GERMANY TOOK LONGER to embrace
the changes in decorative arts seen elsewhere in Europe. This was largely because it was still preoccupied with the prevailing Historismus style,
where design was centred on an interpretation of historic elements.
However, through the influence of the Belgian designer Henry van de Velde – who worked on a number of high-profile projects in Germany –and the innovative work of gifted German artists such as Richard Riemerschmid, Peter Behrens, and Franz von Stuck, the Art Nouveau style became popular. This style was known in Germany as Jugendstil
(Youth Style) – a name associated with the popular review Die Jugend (Youth) – and it subsequently flourished throughout Germany during the last decades of the 19th century.
Jugendstil embraced both Symbolism and a preoccupation with nature and natural shapes. It was applied to everything from architecture to furniture and simple household objects. Each element had to work as part of a whole in terms of form and design: a concept called Gesamtkunstwerk. The aim was to make the home a unified, total work of art: practical, simple, dignified, and beautiful.
Many of the exponents of Jugendstil
were painters who turned to the decorative arts as part of a reaction against the stifling historicism of the fine arts. Munich was home to some of these designers, and came to be the city at the heart of the movement.
INNOVATIVE DESIGNERS
Early advocates of Jugendstil included Hermann Obrist, who was inspired by the Symbolists’ emotions and the plant world, and architect August Endell, who played a pivotal role throughout the development of Munich’s Secessionist movement
by seeking to echo the
spirit of his Austrian
contemporaries. Endell designed boldly proportioned, clean-lined furniture in materials such as elm or forged steel, and paid considerable attention to decorative detail.
Among the furniture designers in the Munich group were Richard Riemerschmid, Bruno Paul, and the architect, Peter Behrens.
Behrens was also one of the founding members of the Vereinigte Werkstatten fur Kunst im Handwerk (United Workshops for Applied Art). His furniture combined traditional
rectilinear shapes with restrained
curves. Richard Riemerschmid,
a talented designer, painter, and architect, was also linked to the workshops. His furniture followed Behrens’ example but was also influenced by Celtic origins, which played a role in Germanys decorative traditions. His simply shaped furniture used wood in its natural state and colour, with the grain its most distinctive decorative feature. Bruno Paul, another protagonist of Jugendstil, developed comfortable, rectilinear designs called Typenmobel which he was able to mass produce. They were a forerunner of the industrial furniture production of Ithe I Q Ws and 40s.
Germany also spawned a host of artists’ guilds, established in an effort to realise the ideals of the British Arts and Crafts movement.
THE DARMSTADT COLONY
The most notable of these guilds was founded in 1899 by Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse, and was based at Darmstadt. Largely the vision of the Austrian architect and designer, Josef Maria Olbrich, the Darmstadt colony included public buildings and residences that were designed, built, and furnished by various artists.
art” could be found at Darmstadt in the house that Peter Behrens designed for himself. The interior, furniture, and decoration created a unified whole.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Germany had embraced industrial production and increasingly turned its attention to improving the quality of mass-produced, industrial products. This signalled the death knoll for Art Nouveau, with its ideals of hand-craftsmanship, freedom of artistic creation, and refined decoration.

CIRCULAR DINING TABLE
This oak pedestal dining table was designed by Peter Behrens and made by the Vereingte Werkstatten far Kunst im Handwerk, Munich. It has a panelled top above an urn-shaped pedestal. The six C-scroll supports underneath the table repeat the symmetry of the six-panel circular top. The circular foot plate also
repeats the shape of the circular table top. With Richard Riemerschmid, Behrens was the first industrial designer, designing specifically for mass production. With this piece, Behrens moved away from his earlier elaborate and curvilinear Art Nouveau style towards a simpler style that depended on the quality of the wood, and simple shapes and proportions. c.1900.
SIDE CHAIR
This chair by Peter Behrens was designed for the poet Richard Dehmel’s house in Hamburg. Made of white painted wood, the chair is geometric in design, with bold cut-out shapes on the back and has straight legs.
YELLOW LACQUERED CUPBOARD
This pinewood cupboard was designed by Gertrud Kleinhempel and made by Dresdner Werlkstatten. Two of its four doors are pierced with heart motifs, and it is divided horizontally with three rows of rectangular, black and white scenic panels.
c.1900.

This stained pine commode, designed by Richard Riemerschmid, has a rectangular top with a three-sided splashback. The six drawers have nickel-plated pulls. c.1905.
This Patriz Huber cupboard is polished and partly carved. It has inlays of different exotic woods and copper mountings. The top has facetted glazing and shelves on either side. c.1900.
This mahogany table, designed by Richard Riemerschmid and made by Dresdner Werlkstatten, has a hexagonal top, a round second tier, and curved legs. 1905.
This oak chair by Otto Eckmann has square-section arms, rails, legs, supports, and stretchers, with the latter two bowed. It has a brass-riveted, leather-upholstered back and seat pads. c.1900.
SIX-DRAWER COMMODE
LEMON MAHOGANY CUPBOARD
COUCH TABLE
OAK FRAME ARMCHAIR
DINING CHAIR
This is a poplar dining chair which comes from a set of nine, designed by Peter Behrens. It is lacquered and has a
leather seat. c.1901.
BEECH FRAME ARMCHAIR
This beech chair was designed by Marcel Kammerer and made by Thonet of Vienna (see p.375). The bentwood frame is stained mahogany, and the stuffed seat and buttoned back are covered in brown leather. c.1910.

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