Haus Greiffenhorst: A Classicist Hunting Lodge in Krefeld, Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- German
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Elite Residence
On this page7 sections
History
Haus Greiffenhorst is a former hunting lodge in Krefeld, Germany, built between 1838 and 1843 in the Berlin Classicist style. It stands in Greiffenhorstpark, about 1.2 kilometres from Linn Castle, and was created as part of a landscaped estate associated with the Linner Mühlenhof and Hausenhof.
Creation of the estate
In 1826, the Krefeld silk manufacturer Cornelius de Greiff inherited the Linner Mühlenhof, the Hausenhof, and their associated lands from his father, Isaak de Greiff. Around 1840, he commissioned the Düsseldorf landscape gardener Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe to design a landscape garden between the two estates along the Linner Mühlenbach. This work produced Greiffenhorstpark, a designed park intended to create an apparently natural arrangement of lawns, trees, paths, water, and buildings.
De Greiff also commissioned the small hunting and garden palace on the inherited land. The design was probably prepared by Otto von Gloeden, a Düsseldorf building inspector, although older publications attributed it to the architect and urban planner Adolph von Vagedes. The building work was directed by the foreman L. Jürges and cost about 20,000 talers.
Short-lived private use
For reasons that remain unknown, Cornelius de Greiff soon lost interest in Haus Greiffenhorst. The building was probably never fully furnished, and its owner used it for only a short period. He preferred to hold dinners after hunting at the nearby Hausenhof. The gardener, however, lived on the upper floors for an extended period.
Municipal ownership and restoration
The City of Krefeld acquired Haus Greiffenhorst in 1924 and initially leased it. In 1929, the building was converted into a café according to plans by the architect Caspar Lennartz. It survived the Second World War almost undamaged, although an aerial mine that exploded about 500 metres away broke its windows. Toward the end of the war and immediately afterward, combustible materials were taken from the vacant building, and it subsequently deteriorated. Initial repairs in 1953 did not stop the decline.
A fundamental restoration between 1971 and 1974 received financial support from the Krefeld Art Association and local citizens. Since that restoration, Haus Greiffenhorst has been used for exhibitions, readings, concerts, and lectures, as well as receptions and conferences. Further renovation took place from August to November 2010. The former pink exterior paint was removed and replaced with the historic exterior finish, while the roof and windows were also repaired.
Remains
Haus Greiffenhorst is a compact park palace organized around a three-storey octagonal central block. Two-storey square wings project from four sides, producing a cross-shaped plan. The central block rises above the wings like a tower belvedere, a tower-like elevated feature designed to provide a view. The building stands within the landscape garden created by Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe.
Exterior form and decoration
Two entrances lie on the building’s north-south axis. Tall windows are framed by pilasters, which are shallow wall-attached supports shaped like columns, while cornices, or projecting horizontal moldings, divide the rendered facade into horizontal levels. The wings carry roof terraces linked by narrow balconies supported on bracket cornices. Similar brackets appear in the string course, a horizontal band that emphasizes a facade level, on the central block.
A viewing platform crowns the central block and is enclosed by a wrought-iron balustrade. Matching balustrades surround the wing terraces, whose corner posts support wrought-iron vases. The proportions of every part follow the golden ratio, a mathematical relationship historically used to organize harmonious dimensions. The design belongs to Berlin Classicism, a nineteenth-century style of disciplined classical forms associated especially with Karl Friedrich Schinkel, while also combining features of southern German park palaces.
Interior arrangement
The former interior layout followed the building’s external geometry. A central hall was surrounded by four adjoining rooms, corresponding to the four projecting wings and reinforcing the relationship between the octagonal core and the cross-shaped plan.
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