munich’sa pervaded of notion The Munich Dialectic “Rough andSoulful”:Georg Hirthandthe the emphasize own his of photograph nineteenth-century room meantforeverydayliving. washed plaster above them – identified it as a simple, informal family bare pine floor and the untreated wood panels, along with the white- than a facsimile of sixteenth-century domesticity; still, its bones – the taste nineteenth-century of reflection better a however, was, ings, The Dürer’sto Jerome’sback, Saint further of and, etching Stube study. Dürer’s of photograph nineteenth-century the to directly traced may be window bottle-glass arched recessed, and basin, and kettle hand-washing paneling, wood natural floor, board simple Its 275). terms of contemporary needs and comforts, but but comforts, and needs contemporary of terms in livable simply not be should name, historicizing its despite which, “staged for a painter of genre paintings.” genre of painter a for “staged the that theatricality, remarked self-conscious observers and ease everyday of mixture ironic the Underscoring 276). the 2003: Muthesius (S. of concept aspects significant most the of one was “liveliness” of sensation personality.This and character by Unusually for an exhibition room in 1876, the Both Dürer’s etching of Saint Jerome’s study and the staged staged the and study Jerome’s Saint of etching Dürer’s Both - furnish elaborate more and ceilings high its with Seidlzimmer, derb set the tone for the the for tone the set , meaning rough, coarse, or earthy; and the second second the and earthy; or coarse, rough, meaning , , or living and eating room, eating and living or Eßstube, und Wohn- Wohnstube altdeutsche Renaissance altdeutsche altdeutsche Renaissance Renaissance altdeutsche 5 Here was a room where room a was Here seemed to have been been have to seemed Seidlzimmer echoed lively Seidlzimmer’s – animated animated – , of Stuben, 6 a room a Stube room, room, ’s 4

Seidlzimmer the of print a including interiors, contemporary and historical both of numerous times between 1880 and 1900, was filled with illustrations mensely popular manual on interior decoration, revised and reissued performed a dialectic. If If dialectic. a performed Renaissance: Hints on the Domestic Cultivation of Art). of Cultivation Domestic the on Hints Renaissance: Kunstpflege Häuslicher zu Anregungen published he 1880 in Renaissance late 1870s, Hirth became a major proponent of Munich’s was an acute observer of Munich’s cultural idiosyncrasies. During the Seidl. von Gabriel was light leading whose architects and artists Munich of group the by designed interiors Renaissance” “old-German new the in domesticity German timeless of “models” these located Hirth domestic German culture: of future the to imperative the and in past embedded Germanic time same the at were color of dashes its how described Hirth Georg publisher Munich the exhibition, 1876 the at Gemüt. Discussing the inspiriting imaginative, provided color saturated strong, of accents austere the materiality, import, suchasapaintingbyAlbrecht Dürer, wasgemütvoll. cultural transcendent of object an contrast, By surface. wood its of note the rough-and-ready construction of a chair or the coarse grain spiritual capacities of the mind or soul. The adjective noun the from stemmed hand, other the on foppish Frenchman and the regimented Prussian, in turn. the both of stereotypes the opposed it virtue: regional a as – acter celebrated Bavarians 274). decoration, associated with Munich in particular (S. Muthesius 2003: The pairedspecifically Bavarianapproacha evoked terms tointerior was Hailing from the state of Thuringia in the north of Germany,of Hirth north the in Thuringia of state the from Hailing (Hirth 1880:30) exist. already didn’t they if necessity, natural sheer, of sense a of out again over red-embroidered all invented be to the have would – tablecloth on jug stoneware blue deep the and wall, wooden golden-brown the against stove tile can’t sap-green I this – days” the mention just old I’ll – models these Yes,believe understand. I “good our from examples classic the with reconnect to seek don’t we if domesticity, warming our in heart- beautiful, cozy,modestly a circumstances at arrive can Germany frugal cold in living man, simple the How the interior, Munich new the Within gemütvoll Gemüt of Seidl’s whitewashed walls and pine panels, pine and walls Seidl’swhitewashed of Derbheit (see Figure 3). In the Munich Munich the In 3). Figure (see movement and the spokesperson for its designers; designers; its for spokesperson the and movement – full of feeling and imagination, or, literally, soulful. soulful. literally,or, imagination, and feeling of full – might be understood as its antithesis. Against Against antithesis. its as understood be might Seidlzimmer a few years after its appearance Das deutsche Zimmer der Renaissance: Renaissance: der Zimmer deutsche Das Derbheit – a casual roughness of char of roughness casual a – Derbheit Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern advanced a thesis of vernacular vernacular of thesis a advanced (The German Room of the the of Room German (The derb Wohnstube , referring to the to referring Gemüt, and the the and derb might con- , Hirth found found Hirth , altdeutsche Gemütvoll, gemütvoll 7 This im This - -

