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Posts Tagged ‘Bremen’

Bremen’s House of the Glockenspiel

Monday, March 4th, 2019

The House of the Glockenspiel (Haus des Glockenspiels) is a gabled red brick building in Bremen’s historic Boettcherstrasse. It was designed by Bremen architects Alfred Runge and Eduard Scotland and constructed by Ludwig Roselius, the inventor of decaffeinated coffee.

Haus of the Glockenspiel in Bremen – the carillon with 30 Meissen porcelain bells chimes three times per day. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

The Carillon of the House of the Glockenspiel

The House of the Glockenspiel was constructed between 1923 and 1924, and the carillon, made of 30 Meissner porcelain bells, was added in 1934. The bells were placed between the gables and initially painted blue on the outside and gold on the inside. In 1944, during World War II, the building and the Glockenspiel suffered serious fire damage. Following the war, white porcelain bells were installed. The carillon chimes three times a day (at noon, 3 pm and 6 pm). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlCXUK-j_pc&vl=en/

The Wooden panels in the tower of the House of the Glockenspiel

While the 30 bells in the tower chime, ten wooden panels rotate on a mechanism inside the tower. The panels were designed by Bernhard Hoetger and built by Zdzislaus Victor Kopytko. They survived the Second World War undamaged. Restored in 1991, they depict pioneering seafarers and aviators from around the world:

(1) Leif Erikson and Thorfinn Karlsefni (Icelandic explorers – first known Europeans to have set foot on continental North America)

(2) Didrik Pining and Hans Pothorst (German explorers who may have reached America twenty years before Columbus)

(3) Christopher Columbus (Italian explorer who discovered the viable sailing route to the Americas)

House of the Glockenspiel in Bremen. One of 10 wooden panels that rotate while the bells chime. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

(4) Robert Fulton (American engineer and inventor who developed a commercially successful steamboat)

(5) Paul Koenig (German maritime pioneer)

(6) Herbert Scott, Sir Arthur Whitten Brown and John William Alcock (British airship pilots who navigated the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight)

(7) Charles Lindbergh (American aviator who made the first solo, non-stop transatlantic flight)

(8) Hermann Koehl and Freiherr von Huenefeld (German aviation pioneers) and James Fitzmaurice (Irish aviator) who piloted the first transatlantic flight by fixed-wing aircraft from East to West)

(9) Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin and Hugo Eckener (German inventor and pilot who piloted the first rigid airship flight around the world)

(10) Earth, Moon, Stars

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

Tags: Bernhard Hoetger, Bremen, Haus des Glockenspiels, House of the Glockenspiel, Ludwig Roselius, Meissner porcelain
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Ludwig Roselius – King of Decaffeinated Coffee

Monday, February 25th, 2019

Ludwig Roselius (1874 – 1943) was a prosperous German coffee merchant who founded Kaffee HAG. In 1903, he invented the first successful coffee decaffeination process. His invention required first steaming the coffee beans in salt water to open the pores and then repeatedly rinsing them with benzene to extract the caffeine. This process is no longer used because benzene is now known to be a human carcinogen. Other solvents are used in its place.

Why Ludwig Roselius Invented Decaf Coffee

Ludwig Roselius’ father was a heavy coffee drinker and died at the early age of 59. His physician attributed his early death to his coffee addiction. The loss of his father motivated Roselius to find a way of decaffeinating coffee. In 1906, he founded Kaffee HAG, (Kaffee–Handels-Aktiengesellschaft) with a red lifebuoy ring as its trademark. Later, he replaced the buoy ring with a red heart. In 1979, Roselius’ son sold Kaffee HAG to General Foods, and in 2015, Douwe Egberts and Jacobs Douwe Egberts purchased over half of the coffee division.

Ludwig Roselius – Marketing Genius

Ludwig Roselius recognized the importance of marketing at a time when his collegues scoffed at the practice. Already in 1908, he marketed his decaf with slogans such as “Always harmless, always digestible.” Kaffee HAG was the first coffee advertised in silent film cinemas and also one of the first companies to create a sophisticated promotional look. As result of his tireless efforts, Kaffee HAG became a household word worldwide. The cocoa powder, Kaba, added in 1929, and the coffee brand Onko, added in 1950, supplemented the line.

