World Heritage Festival Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt

On the weekend of the German World Heritage Day (3. and 4. June 2023), the Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt celebrates its first World Heritage Festival.

The highlight on Saturday (3.6.) is the Illumination Festival, which illuminates the grounds and buildings as in the days of the Artists' Colony more than 100 years ago. In addition to the Artists' Colony Museum and the Wedding Tower, House Olbrich and Large Glückert House are open. Music, arts and crafts and a gastronomic offer complete the programme.

 

On Sunday (4.6.) there will be various guided tours of the grounds and through the artists' houses. Visitors will gain insight into the origins of the Artists' Colony and their way of life. From the Wedding Tower you can enjoy the view over the Mathildenhöhe. Music, a family programme, artisans and gastronomic offerings complete the programme on Sunday as well.

 

Timetable:
Saturday, 3.6., from 6 pm to midnight
Sunday, 4.6., from 11 am to 6 pm

 

Further information on the programme will follow shortly.

UNESCO World Heritage Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt

In July 2021, the "Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt" was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is an outstanding example of experimental architecture of the early 20th century consisting of the Wedding Tower, Exhibition Hall, Artists' Colony Museum, plane tree grove and artists' houses.

 

The Mathildenhöhe area was laid out as early as the 19th century as the garden of the grand ducal court and named after Mathilde Karoline Friederike von Wittelsbach, the wife of Grand Duke Ludwig III. Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig founded the Artists' Colony on Mathildenhöhe in 1899, which made Darmstadt a focal point of Art Nouveau and European art development. Created with the aim of reforming art and life, the work of the artists' colony expressed the dawn of modernity through experimental architecture, new spatial art and pioneering design.

 

In the wake of four exhibitions (1901, 1904, 1908 and 1914), a series of trend-setting buildings with furnishings ranging from furniture to tableware were erected on Mathildenhöhe, embedded in a park with sculptures, fountains and garden pavilions. By the outbreak of the First World War, a total of 23 artists had worked on the Mathildenhöhe, including such renowned personalities as Joseph Maria Olbrich, Peter Behrens and Hans Christiansen.

 

Further information: World Heritage Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt

 

Bus Mathildenhöhe - Line M

World Heritage bus "Line M" between the city centre and Mathildenhöhe.

Daily between 10:45 am and 5:15 pmm every 30 minutes, starting at the bus stop darmstadtium/Kongresszentrum. On the way to Mathildenhöhe it stops at the stop Pützerstraße and at the Ostbahnhof. Return trips from Mathildenhöhe to the city centre every 30 minutes between 11:02 am and 5:32 pm from the Olbrichweg stop (Museum Artists' Colony), on its way back to the city centre stopping at the Ostbahnhof and at the Jugendstilbad (Art Nouveau Swimming Bath).

 

The bus line M can be used with regular RMV tickets. A single ticket costs 2.50 euros, reduced 1.55 euros. All standard RMV tickets can be purchased on the buses.

 

Our tip:
The Darmstadt Card. It includes the use of all public transport in the city (tariff zone 40) and, among other things, discounts at the Museum Künstlerkolonie (Museum Artists' Colony) and the Hochzeitsturm (Wedding Tower). >> Link Darmstadt Card

 

Timetable with stops: timetable Welterbe-Shuttle

App "Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt"

With the Mathildenhöhe App you can go on a journey through time on Mathildenhöhe. Historical views are superimposed with current images and illustrate how the Mathildenhöhe developed during and after the Artists' Colony.

 

For viewing the web-version and the direct links to the AppStore and Google Play, please click here.

 

Impressions from the celebrations "Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt", 2nd and 3rd October 2021

Impressions from the celebrations "Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt", 2nd and 3rd October 2021

©Darmstadt Marketing/Rüdiger Dunker

 

UNSECO World Heritage Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt | Interview with Dr. Philipp Gutbrod

World Heritage Mathildenhöhe and other Highlights in Darmstadt