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18 Interiors Freyja Hartzell and kindlingthe “heartwarming”glowofGemütlichkeit . genius affective its reincarnating to key the as understood poraries the of – Gemüt century interiors. Rather, it channeled the creative spirit or soul – the nineteenth- to style Renaissance applying of process a simply not Munich’swas Hirth, design For domestic 31). 1880: (Hirth cheerful” together,it’sbecause and and [Gemütlich], cozy pleasant, beautiful, goes it way,because this me delights it “because say just to be than so,” it that dictates Renaissance German the “because say to he had arranged his room in a certain way, he would be far less likely it made that – affect emotional room’sand effecta aesthetic – colors and materials, forms, particular of associations symbolic the was it of sense a foster could room appointed fortably the mind or soul and coloring one’s physiological experience. A com- material with things, contact through evoked generally Though comfort. to relation Gemüt, etymological its through But “coziness.” as translated term German the in inherent was agent an now was it amenity: old-fashioned an than more become had stove the Renaissance der Zimmer Renaissance sixteenth-century the old-German Seidl’sof nineteenth-century of advent the by but function Stube, and purpose the defined had nexus of physical comfort in the half-timbered south-German house, the over presiding and heat smokeless radiating tile-stove, The cal. psychologi- and physical once at condition a as centuries the over was anecessity(Hirth1880:25). by up theories putting them these into domestic practice on northern soil warmed – where warmth had (Germans) “northerners” tion, decora- interior on theories academic “cool,” devised had (Italians) “southerners” while period, Renaissance the during that asserted he character; German Hirth’sto in key Warmthwas, the estimation, 10). 1880: (Hirth personality warm a with associated commonly one cultural history – could emit the same sort of expressive richness that gested, so a room – when modeled on this salient epoch in German character,”of “full sug- be Hirth might “character.”person a as Just of expression an was it “styles,” many of one than more something was Renaissance” “altdeutsche Hirth, For style. Munich the of sion Hirth’sinformed discus- that viewer’s – the eyes before right mated wanted to“liveagaininandthrough us”(Hirth1880:23). now century sixteenth the during lands the German the in in art of part rebirth significant a such played had who man great this that readers his assured he and resurrected,Dürer Albrecht of spirit the . Hirth writes that if one asked a cultured inhabitant why inhabitant cultured a asked one if that writes Hirth gemütlich. In the context of German domestic life, warmth had developed developed had warmth life, domestic German of context the In It was this sense of itself was a sense of well-being, originating in originating well-being, of sense a was itself Gemütlichkeit implied something far beyond mere physical mere beyond far something implied Gemütlichkeit Wohnstube

of coziness – a “comrade, warm with life.” Warmth life.” with warm “comrade, a – coziness of that Hirth and his contem- his and Hirth that Renaissance altdeutsche liveliness – the notion of a German past reani- and Hirth’s publication of of publication Hirth’s and (The German Room of the Renaissance), the of Room German (The Gemütlichkeit ; but Gemütlichkeit; , most frequently frequently most , Das deutsche deutsche Das

was in fact interior more than texture: wood brought color into the rings, knots,” and all (Hirth 1880: 65). The forest offered the German ity and character, for its peculiarities and deformities – “grain, annual Hirth people, proposed, at home in the forest,German loved natural wood for its personal- the And surface. natural its of irregularities tactile and visual the in unpredictablemanifested and was wildness, unrefined its in wood, the of spirit The wood. was parlor bourgeois the material that conducted the pulse of Nature most directly into the 20). Above all, Hirth prized natural materials in their natural state, and foregrounded the defining qualities of individual materials (Hirth 1880: that workmanship in emphasized was which “realness,” heightened a possess to seemed materials when time a was Renaissance the Gemüt this claimed, Hirth But, 15). 1880: (Hirth spirit artistic with werealive daily life had been held in high esteem, when even the smallest things studded his studded of dialectic set Munich To Art. the than rather Nature of works were figures and burls its still was wood warmth, its all for But interior. German the of able, andfamiliarassociationsitevoked. wood was “warm,” both chromatically and in the traditional, comfort- rays” (Hirth 1880: 101, 63). Like the warm with through shot … brown-yellows brown-greens,and reds, tones of mellow autumn light: “warm, juicy colors … browns, brown- varied now the all with color,interior as German understood the dappled wood, which in Brown,” of “Principle Hirth’s for platform the the domestic interior had become less about science and more more and science feeling. about about less become had interior domestic the in color of choice the 1800s, late the in writing was he time the by color-mixing), in pigment and light between distinction the on work theory of simultaneous color contrasts, and Hermann von Helmholtz’s physical Goethe’spsycho (including century nineteenth the of half first the in nineteenth-centurydesignersanddwellers(Hirth1880: 16–17). for light and color,” and it was Hirth’s project to reawaken this feeling feeling right “the possessed had Renaissance The paintings. panel that glowed from the surface of Jan van Eyck’s early fifteenth-century rich the to back dating practice, northern distinctly a was – “glorious, raw tones that Nature lent to the Renaissance color-world”those – color saturated bold, of use selective sparing, this that felt Hirth life. polychrome to print monochrome his brought tablecloth” “red-embroideredits and jug,” stoneware blue “deep its tile-stove,” the in exemplified woody were otherwise color brilliant of touches These accents. Hirth viewed the Renaissance as a period when the objects of of objects the when period a as Renaissance the viewed Hirth Wood was, for Hirth, both the principal color and primary material Although Hirth borrowed richly and openly from color theories of theories color from openly and richly borrowed Hirth Although of everyday things was rooted firmly in in firmly rooted was things everyday of Farbenlehre the color of the Prinzip des Braunen des Prinzip 8 But the nineteenth century’s sustained investigation century’ssustained nineteenth the But : Hirth’s“sap-greenSeidlzimmer: its of descriptions [Color Doctrine], Michel-Eugène Chevreul’s Chevreul’s Michel-Eugène Doctrine], [Color Derbheit altdeutsche Renaissance room, providing Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern and and (Principle of Brown) with gem-like with Brown) of (Principle Stube that it lined and furnished, Gemüt in motion, then, Hirth Hirth then, motion, in Derbheit Wohnstube; it . For Hirth Hirth For . cloisons derb - :

