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Heineken House ---

Haus Heineken in Sandstraße 3, directly besides the Bremen Cathedral, is one of the last old-Bremen citizens' houses with late Gothic historic structure. It contains the oldest decorated timber ceiling in Bremen. Since 1973, it is listed under the monument protection act.

Bildüberschriften: Haus Heineken, Sandstraße 3 Portal of 1744 Christian Abraham Heineken Bremen around 1600. Cutout Liebfrauenkirche, Rathaus; behind the Dom, the Sandstraße Old part of the building with the festival hall of 1579 (Violenstraße) Middle portion of rococo stucco ceiling of 1744 Part of wooden ceiling „Prudentia“, „Justitia“, „Spes“ and „Caritas” Panel „Prudentia“ with the date „1580“ Panel „Visus” with the attributes “mirror” and “eagle” Bag pipe player

Demolition plans

Since March 1974, the Landesamt für Denkmalspflege is accomodated in the building Sandstrasse 3. Two years earlier, the building was to be pulled down even though it was listed under the monuments protection act because the area had been selected for building a multi-story car park. It is true that the organisation responsible for the protection of monuments had originally agreed to the demolition plans. At that time, it was intended to re-erect the house no. 3 in Oberneuland. But after renewed negotiations, supported by the Bremen media, the idea of monument protection succeeded against the car park planning. The arguments were not only related to the historic and artistic value of the building – being one of the last five old-Bremen citizens' houses in late gothic style – but also to the apprehension that exhaust emissions from vehicles and percussions might harm Bremen Cathedral. Apart from the Schnoor, this was the last passage preserved from the old Bremen city. Therefore, a project “revitalisation of Sandstrasse” came into being to save not only the house no. 3 but also the numbers 5, 4, 4A and 2. Only the house no. 1 had already been sacrificed when the Violenstrasse was developed. The houses no. 5, 4 and 4A are known under the name of “Haus Vorwärts”. Its preservation saved an important document of Bremen's intellectual history in the cityscape because the Verein Vorwärts (roughly translated “forward society”) is one of the oldest institutions in Germany to promote the education of workers. In January 1973, the Bürgerschaft of Bremen decided to reject the original planning scheme for the multi-storage car park. In March of the same year, a decision was made in relation to the future use of the house Sandstrasse 3. The funds required for the first stage of the remedial actions were provided. On March 1st, 1974, the organisation responsible for the protection of monuments moved into the rooms in the front part of the building which had been renovated within the first stage of construction. Due to lack of funds, the two rooms in the rear of the building, towards the Violenstrasse, remained in the stage which had existed prior to the renovation when one of the rooms had been used by a print shop for many decades. History The Bremen mayor Christian Abraham Heineken (1752–1818) was the best-known inhabitant of the house Sandstrasse 3. Therefore, popular wisdom named the house “Haus Heineken”. But he was not the first resident of this house the oldest parts of which had originally belonged to the cathedral chapter curia and had been mentioned, for the first time, in a document of the year 1744. The period of time before that is covered only by sketchy records. According to an inscription which is attached to the house, Gideon Eggeling, chancellor of the archbishop, had initiated a thorough repair and enlargement of the house with gabled roof which had fallen into disrepair. It is not known whether he himself subsequently moved into the building or whether he only acted on behalf of the cathedral chapter which had in the meantime become Protestant. Another occupant seems to have been, according to a note of the archivist Hermann Post (1693–1762), the Swede Georg Bernhard von Engelbrechten († 1730) who was chancellor for the Swedish king. His sarcophagi is now displayed in the Bleikeller, an unusual so-called “lead basement” which is located beneath the nave of Bremen Cathedral and which even before the Reformation had a reputation as an excellent place to preserve bodies of the dead in amazing form. Another document of 1744 lists a member of the family von Galen as one of the previous occupants. The brothers Jost (Jodochus) and Dietrich (Theodorus) von Galen were capitulars of Bremen Cathedral between 1570 respectively 1561 and 1601/1602. Their common epitaph is attached to a pillar in the central aisle of Bremen Cathedral, opposite the pulpit. The existing documents do not substantiate relations to their direct descendants. But in the church funeral records of St. Ansgarii and St.-Petri-Dome (Bremen Cathedral), several members of the von Galen – family can be found, prior to 1748. It is plausible that the members of the von Galen family who are listed in the 1744 records as occupants of Sandstrasse 3 may have been descendants of the two capitulars. It is not earlier than in the beginning of the 18th century that the occupants of the house can be identified from written documents, deposited in the Bremer Staaatsarchiv. From these documents, it can be derived that the estate “Cathedral chapter curia no. 30 including the two shacks no. 28 and 29” was sold by the cathedral's estate office to Everhard Otto (1685–1756), one of the chief legal officers of the city of Bremen and head of a lawyer's office. The next proprietor was, from 1759, the judge and, later on, mayor Diedrich Smidt (1711–1787). He was an uncle second grade of mayor Johann Smidt (1773–1857). In the year 1787, senator Christian Abraham Heineken who later on became mayor of Bremen purchased the house. He had been elected city counsellor at the age of 27. From 1792, he was mayor and from 1802 onwards Eldest Mayor. For several decades, Heineken and his descendants had a neighbour who is still known today – the medical doctor and astronomer Wilhelm Olbers (1758–1840) whose home was situated directly opposite to the Heineken house. In 1897, the heirs of senator Friedrich Wilhelm Heineken (1787–1848) and his widow Anna Theodora, born Oelrichs, who had expired in 1865, sold their property Sandstrasse 3 to the