Rolandseck station in

Rolandseck Rolandseck is a borough in the town of Remagen in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The place consists almost entirely of villas and is a favorite summer resort. Crowning the vine-clad hills behind it lie the ruins of the castle, a picturesque iv ...

near Remagen, Germany, built from 1856 to 1858, is considered an important part of the cultural heritage of the Rhineland and a significant early Germany railway building. It is the northernmost railway station on the West Rhine Railway in Rhineland-Palatinate.

History

The Bonn–Cologne Railway Company (') extended its line (later the West Rhine railway) from Cologne to Bonn on 15 February 1844. In 1846, the company had requested permission from the Prussian government to extend the line to Rolandseck, but had been refused for military reasons. Finally in 1853, the Prussian Cabinet gave it provisional permission to extend the line as far as Rolandseck. The new terminus should have been as close as possible to the Rhine, in order to cater for comfortable transfers to steam ships. The supervising engineer for the building of the railway line also produced the sketches for the Rolandseck station, which was set out in such a way that the terminus of the line could hold company meetings, because at this time the Rolandseck area, together with Rolandswerther, was the epitome of Rhineland romanticism. Construction started in 1856 and was finished in 1858. It became the meeting place for society. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom,

Kaiser ''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...

William,

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

, Ludwig Uhland, Karl Simrock, the Brothers Grimm and Friedrich Nietzsche went there, as well as the musicians

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

, Clara Schumann and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

. Bernhard Shaw wrote about the station and Guillaume Apollinaire wrote some of his early poems here. There were many celebrations and concerts in the old station.

Artist studios

After World War II, the station was no longer operated. In 1958 the president of the Deutsche Bundesbahn's Mainz region decided that "oversized" areas would be demolished and a small reception building would be established. Times changed, however, and in 1964 and Johannes Wasmuth developed a plan for the station as an art gallery and studio. Within a short time the station became a center of cultural life.

Hans Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born in Straßburg (now Stras ...

, Oskar Kokoschka, ,

Günther Uecker Günther Uecker (; born 13 March 1930) is a German sculptor, op artist and installation artist. Biography Uecker was born in Wendorf, Mecklenburg.Gotthard Graubner,

Stefan Askenase Stefan Askenase (10 July 189618 October 1985) was a Polish-Belgian classical pianist and pedagogue. Biography Askenase was born in Lviv, then known as Lemberg, into a Jewish family. At the age of five he began playing the piano with his mothe ...

, Yehudi Menuhin, Martha Argerich, Martin Walser and Marcel Marceau represent some of the people who participated. Only the death of Johannes Wasmuth ended the cultural life of the station.

Arp Museum – Rolandseck railway station

After extensive reorganisation and rebuilding the station reopened on 22 October 2004, and as of September 2007 includes the entrance to the new Arp Museum, which is being built above the station in accordance with the plans of the architect

Richard Meier Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white. A winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984, Meier has designed several iconic buildings ...

. The station building could not be returned to its original condition due to structural changes made at the beginning of the 20th century. The renovation work aimed at restoring the structural condition of the station in 1906 with a veranda and a pale green painted facade. The whitewashed surfaces of the dining room were restored, so that

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

work can be seen once again. The entrance is now in the basement, which along with the ground floor, serve as the exhibition areas. Works by Hans Arp are displayed in the basement and temporary exhibitions are displayed on the ground floor. The dining room and bistro are on the second floor. File:Bahnhof Rolandseck Veranda.jpg, First floor veranda File:Bahnhof Rolandseck Sockelgeschoss.jpg, View from outside into the basement with works by Hans Arp File:Bahnhof Rolandseck Festsaal.jpg, Dining room File:Tanzgeschmeide.jpg, Arp: Tanzgeschmeide, museum sculpture A characteristic of the Arp Museum is the exhibition of works by contemporary artists in its functional areas. In keeping with a tradition created by Johannes Wasmuth, works by the British painter Stephen McKenna that include colourful ironical quotations from the history of art were retained in the station's washrooms and bistro. In the course of the modifications further functional areas of the museum were equipped by various artists: the washroom by

Maria Nordman Maria Nordman is a German-American sculptor and conceptual artist. She is known for creating the contexts of FILM ROOMS starting in 1967: ''FILM ROOM EAT 1967-PRESENT'' and ''FILM ROOM EXHALE 1967- PRESENT''. These two works are the fulcrum of ot ...

, the bistro by Anton Henning, the library by the Swiss Thomas Huber, and the museum's helicopter landing pad was developed in the style of the Ingold airline project of Swiss artist Res Ingold (that is the logos, corporate identity, advertising and presentation material of a fictitious airline).

Sculpture banks

The Arp Museum has developed since 2000, in co-operation with the city of Remagen, the sculpture garden along the Rhine bank between Rolandswerth and south of Remagen, on either side of the station.

Notes

References

External links

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Hans-Arp-Museum
{{Authority control Railway stations in Rhineland-Palatinate Art museums and galleries in Germany Museums in Rhineland-Palatinate Railway stations in Germany opened in 1858 1858 establishments in Prussia Ahrweiler (district)