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20 Interiors Freyja Hartzell the Thiemes’ Thiemes’ the medieval late the Like private nature by situating it directly behind two more public spaces. room wasalivewithitsownrobust, indigenouscolor. old-German new the in material each antiquarian: but anything was rainbow a advocating from scheme for the German him interior, his vision of a revivified Renaissance precluded Brown” of “Principle Hirth’sThough books. pattern and manuals taste latest the through thumbed they as wallpapers, brilliant and upholstery, rich carpets, vibrant with pulsating surroundings domestic their envision to ers homemak- allowed known, especially were Munich and Nuremberg in firms which for lithography, color of technology new the 1870s, (Figure 8). This traditional enfilade emphasized the the emphasized enfilade traditional This 8). (Figure roomslarger two receptionthe throughsmall areaconnected a that reached the one house, the entering After 1902–3. in villa Munich Thiemes’ the at installed and designed Riemerschmid that – Eßstube und Wohn- upscale somewhat a – room dining family live-in the Speisezimmer, 1904: 256). Muthesius (H. cooking” home “hearty like Muthesius, to according tremulous shell-pinks and dusty golds, Riemerschmid’s colors were, delicate, Rococo-influenced forms of French Art Nouveau. In contrastintricate, to their and colors fragile almost soft, the from distinct so and German identifiably was that people the of art modern a – who after Paris 1900 began earnestly to search for a new red for his interiors around 1900 resonated with Hermann Muthesius, down intoasingle,gracefulreincarnationofrusticprototype. wood of expanses broad whittling and fields into color of touches lover’sSeidl’sreversed Riemerschmid exploding room,proportions, Chair Musician’s sense of old-German a conveyed – tendrils Jugendstil its despite – room this wallpaper, meadow-green its and carpet its of reds Alpine the With 7). (Figure 1900 in Universelle Exposition Paris the at displayed he that interior to clothe the walls and floor of his Room of an Art Lover, the modern of palettes nous shades in striking new ways. He extended Seidl’s lively accents complementary bold, Munich’s the nineteenth-century neo-Renaissance, deploying their lumi- adapted Riemerschmid for theThiemeHouse “Hearty HomeCooking”:Riemerschmid’s DiningRoom began to appear in women’s fashions and domestic interiors. 1856, intensely bright synthetic colors in previously unknown shades literature of Hirth’s day. After the invention of the first chemical dye in design the in color with preoccupation the for groundwork the laid had operation its and color of power affective,physiological the into Riemerschmid’s meaty colors fortified the decor of Carl Thieme’s Carl of decor Riemerschmid’s the fortified colors meaty Riemerschmid’sHirth’sof adaptation green,full-bodied and blue, Speisezimmer by passing first through a salon and next Speisezimmer added the necessary dash of of dash necessary the added Gemüt to which Riemerschmid’s plain wooden Stube was not only situated at a protective protective a at situated only not was and its subsequent reinterpretations, reinterpretations, subsequent its and . In the art art the In . Derbheit Speisezimmer Volkskunst 9 By the ’s

Richard Riemerschmid,RoomofanArtLover,ExpositionUniverselle,Paris,1900. DeutscheKunstund Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern Dekoration, 7(Oct.1900):26. Figure 7

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22 Interiors Freyja Hartzell Richard Riemerschmid,TheThiemeHouse(viewfrom theSpeisezimmerintoreception area), designed in1902/3.MünchnerStadtmuseum,Munich,Germany. 2013VGBild-Kunst,Bonn. avant-garde textile was practically an abstract painting in its own own its in painting abstract an practically was textile avant-garde reds, blues, Alpine greens, and golds, was hearty set ablaze by in the sparkling lights. in This brilliant already (visible 8), Figure carpet of large foreground a the decoration, ceiling the beneath directly Positioned vines. circletsleafy interlacing of with stenciled medallion painted colorfully a from stemmed lilies luminous These blossom. burning each of center the formed petals, the beyond daringly ing extend- itself, bulb the that so petals, glass in sheathed and ceiling the into directly mounted were bulbs light small of rings intersecting illumination by installing an artful arrangement of electric fixtures: two Nature’s on improved Riemerschmid villa’sfloor. But groundthe on German the process oftransformation. and warmth, light, plentiful – comfort chological psy- and physical of hallmarks its maintain to century,striving while old-fashioned the re-envisioned had family dining. In his conception of this to addition in play and work accommodate to designed room, ing liv multipurpose a as functioned but door,street the from remove The ’s southern exposure meant that, like the old- the like that, meant exposure Speisezimmer’s southern Wohnstube, it claimed the brightest natural light of any room Speisezimmer, Riemerschmid Wohnstube – throughout – wood for the twentieth twentieth the for Figure 8 -

or blue, which dominate in nature” (Bezold 1876: 195). 1876: (Bezold nature” in dominate which blue, or explaining that red “forms a good pair with either of the colors green complementary colors as he found them in his natural surroundings, championed Bezold 1870s. the during Munich in active been had Hirth, like who, Bezold, color von the Wilhelm physicist by Bavarian of also theories but palette, Nature’s from paints its borrowing “color-world”Renaissance a Hirth’sof by vision only not supported was Nature to Riemerschmid’shomage light. natural of effects the approximate to these pairing tone, cool its and warm its both vided pro Riemerschmid employed, he hue each For vegetation. cooler border’sthe against burst bubbles yellow and orange, red, volcanic of pool central a buds, red diamond-shaped by punctuated vines stylized green and blue in patterned frame geometric a within right: tile-stove, tiles were still present in Riemerschmid’s in present still were tiles tile-stove, of thelivingflame. crackle and resurrectedflicker still) morethe hygienic (while solution twentieth-century Riemerschmid’s but fire; of element kinetic the altogether concealing and containing dirty, by fireplace open smoky medieval late The function. ian of Riemerschmid’s modern heating unit as a direct result of its utilitar tile-stove, were now brought to life in the shifting, shimmering plates the of surface motionless the from reflected had centuries several over which camaraderie, and warmth of associations The eye. the amuse and heart the cheer to light activating and dispersing ously simultane while heat of emission welcome the to ear the alerting together, clinked and swayed plates suspended the curtain, brass the through passed air tile-stove’swarm As shiny,tiles. lead-glazed plates both assumed and enhanced the aesthetic function of the old heater’s brass the linked of surfaces reflective raised, the tile-stove, in a single, practical, yet artistic, solution. Standing in for the old-German the united cover unit heating Riemerschmid’s right). lower 8, Figure (see wall the against windows, south-facing the posite with glass beads – that covered the steam heating unit stationed op- Heizkörperverkleidung – the glimmering brass plates strung together arching entrance, the glinting brass hardware of the furniture, and the room’sthe supported that columns brass-clad two the joining light, was not simply a material bearer of color, but a reflector and emitter of he needs,” one writes, “tobecomehappyenoughtodance”(Scheffler1901:196). all is “it – beings human upon magic universal of kind a working as conjunction color natural this acknowledged too, upon exercises every human sky,being” (Bezold 1876: 196). In cloudless 1901, critic a Karl Scheffler, under green, fresh with covered landscape a which … influence “magic a applied decor,exerted interior when to frequently), least red and nature in frequently most to Bezold, the combination of red, blue, and green (green appearing Although the modern steam heater had displaced the traditional the displaced had heater steam modern the Although Illuminated by the electric ceiling fixtures, the Stube ’s dual amenities of light and warmth warmth and light of amenities ’s dual had solved the problemthe the of solved had Stube Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern Speisezimmer’snorth Speisezimmer carpet Speisezimmer 10 According Stube’s - - - .