company Heinrich Bremer, Domshof 14. It is apparent from the address book of 1893 that the Heineken heirs did not live there any longer. One of the tenants who is listed in the address book is Johann Georg Poppe (1837–1915), a well-known Bremen architect, who had his office in this place. In 1898, the house was sold to the Verein Vorwärts. Later on, the city of Bremen bought it from them. Since the house was no longer occupied by a large family, the upper storeys had been converted to rented flats. In the ground floor, craftsmen had their domicile. From 1920 onwards, the printer Adolf Willers had his office here, almost up to the date when the monuments protection office moved in. Building history Only scarce sources are available. Three stages of construction can be identified. The oldest portion which is still preserved is the first one of the two basement rooms, seen from the Sandstrasse. It is equipped with has a simple barrel-vault. It probably belonged to a so-called stone works which was the name for the fire-proof part (because of its building material) of a timber frame constructed house. This part of the building was used to store valuable household utensils and documents. When excavations were carried out in the front part of the building, it was found that there were many shards of bone china and other waste materials from the 18th century. Furthermore, some remainders of brick walls and traces of plastering were discovered. It is possible that there was a thoroughfare in this location before. Some street repair works in the Sandstrasse disclosed, in 1985, a wall built from bricks, monastery style, with a width of 62,5 cm. But these discoveries do not permit a conclusive image of the oldest building phase. It is likely that the building was a timber frame construction with a gable towards the Sandstrasse. In 1579, as mentioned before, the house was thoroughly renovated by Gideon Eggeling, chancellor of the archbishop. Towards the Sandstrasse, the house maintained its gable. But in the direction of Buchtstrasse (today named Violenstrasse), the house was extended by adding a large festival hall. Dendro-chronological research carried out in 1987 established the period when this rear portion of the house was built. The age of roof beams and the ceiling of the festival hall were analysed. The timber which the rear gable (now visible from Violenstrasse) was made of was cut between 1576 and 1578. The same period of origin applies to the second basement room having a groined vault. It discloses a remarkable detail: small pieces of glass were inserted like fins into the wall plaster in order to prevent ingress of moisture. This rehabilitation measure is attributable to the 18th century. The present shape of the house, as far as the outer appearance is concerned, resulted from the reconstruction which took place when it was sold to Everhard Otto, legal advisor and chancellor of the senate of Bremen. The contract of purchase dated December 2nd, 1744, stipulates that the foundation of the building had come apart to such an extent, “that a main repair would be of no value and that it would have to built up from scratch.” It is obvious that this major replacement was carried out by Otto, but at that time the rear portion of the house was only remodelled. The front house was replaced by a new building, pitched towards the street, adjacent in L-shape to the rear building portion. To achieve this, the two shacks no. 28 and 29 had to be removed. It appears that the rear portion of the house may not have been as dilapidated as described by the legal papers. Be that as it may, it was preserved. The festival hall was redesigned and equipped with a rococo plaster ceiling. At the rear wall, there was an alcove for the stove and a decorative blind door. The windows towards Violenstrasse were at that time closed with masonry but in the meantime they have been opened again. From the time when Otto was resident, a small room which is presently used as broom closet is still in existence, called “Butze”. The room is situated directly underneath the staircase which leads to the upper floor. It is likely that the room was used as sleeping chamber for a chambermaid. The door could be locked from inside. Remainders of a marble imitation surface are visible at the door frame. The original door handle is still in existence and was reproduced later on for other doors of the house. A baroque garden was part of the estate. Initially, the monument protection organisation had marked the limits of the garden by special plastering. But later on, when the car park was established after all (though in a somewhat more moderate manner) the traces of the garden were removed. Rehabilitation measures The rehabilitation was carried out in three stages. The first stage, in 1973/74, covered the rooms in front, towards Sandstrasse, and in the middle of the building, as well as the hallways in ground and upper floor of the 1745 building portion. While the ground floor had doors which could be attributed to the Heineken-period, the rooms in the upper floor contained a mixture of different 20th century doors. Several antique door hinges were available to the monument protection office which could be used for decorating their new office. They had been preserved when old buildings were torn down in other parts of the city. But the corresponding frames were no longer available. The second building rehabilitation stage took place in 1979 and covered the rehabilitation of the two rear rooms. To conduct a structural test, the rococo stucco ceiling from the second half of the 18th century (E. Otto rehabilitation) which was at that stage already heavily damaged had to be opened. On this occasion, a very detailed ceiling painting was discovered which originated from the Renaissance period. It was decided to safeguard the remaining parts of the stucco ceiling and to transfer them to room above. Remains of some textile threads were discovered, originating probably from an ornamental covering. After this ceiling of 1580 had been disclosed, the existing plans to remove part of the house in order to gain more room for pedestrians were discarded. Another third building renovation stage lasted for a longer period. The floors in ground floor were repaired. The masonry, specially in the basement, and other parts of the building were set right.

