City council decides to renovate the former Karl Schmidt-Rottluff country house and use it as a museum

At its meeting today, the city council approved the refurbishment of the Karl Schmidt Rottluff country house. The former residential building at Limbacher Straße 382 is an intervention area of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 under the title "Places of Awakening". A museum dedicated to the artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and his work is to be created in the residential building. The redesign of the outdoor facilities is part of the construction project.

The renovation of the country house will begin in spring 2023, with the aim of renovating the ensemble by summer 2024 and completing the outdoor facilities by the beginning of 2025. Kommunalbau Chemnitz is undertaking the construction project on behalf of the City of Chemnitz. Around 2.2 million euros are being invested, of which almost 1.6 million euros are the City of Chemnitz's own funds. 643,000 euros in funding comes in equal parts from the State Monument Protection Programme and the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung.

The Landhaus is to be renovated in line with its listed status. To this end, a lift will be installed on the north façade, which will be accessible via the basement. Both main floors and the ceilings above the basement and upper floor will be insulated. The exterior plaster will be renewed or, where possible, supplemented and colour-matched to the existing building. The natural stone plinth will be cleaned and repointed and any imperfections will be repaired.

Openings in the façades that have been closed will be reopened. The windows on the main storeys will be renovated in line with listed building requirements, brought up to date in terms of energy efficiency and adapted to the safety requirements of an exhibition centre.

Damage to wooden components such as the roof truss and wooden beam ceilings will be repaired, the roof will be re-covered with slate, sheet metal parts will be rebuilt in zinc plate and the chimney will be renewed. The electrics will be completely renewed and a fire alarm system and burglar alarm system will be installed.

The open spaces are also listed and are to be restored according to a historical plan. In the open space, a disabled-friendly route is planned along the boundaries of the property.

Future use as a museum

The Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz are responsible for the design and furnishing of the museum as well as its subsequent operation. Visitors will be welcomed in the entrance area of the parents' house, with ticketing and information about the artist. There will also be a small shop.

The artist's parental home has remained an authentic place of life for the artist's family to this day. The history of the place, the family, the development of the artist's work (Karl Schmidt-Rottluff was self-taught) and the history of Expressionism in Chemnitz will be analysed using numerous media and educational formats. The basis for this is the collection of Dr Victor and Hedda Peters*, which was recently donated and acquired from family property explicitly for the family home. The exquisite collection of artefacts by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff was acquired for the museum by the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung and the Sparkasse Chemnitz.

With authentic objects, artistic artefacts, motif objects, everyday objects, documents, letters, drawings and prints, a comprehensive picture of the artist can be presented, who regularly visited the family on site and last lived there during the war.

The house is to become a lively place for people interested in art and day trippers, with a café and simple beer garden offering an uncomplicated quality of stay in summer. Special programmes are also to be developed for children and young people. The aim is also to work closely with the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff e. V. association, which is committed to the restoration of the neighbouring mill.

Background to the country house

The former Schmidt country house at Limbacher Straße 382 in Chemnitz-Rottluff was built in 1913 for the mill owner Friedrich August Schmidt in the Jugend-/Heimatstil style. Until then, the Schmidt family and their children lived in the neighbouring mill at Limbacher Straße 380, where Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, the eldest son and later an important representative of Expressionism, spent his childhood. The mill is being renovated as an industrial monument with great commitment from the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff e. V. association.

The artist's father died young. The family home was subsequently the residence of the artist's mother and sister, whom he visited regularly. Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and his wife Emmy temporarily lived on the upper floor of the house from 1943 to 1946, as his Berlin studio had been destroyed in a bombing raid. After the war, his brother Kurt and his family moved back from Dresden to Chemnitz. In 1959, he visited the family on the occasion of an exhibition and lived in the country house again.

* changed on 9.2.2023