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24 Interiors Freyja Hartzell 1870s reincarnations. medieval late the from first familiar basin hand-washing the – “wall-fountain” a corners Speisezimmer’s the of one at formed modern, wallcovering, a ornamental modestly as and hygienic, instead deployed and stove, the their comrade, from former stripped though tiles, ceramic the finally, and interiors; element that Seidl had admired and employed repeatedly in his own Alpine the of feature a been had too, wall, whitewashed the in quoted version of the convention begun in the late medieval in several ways: the built-in wooden seating was a formally reductive Seidl’son itself patterned arrangement This wall. upper unornamented smooth, the to yielding before level eye at room the Above built-in wooden benches, violet-glazed stoneware tiles circled effect and affect of the interior: “massive constructions of timber,” of constructions “massive interior: the of affect and effect the defined such as materials of presence very the that argued had wooden wardrobe stood out like a hard fact (Figures 9 and 10). Hirth the and glinting furniture plates of the steam heater’s seating brass curtain, the salon’s the stocky of appliqués golden and upholstery the Speisezimmer salon, Thiemes’ the for scheme Riemerschmid’s in pearance feeling” hithertoreserved for Gemüt. fined “rough” Munich crafted with masterful skill and precise calculation, refined and rede- wereconfigurations hypnotic swirling, whose inlays, intricate its and mahogany the of glow warm red the But flaws. its even figures, and and solely produced grain, natural its with complete wood, of was character the by inherently impact aesthetic overall its hardware, was undoubtedly sideboard the sense, one In grain. Riemerschmid’s wood of ness” “loveli characteristic the accentuated indeed Sohn, & Kohlbecker construction, meticulously executed by the Munich carpentry firm of puzzle-like whose panels, intarsia of set unique a framed door net the wooden benches that lined the of culmination a and extension an as both sideboardacted massive The assertion. Muthesius’ particularized and concretized wall, east the on stationed sideboard, mahogany imposing centuated in his furniture” ac (H. Muthesius even 1904: and 276). Riemerschmid’smore, once seen be to wood-grain the of loveliness credited him with being the first modern designer to “allow the sheer effect”and artistic to materials of surfaces plain the of “elevation his for 1904 in Riemerschmid commended Muthesius distinctions. their although Nature seemed now to be drawing so close to Art as to blur – wood natural still was representative material its and Wohnstube, Derbheit of requirements the satisfy to enough than more were This “gemütvoll” This These diverse, yet harmonious interactions of color and light light and color of interactions harmonious yet diverse, These was still palpably present in Riemerschmid’s modernized modernized Riemerschmid’s in present palpably still was ’s Renaissance-style benches; the simple Seidlzimmer’sthe benches; Renaissance-style ’s more elegant counterpart. Amidst the plush red red plush the Amidst counterpart. elegant more ’s derb: in addition to its simplified, rough-hammered made an unexpected and striking ap- striking and unexpected an made Derbheit Derbheit, inflecting it with the “imagination and 11 Speisezimmer’s walls. Each cabi- Stube and again from its its from again and Speisezimmer Stube and then . But Gemüt. Wohnstube , an Stube, ’s - -

(H. Muthesius 1904: 283). But the German simple resented For Hermann Muthesius, all of Riemerschmid’s Thieme interiors rep- the PoeticsofWood A Forest intheLivingRoom:CarlThieme’s Studyand Gemüt thatelevatedheartinessto“heart andsoul.” of infusion this was it hearty, it made – presence material staunch wardrobe’sthe While furniture. modern of piece single of model mother-of- these directly feeling” and “imagination stance, instilled fragments pearl defiant “tough,” its with conjunction In its – salon the of soul the flected re - “eyes” wardrobe’sopalescent the peering, doors, wooden plain ingly shock- – context showier this in especially – were doors flat simple, mahogany the with sideboard’s figuredelaborately cupboards, wardrobe’s magnolia the compared And 153). 1880: (Hirth elements” reality,representationalpowerful any their excluded “in example, for derb and powerfully “real.” But within the sober expanses of its Richard Riemerschmid,TheThiemeHouse(Salon),designed1902/3.MünchnerStadtmuseum,Munich, , synthesizing Munich’s old-German dialectic in a in dialectic Munich’sold-German synthesizing Derbheit, – the art of the German people German the of art the Volkskunst– Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern back upon its occupants. its upon back – Gemüt Herrenzimmer that Riemerschmid – its – Derbheit this within Germany. 2013VGBild-Kunst,Bonn. Figure 9