Ludwig Roselius – Father of Boettcherstrasse

Soon Roselius connected his business acumen and his fascination with art and architecture. In 1906, he purchased a dilapidated building on Bremen’s Boettcherstrasse. It became the “heart” of his coffee empire. Between 1922 and 1931 he purchased additional buildings along the short alleyway between the town’s market square and the harbor. Working with three architects, Eduart Scotland, Alfred Runge and Bernhard Hoetger, he gave several derelict buildings an instant face lift by installing expressionist clinker facades. In addition, he built a bell tower with a unique carillon, a museum for the painter Paula Modersohn-Becker and the Haus Atlantis, now operated as the Radisson Blu Hotel Bremen.

Bust of Ludwig Roselius in the Boettcherstrasse in Bremen – Bernhard Hoetger, 1922. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Ludwig Roselius Museum

The foundation walls of the oldest house on the street, the Roselius house, presumably date back to the 14^thcentury. Ludwig Roselius redesigned and expanded it in 1907/1908 and 1937/1928. Except for the façade, it was destroyed during World War II, rebuilt by 1954, and completely restored with funds from Sparkasse Bremen in 1991. The Ludwig Roselius Museum is open to the public and houses valuable works of art, furnishings, carpets, paneling, silver and many other treasures.

Tags: Alfred Runge, Bernhard Hoetger, Boettcherstrasse, Bremen, Eduart Scotland, Kaffee HAG, Ludwig Roselius, Ludwig Roselius Museum
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Bremen Roland: Bremen’s “Statue of Liberty”

Monday, October 16th, 2017

The Bremen Roland is a statue that symbolizes trading rights and freedom. It stands in the famous market square (Rathausplatz) of the City of Bremen, Germany. Measured from the ground to the tip of its canopy, the tall stone statue reaches a height of 34 feet. The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor in Manhattan would dwarf it with its 305 feet from the ground to the tip of the flame. When it comes to age, however, the Bremen Roland beats New York’s Statue of Liberty by a whopping 482 years. The Bremen Roland was erected in 1404; New York’s Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886. Both sculptures are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Roland statues can be found in a number of German towns that were once part of the Holy Roman Empire. According to legend, Bremen will remain free and independent for as long as Roland stands watch over the city.

The 613-year-old Bremen Roland statue. The shield is emblazoned with the two-headed Imperial eagle. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

History of the Bremen Roland

The young knight, Roland, was one of the principal warriors of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor who reigned in the 9th century. During his 46-year reign, Charlemagne won many battles but was badly defeated in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, an area between France and Spain. Roland died in that battle and became an iconic figure in medieval Europe, a symbol of civil liberties, freedom and justice. The Bremen Roland is the oldest surviving statue of its kind. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1087

After the archbishop’s soldiers destroyed its wooden predecessor in 1366, the city fathers commissioned the current Bremen Roland, carved from limestone. Over the years, the statue was repaired and restored a number of times. During the most recent renovation in 1989, workers discovered a cassette with Nazi propaganda inside of the statue. Apparently, the cassette was deposited there in 1938.

Significance of the Bremen Roland

A representative of the Emperor and dressed according to the height of 15th century fashion, Roland’s task was to protect the city and to guarantee its market rights and freedoms. The Bremen Roland statue stands in the market place in front of the Town Hall and intentionally faces the church. The placement served as a reminder that city rights prevail over the prince-archbishop’s territorial claims.

Fun facts surrounding the Bremen Roland

The distance between Roland’s knees is exactly one Bremen “Elle”, a historical unit of measurement. In 2004, the city fathers played an April Fools joke on the Bremen population. They released a press statement that the Bremen Elle is still in use as a scientific measurement. Internationally known as LMR (Length Measurement Roland), it is employed in airplane construction and space travel, the statement read.

Just as rubbing the front hoofs of the Bremer Stadtmusikanten donkey is said to bring good luck http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/bremer-stadtmusikanten-story, rubbing the knee of the Bremen Roland supposedly guarantees a return to Bremen.

Tags: Battle of Roncevaux Pass, Bremen, Bremen Elle, Bremen Roland, Bremer Stadtmusikanten, Charlemagne, Germany, Holy Roman Emperor, Length Measurement Roland, Statue of Liberty, UNESCO World Heritage Site
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