Inhaltsverzeichnis
Background
Having purchased No. 6 (Roselius House) and redeveloped the adjacent two gabled houses into No. 4 – Bremen-Amerika-Bank (now Glockenspiel House) – it was Roselius’ plan to erect a completely new buildFundamental, on both buildings: Kirsten Leuenroth: Das HAG-Haus und das Haus St. Petrus, in: Hans Tallasch (ed.): Projekt Böttcherstrasse, Delmenhorst 2002, p. 119-145 on the right-hand side from the point of view of the market square. The concept of Böttcherstrasse as a ‘town within the town’ for tourists visiting Bremen took shape with this project (Fig. 2). Roselius realised right away that a tourist attraction needed excellent places to dine. The plan was for the building to provide space for shops, eateries and function rooms. Ludwig Roselius acquired a 60-year lease from the city on a total of nine properties – all very different in terms of size and layout – in 1923. The properties were small, in some cases run-down craftsmen’s houses, and some sites were already vacant. The planning process began in 1922 and the date of completion of 1926 is writtenThe genesis of planning was much more complicated than described here. See Leuenroth ibid. in relation to this. on the corbels of the dormer at Glockenspiel Square (Fig. 3).
- to erect a completely new buildFundamental, on both buildings: Kirsten Leuenroth: Das HAG-Haus und das Haus St. Petrus, in: Hans Tallasch (ed.): Projekt Böttcherstrasse, Delmenhorst 2002, p. 119-145
- is writtenThe genesis of planning was much more complicated than described here. See Leuenroth ibid. in relation to this.
Exterior
Ludwig Roselius set Runge and Scotland a challenge in commissioning them with the new build. They had to fit the desired large, prestigious function rooms within the narrow confines of the site but also keep the varied character that the small houses had evolved over time. Still, the complex had to be seen as a unified whole and as contemporary, not an exact copy of what stood there before.
The architects came up with a brilliant solution. They divided the elongated building very cleverly: the narrow street at the front was widened with arcades to create space for pedestrians. Looking down the street from the market square, you see a slight curve at the arcades (Fig. 4). This makes the street appear longer than it actually is. At the same time, the regularity of the arcades unifies the construction, which is divided at first floor level and at roof level into a varied landscape. The stepped gable (Fig. 5) is a repeating theme, which is reminiscent of the gabled houses in old Hanseatic streets. Also, Runge & Scotland’s use of large medieval bricks laid in traditional cross bond is a nod to North German architecture.
HAG House
The northern section at the market square end with its arcades and large shop windows was called HAG House after the coffee to which the street ultimately owes its development. It is number 7–9. Runge and Scotland clad the two-storey building on the side facing Hinter dem Schütting with a façade (Fig. 6) that with its expansiveness and its large gable of only three steps creates an impression of great scale in the narrow street. This sense of the monumental is heightened by seven oversized, male statues, some holding spades and some with their hands on their hips, looking like they’re about to set to work (Fig. 7). They represent the ‘Seven Lazy Brothers’ from an old Bremen legend and were created by Münster sculptor Aloys Röhr.Aloys Röhr (1887-1953) Mainly Münster-based sculptor. Roselius admired their inventiveness and pioneering spirit and that is why he erected a memorial to them in Böttcherstrasse. There are further sculptural works on the window and door frames of HAG House (Fig. 8). Bremen sculptor Engelhard TölkenEngelhard Tölken (1882-1928) produced the small, allegorical figures in the style of burred lines typical of the time.
- Aloys Röhr.Aloys Röhr (1887-1953) Mainly Münster-based sculptor.
- Engelhard TölkenEngelhard Tölken (1882-1928)
Interior
A pioneer in the field of advertising, Ludwig Roselius also used Böttcherstrasse to advertise his product, not just indirectly as a patron of the arts, but also directly. Roselius had Runge & Scotland install a ‘propaganda room’ at the corner facing the market square: the most prominent part of HAG House (Fig. 9): it was here that, in eye-catching black and white, a demonstration of the origin and production of decaffeinated coffee was put on for visitors, with a model of the innovative HAG factory in the Holzhafen area of Bremen at the centre. HAG used this prominent location to advertise its products until as recently as 1979 (Fig. 10). An extensive range of souvenirs and articles from Bremen are sold here today. Right next door, visitors could sample decaffeinated coffee in the coffee tasting room decorated with old Delft tiles (Fig. 11). This shop is the only one that has retained its original appearance to this day. Nowadays, it sells tea instead of coffee. A passage led to a retail outlet for the Deutscher Werkbund (German association of artists, architects, designers and industrialists), which Roselius actively supported. At the beginning of the 1930s, it was home to the tourist information office, a forerunner of today’s tourism centre (Fig. 12). Bremen poet and designer Rudolf Alexander Schröder fitted out the next premises for renowned export bookseller G.A. von HalemRoselius joined the firm in 1923 and then took it over completely in 1927. (Fig. 13). It continued to operate as a bookshop after the war until 1996, partly in leasehold, partly as a unit of Böttcherstrasse GmbH. The company name was not deregistered until 2019. The elongated premises were divided up and are still used for retail.
- export bookseller G.A. von HalemRoselius joined the firm in 1923 and then took it over completely in 1927.
The narrow site on which HAG House was built permitted only single-storey development at the southerly end. Runge & Scotland designed the upper floor as a single large room, which Ludwig Roselius used for his patristics collectionBernd Küster’s article contains further information on this collection: Der gebaute Mythos… on this website. (Fig. 14). With its exposed beam ceiling and low skirting board, the room looked like the lobby floor of a Lower-Saxon farmhouse. Destroyed during the war, it was simply rebuilt as a function room for catering (Fig. 15) and when the Bremen Casino moved into the entire upper floor of HAG House and St Petrus House in 1981, it was again radically changed to suit the change of use. Since 2010, the restored room has been let to the neighbouring hotel (Fig. 16).
The room over the propaganda room has been used for various purposes over the years. Due to its size and height, it made an ideal exhibition room. However, back in 1926, it was initially intended to be used as a salesroom for Lower-Saxon art and craft. From 1927, it became an exhibition room connected to Paula Becker-Modersohn House via a bridge. One of the few rooms not destroyed during the war, it was used once again as a craft salesroom in the early post-war years, reflecting the fact that the ambitions for Böttcherstrasse as a retail location had grown in the meantime. When the rebuilding of Paula Becker-Modersohn House was completed in 1954, it reverted to an exhibition room until 1979 as the ‘Permanent’ exhibit for constantly changing sales expos of contemporary artists. Used between 1981 and 2010 as a side room by Bremen Casino, the room has been used by the museum again since then. As well as the name HAG House, it also went by the name ‘House of the Seven Lazy Brothers’ before the war. After HAG was sold in 1979, the name HAG House was no longer used.
- patristics collectionBernd Küster’s article contains further information on this collection: Der gebaute Mythos… on this website.
