Robinson Crusoe House (german: link=no, Robinson-Crusoe-Haus) is a

stepped-gabled A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a ...

house on

Böttcherstraße Böttcherstraße is a street in the historic centre of Bremen, Germany. Only about 100 m (330 ft) long, it is famous for its unusual architecture and ranks among the city's main cultural landmarks and visitor attractions. Most of its bui ...

in the old town district of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Germany. It was built by the prosperous coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius who admired the pioneering spirit of

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

's fictional hero Robinson Crusoe.

History and architecture

In 1931, the Robinson Crusoe House and the Atlantis House opposite completed the construction of buildings in Böttcherstraße. The coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius, who envisioned and financed the Böttcherstraße project, had himself proposed the design which was developed by Karl von Weihe. The interior was designed by the architects

Eduard Scotland Eduard Scotland (1885–1945) was a German architect active in Bremen. He is remembered in particular for the Böttcherstraße houses he and his associate Alfred Runge built for the coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius. Early life As a child, Scotl ...

and

Alfred Runge Alfred Runge (1881–1946) was a German architect active in Bremen and its surroundings. He is remembered in particular for the Böttcherstraße houses he and his associate Eduard Scotland built for coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius. Early life Bor ...

. Roselius chose the name in memory of the novel by

from 1719 whose hero was the son of a Bremen merchant who had settled in York. He admired the pioneering Robinson Crusoe for his Hanseatic spirit. Roselius foresaw a rather conventional Lower Saxony brick building with a

stepped gable A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a ...

. The house stood at the Martinistraße end of the street with a straight-gabled building on the opposite corner. A curved opening supported by a column in the lower corner of each building is a special feature. The rooms in Robinson Crusoe House were devoted principally to the newly founded ''Club zu Bremen''. In addition to the club room, dining room, bar, gallery and Scotland Room (''Scotland Stube''), there was also a Vogeler Room (''Vogeler Saal'') on the second floor with nine paintings showing the artistic evolution of the painter Heinrich Vogeler. In 1944, the house was destroyed by bombing but was rebuilt in 1954. None of the original decorations remain but today there are carved panels in the stairway representing scenes from the story of Robinson Crusoe crafted by

Theodor Schultz-Walbaum Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blueg ...

. Located on the outside of the Robin Crusoe House are two sculptures from Bernhard Hoetger called "Panther carrying the Night (1912)" and "Puma carrying the Day (1912)". Hoetger Panther die Nacht tragend

Crusoe Hall

The building's Crusoe Hall (''Crusoe Halle'') is used as an exhibition room by the Bremen Artisans Association (''Angewandte Kunst Bremen'') in collaboration with the two Böttcherstraße museums,

Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum The Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum in Bremen, Germany, is the first museum in the world devoted to a female artist. Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907) was one of the most important early Expressionists, and the museum features key works from each of ...

and

Ludwig Roselius Museum The Ludwig Roselius Museum (german: Museum im Roselius-Haus) on Böttcherstraße in the old town of Bremen, Germany, houses the private collection of the successful coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius (1874–1943). Artefacts from the Middle Ages t ...

. A new exhibition is featured each month. From October every year, the hall houses the traditional ''Weihnachtsmarkt'' or Christmas market.

References

External links

Robinson-Crusoe-Haus site
with photographs of the original interiors {{Coord, 53, 04, 29, N, 8, 48, 18, E, type:landmark_region:DE-HB, display=title Buildings and structures in Bremen (city) Renaissance Revival architecture in Germany Buildings and structures completed in 1931 Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II 1931 establishments in Germany