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26 Interiors Freyja Hartzell Richard Riemerschmid,wardrobe fortheThieme HouseSalon,designed1902/3.MünchnerStadtmuseum, Munich, Germany. 2013VGBild-Kunst, Bonn. Figure 10 what Stefan Muthesius has called “plain pine,” but to the way in in way the to but pine,” “plain called has Muthesius Stefan what Renaissance 298). 1906: (Rée young” forever now is and here, itself renewed has old was which that that sense We home. us calls it song, folk old an Like songs. sensibility, which has much in common with what lives on in our folk poetic his shows “Riemerschmid 1906, in Rée Johannes Paul Nuremberg critic the wrote “Here,” interior. German the of material the tangible in reveled the have to appear Riemerschmid and Dürer Both lectern. from the desk at which the industrious saint is bent over his wooden form its derive to seems too, desk, work Riemerschmid’smassive study. modern Riemerschmid’s of photograph 1906 the in panels wall pine the to resemblance in uncanny an panels bears Jerome’sstudy St ceiling pine the of rendering meticulous Dürer’s fact, In the fourteenth-century evoked the of room “box” Thieme’s incubating wood-lined Carl refer fully of of walls point wood its grainy for the history ence: into further delve to Riemerschmid’s seemed wall, study whitewashed the of convention Alpine the Renaissance 1870s Seidl’s to – back effortlessly visitor harked the have awaited would cloth embroidered white a in covered table wooden a where benches, wooden with corner eating built-in cozy in wood, the room’s Renaissance-style back stools – nestled into its illuminated byevenlyspacedelectricfixtures. ceiling brass coffered a with crowned was space entire the tones, woody earthy, room’sotherwise the counter to if accents as by and brass; only of interrupted were wood and leather of expanses subdued upholstery.The leather natural the with harmonized wood been in Seidl’s at work in this man’s room, where color was even scantier than it had into the German living room.” Naumann observed, Friedrich that the critic German forest and seemed to have politician “moved the as here, was it German: dwelling Herrenzimmer The hung. Dürer’sportrait where – wall adjacent the against stood cupboard wooden heavy broad, a while desk wall, wooden one abutted Renaissance-style wooden large the pine; larch in floor-to-ceiling of paneling out grew bookshelves and cabinetry built-in its Herrenzimmer The wood. leather,and elephant brass, materials: primary three to himself limited Riemerschmid study the in inlays, stained intricately and velvets, rich accents, painted colorfully their with room, dining rooms for the previous Thieme family. Riemerschmid’s In of contrast to the any salon and family than living- “German” “simpler” overtly more arguably and was 1905 in Thieme Carl for design to began The lively texture of Riemerschmid’s revived revived Riemerschmid’s of texture lively The Had Riemerschmid chosen to coffer the coffer to chosen Riemerschmid Had

room was due not simply to the predominance of of predominance the to simply not due was room Derbheit was far woodier than either of the previous rooms: rooms: previous the of either than woodier far was Wohnstube revived Hirth’s image of the wood-loving, forest- wood-loving, the of image Hirth’s revived Wohnstube three decades earlier, and the naked pine , the characteristic roughness, of wood as as wood of roughness, characteristic the , . But where Seidl’s room had featured featured had room Seidl’s where But . 12 Hirth’s “Principle of Brown” was hard Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern Herrenzimmer’sceiling altdeutsche altdeutsche altdeutsche altdeutsche . Stube -

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28 Interiors Freyja Hartzell less thanGemüt : to allusions all tempered It “artless.” or undesigned, naive, as Riemerschmid’sroom view to the But sign. a to palpable amounted furniture and walls tactile Riemerschmid’s The was. of it way roughness the was felt it way the And felt. it way the was looked it way The 276). 1904: Muthesius (H. personality ant” downright this of surface “physiognomy”: its textured to amounted doors cupboard Riemerschmid’s characteristically in the “thing Muthesius, Kantian the For thing, itself.” real the to was pointed it skin bare wood’s self-referential: The itself. wood the of presence material of process the in instead itself revealed but up,” “dressing from not resulted beauty that response: Modernist unmistakably an elicited had room Renaissance-revival century’s “bare skin”(Gmelin1906–7:75). superficial layer or “dress,” the exposed wood grain was the wood’s a as acted ceiling brass-clad the While substrate.” structural its with “entirelyrelief,fused now surface grainy the of description second a a longer no was process of applying, but instead of stripping away,decoration was sustained by here that implication The 67). 1990: itself, while at the material same time the laying bare of its internal structure” out (Menke decoration coaxes It effect. artistic to them ing of the charms and idiosyncrasies that Nature has given it and exploit- nique exposed the expressive “soul” of the wood, drawing from it “all like “aweathered signpost”(Gmelin1906–7:75). impact of this new “brushed” wood was, however, antique: it looked visual the sandblasting; of that to similar result the found critic One relief. raw in out stood beneath the grain denser,wood textured deeply and away scoured was surface smooth soft, wood’s the that so “brushed,” been having as literature contemporary in described were cupboard’ssurfaces The pine 11). (Figure exhibition 1906 the Riemerschmid received significant attention in the press surrounding an modeled doors, eye-catching effectdouble-paneled of modern machine-assisted carpentry for which its of panel square center the each at of unabashedly set bosses prominent four its of each electric-powered study’sThe with cupboard,71). brawny an 1990: robust, (Menke lathe of aid the with crafted been had legs the on back stools’ seats and backs, while the stylized multiple-ball turnings the of corners neat and planes flat the ensured had planer surface Thieme’s Carl of the construction throughout felt still was machine modern the of presence the the of fabrication the in used that like process tion producserial - a in standardizedcomponents producedas were not stools back the of elements the While worked. was pine that which ­ nineteenth- the of revival twentieth-century Riemerschmid’s The noted how this modern tech- modern this how noted Newspaper Illustrated Leipzig Derbheit – simple and rustic, like a weather-beaten wooden checked any temptation any checked Journal Carpenter’s German derb surface communicated the cupboard’s “defi cupboard’s the communicated surface through a description of nothing of description a through Derbheit Herrenzimmer dressing, in the stark the in undressing, . An electric-powered electric-powered An . Machine Chair, Machine - and technique. Despite all fitness for purpose, comfort, and and comfort, purpose, for fitness all Despite technique. and beauty material sheer transcends art his the that proof sufficient of dreams delivers he wondrous study this in but the live; Nights” One and “Thousand where Art, of Crown place the no has in work a as whose architect, Riemerschmid middle-class of modern, thinking to used become has One Richard Riemerschmid,cupboard fortheThiemeHouseStudy, designed 1905/6.MünchnerStadtmuseum, Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern Munich, Germany. 2013 VGBild-Kunst,Bonn. Figure 11

