St Petrus House (german: Haus St. Petrus) is a historic building in

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. With features of North-German

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

including an arcade, it was built in 1927 by the prosperous coffee merchant

Ludwig Roselius Ludwig Roselius (2 June 1874 – 15 May 1943) was a German coffee merchant and founder of the company Kaffee HAG. He was born in Bremen and is credited with the development of commercial decaffeination of coffee. As a patron, he supported arti ...

as part of his development of

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 ...

. Today its newly refurbished dining rooms are part of the Atlantic Grand Hotel. Since 1973, St Petrus House has been a listed building., Retrieved 3 February 2014.

History and architecture

In 1924, Ludwig Roselius acquired a lease for a period of 60 years on the land on Böttcherstrasse covering No. 15-19 and later also obtained permission to develop the old packhouses at No. 4-5. He persuaded the authorities to let him build a small colony of shops, studios and apartments there, drawing on North German architectural styles. Roselius commissioned 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 ...

who achieved the required historic Gothic style by making use of

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

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 ...

s and

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

s. The complex was first known as Haus HAG (after Roselius' company: Handels-Aktien-Gesellschaft) but the part south of the stepped gable later came to be known as Haus St. Petrus. The building was divided into several sections: the storehouse with a projecting arched entrance, a club house with rooms for members of the Bremen Association of 1914, and a restaurant area.

Recent developments

For some 30 years, St Petrus House was home to the Bremen casino until it moved to the

Schlachte The Schlachte is a promenade along the east bank of the River Weser in the old town of Bremen in the north of Germany. Once one of the city's harbours, it is now popular for its restaurants, beer gardens and river boats. Etymology ''Schlachte'' i ...

in 2010. Over the years, the building had also been used as a venue for wedding receptions, confirmation parties and anniversaries. In 2011, the Atlantic Grand Hotel undertook substantial refurbishment, combining modernization with the building's history. The white-panelled Scotland Hall was extended to the balcony overlooking the inner courtyard facing the Chamber of Commerce while the other rooms were fitted out for presentations, business meetings and celebrations, with an overall seating capacity of 500. The smallest room the ''Zelt'' (tent)—with a canopy hanging from the ceiling and red chairs matching the first floor lobby—has tables for up to 16 guests. Once known for its roulette tables, the Golden Hall extending over , now has a parquet floor, walls with dark-brown panels topped with gold-tinted wallpaper, and golden chandeliers. Since 1999, the building has also housed the Weinkontor St. Petrus restaurant.

Decorations

External decorations include details by Engelhard Tölken, the arms of Bremen (1608), a statue of Petrus (Peter, 1954) by Irmgard Roselius, and Paracelsus Head (1936) by

Bernhard Hoetger Bernhard Hoetger (4 May 1874 in Dortmund – 18 July 1949 in Interlaken) was a German sculptor, painter and handicrafts artist of the Expressionist movement. Life Hoetger was the son of a Dortmund blacksmith, he studied sculpture in Detmold from ...

. File:Boettcherstr image 0012.jpg, Arcade File:Löwen - Bremen, Böttcherstr. - Haus St. Petrus.jpg, Bremen lions File:Boettcherstr image 0010.JPG, Rounded arches File:Boettcherstr image 0070.jpg, Petrus statue File:Boettcherstr image 0011.JPG, Arcades File:Boettcherstrasse Wappen.jpg, Arms of Bremen File:Boettcherstr image 0035.jpg, Weinhaus St. Petrus

References

{{Coord, 53, 04, 30, N, 8, 48, 20, E, type:landmark_region:DE-HB, display=title Buildings and structures in Bremen (city) Buildings and structures completed in 1927 Gothic Revival architecture in Germany Hotels in Germany