Exterior

Ludwig Roselius was involved in the design of this building,Construction documentation including invoices, plans and architect’s drawings have survived in the Böttcherstrasse archive (see archival references 1.1.1. and 2.2.1.) which would complete the Böttcherstrasse project. According to his daughter Hildegard, the tall brick façade overlooking Martinistrasse was his idea. The sole, but striking, ornamental features on this façade were two gilt dolphin sculptures at the eaves and four elephant heads supporting the large bay window at the level of the first floor. These two features – which exude exoticism – are Bernhard Hoetger’s sole original contributions to Robinson Crusoe House. The specification that the Böttcherstrasse façade be rendered in brick infill post and beam – in contrast to the façade overlooking Martinistrasse – also came from Ludwig Roselius. He paid particular attention to the design of the corbels and soffits, adopting features from the Norwegian stave church to correspond in theme to the towering wooden ‘Tree of Life’ feature on Atlantis House. A niche with a bench was also set into the wall for viewing the façade of Atlantis House. The bench is bookended by two aquariums at the same height, which simultaneously serve as plinths for Bernhard Hoetger’s two bronze sculptures: ‘Puma carrying the Day’ and ‘Panther carrying the Night’.

• this building,Construction documentation including invoices, plans and architect’s drawings have survived in the Böttcherstrasse archive (see archival references 1.1.1. and 2.2.1.)

Die ‚Crusoe-Halle‘

The design of the interior of Robinson Crusoe House is more along the lines of the elegant restraint of the Martinistrasse façade. In the original plans, the entrance to a hall that opened out onto the street via an arcade was off Martinistrasse. This hall was used as a showroom and salesroom for HAG products. Bremen painter and sculptor Theodor Schultz-Walbaum established the direct connection between the house and the character from the novel Robinson Crusoe: He was commissioned by Ludwig Roselius to represent the story in six scenes on large wooden panels. The final woodcut is entitled ‘The Homecoming – The Hanseatic Spirit of Bremen’ and was signed by Schultz-Walbaum in 1932. The striped red and white flag of Bremen flying above Robinson’s head is unmissable. On another level, this story also conveyed a positive image of the lands under colonial rule at the time. Roselius made his fortune in the ‘colonial goods’ coffee and cocoa. It is therefore significant that the hall containing the woodcuts was from 1937 onwards used to exhibit his product ‘Kaba – The plantation drink’ while the entire street became a parallel instrument of propaganda for Kaffee HAG at the other end. After the war, the room was used primarily for craft exhibitions. Today, a boutique coffee roastery runs a small coffee shop and counter there.

The first floor

Ludwig Roselius had Robinson Crusoe House developed by the Böttcherstrasse construction division under the lead of architect Karl von Weihe. He worked with architects Runge & Scotland on the interior. They designed an elegantly restrained but, at the same time, luxurious decor that exuded prestige in the fashion of the early 1930s. The upper floors were used by the ‘Club zu Bremen’, which was co-founded by Roselius, as clubroom and prestigious reception rooms. Modelled on the British gentleman’s club, it was intended as a place for Bremen’s intellectual and commercial elite to meet. The first and second floors of Robinson Crusoe House were connected to Atlantis House by a bridge, where the club had further rooms. This bridge was the companion to the bridge from Paula Becker-Modersohn House to HAG House that created a loop walk through all the houses of Böttcherstrasse, on two floors no less. The glazing with two stylised swans was created by Georg K. Rohde. Gliding up and down, they symbolise the tides.

The Böttcherstrasse entrance to Robinson Crusoe House brought visitors to the stairwell adorned with a piece of nail art on dark walnut featuring Hanseatic subjects and sayings as well as the proprietor’s coat of arms. The walls were clad in Obernkirchen sandstone. To the right at the top of the stairs on the first floor was a bar and beyond that the way into St Petrus House; to the left was the large dining room of the Club zu Bremen. This almost six-metre-high room was the pinnacle of Runge & Scotland’s work for Böttcherstrasse. The high-grade wood panelling and the beamed ceiling as well as the exceptionally large windows with wide sandstone bars lent the dining room an extremely prestigious ambience. The room was complemented by a large, elaborately handcrafted fireplace and valuable ‘Old Dutch’ paintings on the walls.Karl Lerbs ibid. The stained glass in the centre of the four windows deserves special mention. Georg K. Rohde created panes to Ludwig Roselius’ specifications, with references to trade and shipping, a depiction of Robinson and Friday as well as a coat of arms.

• on the walls.Karl Lerbs ibid.

The second and third floors

The smaller room to the north was fitted out by Runge & Scotland as a billiards room for the club, while the large room to the south was named the Vogeler Room. In this room, nine paintings by the artist Heinrich Vogeler from Worpswede, outside Bremen, were exhibited, which represented the stages of development of his oeuvre up to that point. The centrepiece was one of the art nouveau artist’s most well-known paintings: ‘The Concert’ from 1905 in its original frame structure with classical pilasters, triangular pediment and decorated with garlands.

The most important artists who were involved in the creation of Böttcherstrasse once again received commissions; first and foremost Runge & Scotland, then Bernhard Hoetger, Theodor Schultz-Walbaum and Georg K. Rohde. Within the Böttcherstrasse project, Robinson Crusoe House plays a less strictly ideological role than Paula Becker-Modersohn House or Atlantis House. As a Bremen merchant, Ludwig Roselius wanted to ensure he would not be forgotten by creating a highly prestigious and dignified home in the Hanseatic spirit for the Club zu Bremen he co-founded.