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30 Interiors Freyja Hartzell hung in Riemerschmid’s exhibited room as a symbol of cultural cultural of symbol a as room exhibited Riemerschmid’s in hung have also might – age new a of dawn the mark to taken been has past. the Dürer’sof art fine and music, literature, by represented culture, artistic national expansive more a to study Riemerschmid’swoody linking as icons cultural German of portraits these of selection the cisely, did they suggest? The pre- what, and exhibition, Dresden the at hang to chosen Wagner and Dürer of images were why But retrospect. in suggestive more even appear Dresden’s lithographs made hung, pictures no where Thieme’s Carl of panels wood bare the subsided, had exhibition Dresden the of fanfare the after Munich in home At “From theInsideOut”:Dürer’s World Rebuilt ( art everyday Renaissance German a modern This 24–5). 1906: (Haenel creation” artistic individual an of character the retain should an picturesfixtures; be rugs, lightshould and they and furniture with up filled doors, and windows walls, and ceiling of and ate, made music and slept” should not be a “haphazard “worked system he which in rooms The moods. and thoughts his nature, 26–7). 1906: the comfortable room, it has become room-art [Raumkunst]” (Haenel has become the art of interior design, it has become the technique of architecture,and art art “applied rapprochementapplied which of in a workofart. of instead but furniture, machine his was as art), producedapplied (industrially Riemerschmid’s culture, artistic Herrenzimmer German of touchstone Renaissance the the to as referring and client, and artist of sensibilities aesthetic the encompassing design, its of scope the within tecture Embracing not only the furnishings but also the room’s interior archi- Alltagskunst wenthandinhand. century, twentieth the in again of Renaissance, believed the had Hirth as Just 27). 1906: (Haenel room-art” as art housewares: its of all and house his through breathes that breath invigorating the as art his feel will he instead, drawers; within served have con- not and files clean nice will in up packed … or wall the man on framed art his modern “the machine, the of age the in so Renaissance, the in As life. daily in embedded was art and colors, jewel-like with burned room each constituted that materials natural The Dresden exhibition catalog describes this new art form as a as form art new this describes catalog exhibition Dresden The Arcadia ofmusic,painting,andscience. an in here ourselves find we that all above confirm Wagner Dürer and Richard of likenesses hung suggestively and The richness ease. of one is effect ultimate room’s the coziness, of 1500 – a painting that, throughout its history,its throughout that, painting a – 1500 of Self-portrait , spatial art or “room-art”: the room itself was itself room the “room-art”: or art spatial Raumkunst, was the mirror of the inhabitant’speculiar the of mirror the was Raumkunst design was not a simple example of of example simple a not was design Raumkunst German Carpenter’s Journal interprets revitalized Hirth’s vision of of vision Hirth’s revitalized Alltagskunst 13 organism Raumkunst Herrenzimmer ) in which the the which in ) Kunstindustrie … they … and and ,

of self-reference is disarmingly disarmingly is self-reference of wood’sthe uncover to back peeled was Dürer’sroughskin, gesture bodily his of center mantle the outer Riemerschmid’ssmooth Like whose cupboard,being. – self material his of engine physical the heart, his at points he speaking, Anatomically once. at all point and touch fingers Dürer’s 160). 1993: (Koerner ‘self’” his into as body his toward inward him draws it sitter’sinteriority; the signals fur the “Touchingwrites. Koerner touches,” he what in but sees he what in the thing in itself – or, in this case, 1993:160–86). as theself(Koerner reference to a the painter’s and own physical, illusionism material presence – the dog-deceiving body painting’s the of reminder a once at is touch the gesture: two-fold a is substance voluptuous the of Dürer’s Koerner, touching For lapel. furry his of fingering sensuous and fur in the 1500 hair of significance the explored has Koerner Joseph historian Art life. material authentic, individual, possess to seemed coat, his of of hair on the artist’s head, as well as each blade of fur on the border Renaissance and to modern eyes alike was the way that each strand mistaken his master’s likeness for the master himself. Remarkable to having the surface, portrait’s the that licking found reported once was was dog painter’s it time, Dürer’s In fascination. compulsive Self-portrait interior.its contents,andforthemodern carried an even more pointed meaning for Riemerschmid’s study, for Dürer’sproject,renovation material and likeness spiritual this of text con- the within But world. his of reconstruction the overseeing if as wall Riemerschmid’swood-paneled from peered Dürer forefathers. ers who wanted to renew and quite literally re-form the world of their design- German twentieth-century by appropriation for ripe ­rebirth, Riemerschmid’s mirror, the barrier of “likeness”: the thing – body and soul – is in itself. of to the woody heart of before, now pointing Dürer’smotions, mimicked furniture, modern Riemerschmid’s in play at dialectic, “old-German” The substance. to what is before and simultaneously what lies within. His gesture equates points surface with Dürer self-imaging, of act his In surface. are collapsed on the hard wood panel that constitutes the painting’s spirit viewer,and the matter for – invisible – dematerialized is which but barrier physical real, a painter the for erected mirror,which the of virtue By soul. or spirit, the of housing material the was it flesh: of lump a or organ functional a than more as understood was heart the shown, has Koerner as however, 1500, nothing year the am In “I flesh.” but responds, man the wood,” but nothing am “I tion, Gemüt Dürer points to what is (in his painter’shis (in Düreris what to points mirror) directly before him: Dürer’s of detail painstaking and naturalism breathtaking The Animating this new “self” was the spirit of the machine. In In machine. the of spirit the was “self” new this Animating . But Riemerschmid’s modernist synthesis removes the the removes synthesis modernist Riemerschmid’s But . have, ever since its creation, made it the object of of object the it made creation, its since ever have, , with Dürer’swith Herrenzimmer, emblem, its as likeness Self-portrait, drawing special attention to Dürer’s Derbheit, and now within, to the ineffable soul Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern derb himself. But “Dürer is absorbed not . To the cupboard’s declara cupboard’s the To . -