Ceiling pictures

The painted wood ceiling of 1580 is the oldest one still existing in Bremen. It is older than the two Renaissance ceilings in Haus Blomendal and much older than the ceiling of the upper town hall ceiling of 1612. The distemper paintings were applied to oak panels and pinewood boards without priming coat. In a most remarkable stage of conservation, the ceiling paintings exhibit fifteen panels with allegorical pictures, framed acanthus ornaments and animals. The motifs, allegorised by female figures, are the five senses, the seven cardinal virtues and two of the seven free arts. The fifteenth panel deviates from this pattern, showing a man with bagpipe. This is possibly a hint that the room was used for celebrations and festivities. One of the panels contains the year when the paintings were established: 1580. Originally, a picturesque wall decoration went hand in hand with this ceiling décor but only a small remainder still exists. Execution The room which was originally the garden saloon is divided into five sections by six roof beams. In each of these sections, a painted ceiling panel extends throughout the whole room. The state of conservation is extraordinary. Apart from a few small defects, the paintings are intact, partly due to the fact that the ceiling was well protected against atmospheric influences more than half of the time. , The painting strips which are separated by the beams are structured by Strapwork which contains the picture field in the middle and an oval cartridge besides it. In each field, a human figure with its attributes is depicted in front of a landscape. The beams are painted with Strapwork, too, oval and rhombic fields alternate. Plant ornaments decorate the surfaces not covered by the Strapwork. The earth-colour paint which originally may have had a golden effect appears now pale yellow. Figures and landscape are painted in black with some brown, intensified by white colour. On top of the beams, the Strapwork is black, the plant ornament white. The pictures are characterised by a narrow stroke of the brush whereas the ornaments are added in a more easy way with broader strokes of the brush and more momentum. The Strapwork ends in strips, motivs which were taken from the craft of forging wrought-iron work, starting in the second half of the 16th century. Such motivs were distributed in Europe through pattern books originating mostly in the Netherlands, for instance from Cornelis Floris, Cornelis Bos oder Hans Vredeman de Vries. They were wide spread and cherished.

