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The total artwork of the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony on the Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt, with its buildings, gardens and works of art spanning the years 1901-1914, constitutes not only a unique ensemble testifying to experimental creativity, but also an incomparable document of the architectural and artistic renewal at the dawn of Modernism inspired by the international reform movement of the early 20th century.
The art-loving Hessian Grand Duke, Ernst Ludwig, founded the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony in 1899 as a means of promoting the arts and crafts in Hesse. Over the 16 years of its existence, 23 notable artists were members of this community. The Mathildenhöhe (Mathilde Heights), situated in the eastern part of the city of Darmstadt, developed into an innovative and experimental centre dedicated to architecture and all areas of the fine and applied arts mainly under the direction of Joseph Maria Olbrich, a former member of the Vienna Secession. Other eminent members were Peter Behrens, Hans Christiansen, Albin Müller, and Bernhard Hoetger. The Mathildenhöhe artists’ programmatic focus on the aspects of “domestic living” and “work” came to provide a major inspiration for architectural developments of the early 20th century. Over the course of four exhibitions, a number of pioneering buildings came into being, complete with their interior decoration and furnishings, all surrounded by a park embellished with sculptures, fountains and pavilions. From living space to garden and from furniture to tableware, the artists orchestrated walk-in living environments, each in the form of an aesthetic total art work (“Gesamtkunstwerk”).