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32 Interiors Freyja Hartzell 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Notes a thing”(Hirth1880:30). words, a “new creature, which one creates in his heart, in the form of often mundane, the paradoxically,in must, that externalized – be heart or tions on the artwork as something German Room of the Renaissance, George Hirth cited Dürer’s so, reflec - countryman, conversely,sixteenth-century Dürer had glimpsed the “life” modern of the thing. In his of spirit Renaissance the breathed modernism Riemerschmid’stwentieth-century as just But their creator to become themselves authentically, irreducibly present. the of but them, designed who artist the of portraits werenot artworks modern tical, presence” of the objects he designed (Koerner 1993: 186). His prac- irreducible and “authentic the from but however, presence, artistic own his from not arose art German works,” of notion his Riemerschmid’snew in artist the of presence irreducible and authentic the upon founded one Germany, in art of notion new a of inventor as 281–6). While Koerner stresses that “Dürer was conscious of his role 1906: (Rée art Riemerschmid’s to life give that themselves” things the of “nature the is Dürer,it with case the was as that, writes Rée Paul master,” “old the with Riemerschmid comparing In art. his to life gave internalized, and felt nature’sobjects, him: touched which the that Dürer, but touched, he For which that simply 6). not been had 1906: world natural (Naumann naturalness” living a as of but rebirth constructs, social ossified of rejuvenation artificial an as nor notions, in antediluvian leftover, not of – ‘Renaissance’ out a of inside sense the the from Dürer Albrecht of world the “rebuild could machine” the of spirit the by “animated furnishings new-old 276). 2003: Muthesius S. in quoted and (translated 18 1876: Duncker 276). 2003: Muthesius S. in quoted and (translated 17 1876: Bucher Figure 3. in reproduced print the of scope the beyond is room, exhibition the of photographs period in present though table, dining The in hisessayontheStube,Bedal2007:29. employs Bedal Konrad Franz vonLenbach. and Stuck von Franz painters Munich the others, many among Great the Exhibition at the Crystal of Palace in London. Its members year included, the 1851, in founded been Applied-Arts had Association) (Bavarian Kunstgewerbeverein Bayerischer The Gründerzeit isLauferandOttomeyer2008. 1986: Heskett the of see culture material the on arts, resource valuable Another 13–18. applied German of production and the of discussion further For reality of the material world. The artwork was, in Dürer’sin was, artwork The world. material the of reality derb . They eclipsed the presence of presence the eclipsed They themselves. things as a comparison a as Hieronymus heilige Der ’s impact on the design the Gründerzeit’son impact Gemütvoll – a product of the soul The

13. 12. 11. 10. Bedal, Konrad. 2007. “Wohnen wie zu Dürers Zeiten: Stuben Stuben Zeiten: Dürers zu wie “Wohnen 2007. Konrad. Bedal, References 9. 8. 7. und Wohnräume in süddeutschen, ins besondere fränkischen fränkischen besondere ins süddeutschen, in Wohnräume und Tischlerzeitung, 51 (1912): 404. Cited in Menke 1990: 70, n. 159. schmid’s contribution to the 1906 Dresden Riemer exhibition. discussing article 1912 a from taken is passage This Naumann’s phrase iscitedinUmbach2009:157,n.41. Menke 1990:43–50. Beate Menke gives a detailed account of the Thieme interiors in notes Edward C. Pickering (Boston: Prang and Co., 1876), 195. American ed., rev. and enlarged, trans. S.R. Koehler, introd. and Theory of Color in Its Relation was to Art and , it Art-Industry authorized Bezold, and von Wilhelm 1874 See 1876. in by English into translated German in theory his published Bezold textiles. printed for designs his in use their reinstating and – 1876 and 1875 during dyes of development the on especially focusing – dyes, including indigo vegetable and madder,redeveloping at by his eras Staffordshire bygone dyeworks of colors “faded” the recreate to obsessively worked who Morris, William of chagrin from manufactured be the century.to to mid-nineteenth much the all in was tar This coal begun had dyes chemical Bright Symbolism (Gage1999). the arts, see John Gage, to application its in especially science, color of pioneers these published in 1852 and soon translated into French. For more on was mixing color on article Helmholtz’sfundamental Chevreul. of that eclipsed physi effectively had Helmholtz and von Hermann ologist physicist German of work the 1850s, late the By 1854. in Arts the to Applications Their and Colours, of Contrast as English into translated was colorés objets des l’assortiment de et study, mental the colors of dyes used in its tapestries; he published his monu- during the 1820s at the French Gobelins manufactory worked to perfect Chevreul Michel-Eugène Chemist 1810. in published color,was to response psychological or emotional the treated Goethe’svon Wolfgang Johann terms. scientific than rather emotional Wohnung in color der discusses also 1871), Ausstattung und Decoration die über work, Hause. im known Kunst better and subsequent Falke’s von Jakob (i.e. non-historicist)interiors.SeeHirth1899. contemporary on section special a includes 1899, in published edition, final the decor; historical of periods various on sections Renaissance der of editions various the augments Hirth De la loi du contraste simultané des couleurs couleurs des simultané contraste du loi la De

throughout the 1880s and 1890s, adding adding 1890s, and 1880s the throughout Geschichte und kritisch-ästhetische Studien Studien kritisch-ästhetische und Geschichte Color and Meaning: Art, Science, and Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern The Principles of Harmony and Harmony of Principles The , in 1839, and the work work the and 1839, in , , which also which Farbenlehre, Das deutsche Zimmer Zimmer deutsche Das Deutsche (Falke (Falke The Die Die ­ -