Allegories

The meaning of the individual panels can be derived from the figures and attributes depicted therein. They are mostly women. They symbolise allegories, personifications of human activities and behaviour. On seven panels, the cardinal virtues are depicted, two more relate to two of the free arts. With the exception of the “rhetoric” allegory, all women sit on a kind of stage in an open room, the background being formed by a landscape. The influence of the Netherlands is recognisable. Five more panels depict animals. These allegories symbolise the five human senses. This is an art topic which around 1580 was still brand new.

The last picture with the man playing the bagpipe does not fit into the pattern. It is the only male figure, at the same time the person is smaller than the others. This allegory may have reference to “music” or “dance” (“chorus”, - “round dance”). The ornaments around these panels, especially the fruit decorations, may have relations to Christ and the virtues. They were used in this manner together with the virtue allegories in the Ansgarii Church at the pulpit, which was designed in 1592 by Hermen Wulff. The ape is the symbol of evil and vice, indicating the sinfulness of man and defectiveness of his deeds. The dog, in most cases, is a negative symbol, too, because he is compared to murderers and adulterers who will not be admitted into paradise. But in this case, the dog on the lap signifies “faith”.

Sponsors and artists Nothing is now about the owner of the house which belonged to the cathedral foundation or about the person who initiated these paintings. Nor is it known for what purpose this room was used originally. Since “rhetoric” and “dialectic” were selected from the allegories of the free arts, it can be assumed that the promoter was a man of the clergy. The artist is unknown, too. No signature or handicraft mark was found on the ceiling. In those days, art and handicraft were frequently in one hand in Bremen. But at least, they were performed in one workshop. Masons as well as carpenters understood themselves as craftsmen. It happened very rarely that they signed their products unless they were sure that they were real artists.

Einzelnachweise

Hochspringen ↑ Denkmaldatenbank des LfD ↑ Hochspringen nach: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Margarethe Haberecht: Haus Heineken, Sandstraße 3 in Bremer Häuser erzählen Geschichte ↑ Hochspringen nach: a b c d e f Hans-Christoph Hoffmann: ERFORSCHEN · PFLEGEN · SCHÜTZEN · ERHALTEN ↑ Hochspringen nach: a b c d e f g h Rolf Gramatzki: Die neu entdeckte Holzdecke von 1580 im Haus Heineken in Bremisches Jahrbuch

Literatur

Detlev G. Gross (Hrsg.) und Peter Ulrich (Hrsg.): Bremer Häuser erzählen Geschichte. Döll Edition, 3. Auflage 1998, ISBN 3888082455 Staatsarchiv Bremen (Hrsg.): Bremisches Jahrbuch. Selbstverlag des Staatsarchivs Bremen, Band 57, 1979, ISSN 0341-9622 Hans-Christoph Hoffmann: ERFORSCHEN · PFLEGEN · SCHÜTZEN · ERHALTEN. Ein Vierteljahrhundert Denkmalpflege in der Freien Hansestadt Bremen. Ein Rückblick. Hauschild Verlag, Bremen, 1998, ISBN 393178567X

Weblinks Commons: Haus Heineken – Sammlung von Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien

www.denkmalpflege.bremen.de