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34 Interiors Freyja Hartzell Falke, Jakob. 1871. Jakob. Falke, Duncker, D. 1876. Bucher, B. 1876. von. Wilhelm Bezold, Heskett, John. 1986. 1986. John. Heskett, Kunstgewerbe In “Raumkunst.” 1906. Deutsche Erich. Haenel, III. “Die 1906–7. Leopold. Gmelin, Gage, John. 1999. it, Georg. Hirth, Laufer, Ulrike, and Hans Ottomeyer (eds). 2008. 2008. (eds). Ottomeyer Hans and Ulrike, Laufer, Leo. Joseph Koerner, 1899. Georg. Hirth, Lübke, Wilhelm. 1873. 1873. Wilhelm. Lübke, Muthesius, Hermann. 1904 (April). “Die Kunst Richard Riemer Richard Kunst “Die (April). 1904 Hermann. Muthesius, 1990. Beate. Menke, Muthesius, Hermann. 1994 [1902]. [1902]. 1994 Hermann. Muthesius, München. Berlin:C.Duncker. in München 1876. Vienna: Verlag Oestereichisches Zentralkomité. Boston: PrangandCo. author.the revisedby edition, enlarged American and Authorized Pickering. C. Edward by notes and introduction Koehler,an with Art-Industry and Art to des GermanischenNationalmuseums. Forschung. Dürer Forschungen , vol. 1: 28–60. Nuremberg: Verlag Franz Sonnenberger (eds), Bürgerhaus des späten Mittelalters.” In G. Ulrich Grossmann and 1906, 23–8.Munich:Verlagsanstalt F. Bruckmann. Dresden Ausstellung Kunstgewerbe Deutsche Dritte Die 1906: Ausstellung: DieDresdner.” KunstundHandwerk,57(3):73–7. Press.Berkeley andLosAngeles:UniversityofCalifornia der Wohnung DruckundVerlag. Vienna: Ausstattung vonCarlGerold’s und Sohn. Decoration die über Studien ästhetische Taplinger PublishingCompany. Chicago Press. Art Renaissance German from KarlRosner. MunichandLeipzig:G.HirthsVerlag. Gegenwart Anregungen zu Häuslicher Kunstpflege. Munich: G. Hirths Verlag. 1848–1871: Industrie & Lebensträume zwischen Vormärz und Kaiserreich. Dresden:und SandsteinVerlag. Vormärz zwischen Lebensträume & Industrie 1848–1871: Hauses ThiemeGeorgenstraße7(Munich:Tuduv Verlag). Stuttgart: Ebner&Seubert. of 5 vol. schmids.” DekorativeKunst, 7(7): 249–83. Stanford Anderson.SantaMonica,CA:GettyCenter. Century and Its Present Condition. IntroductionNineteenth and translation the by in Architecture of Transformations Building-Art: , originally edited by F.by edited Krüger.originally Baukunst, der Geschichte , 2 vols. Fourth edition, expanded with contributions contributions with expanded edition, Fourth vols. 2 ,

1880. 1880. Die Kunst-Industrie auf der deutschen Ausstellung Über die Bedeutung der deutschen Ausstellung in Color and Meaning: Art, Science, and Symbolism. Das deutsche Zimmer vom Mittelalter bis zur zur bis Mittelalter vom Zimmer deutsche Das Die Kunst im Hause: Geschichte und kritisch- und Geschichte Hause: im Kunst Die

Das deutsche Zimmer der Renaissance: Renaissance: der Zimmer deutsche Das

1876. 1876. Die Riemerschmid-Innenausstattung des des Riemerschmid-Innenausstattung Die 1993. 1993. emn ein 1870–1918 Design German Geschichte der deutschen Renaissance deutschen der Geschichte . Translated from the German by S.R. S.R. by German the from Translated . . Chicago and London: University of of University London: and Chicago . Das Dürer-Haus: Neue Ergebnisse der The Theory of Color in Its Relation Relation Its in Color of Theory The The Moment of Self-portraiture in in Self-portraiture of Moment The Das Deutsche Kunstgewerbe Deutsche Das Style-Architecture and and Style-Architecture . New York: York: New . Gründerzeit Gründerzeit ­ ,

Naumann, Friedrich. 1906. “Der Geist im Hausgestühl.” In Rée, Paul Johannes. 1906 (April). “Richard Riemerschmid.” “Richard (April). 1906 Johannes. Paul Rée, Muthesius, Stefan. 2009. 2009. Stefan. Muthesius, Cosiness or Zimmer, ‘altdeutsche’ “The 2003. Stefan. Muthesius, Scheffler, Karl. 1901 (Feb.). “Notitzen über die Farbe.” Farbe.” die über “Notitzen (Feb.). 1901 Karl. Scheffler, Umbach, Maiken. 2009. Maiken. Umbach, Handwerkskunst. 1906 Hausgerät, Dresdner 19 , 16(4):269–90. Interior Design.”JournalofDesignHistory of Definition the to Contribution Munich 1870s An Pine: Plain in ative Kunst,9(7):265–303. 1890–1924. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress. Kunst, 4(5):183–96. th -century DomesticInterior.NewYork:-century Thames&Hudson. German Cities and Bourgeois Modernism, Bourgeois and Cities German The Poetic Home: Designing the the Designing Home: Poetic The . Dresden: Dresdner Werkstätten für für Werkstätten Dresdner Dresden: . Richard Riemerschmid’s InteriorsfortheThiemeHouseinMunich Modern Dekorative Dekorative Preisbuch Dekor ­

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