The villa "Beaulieu" planned by Olbrich was built in 1901 not as an artists' house but for the private owner Georg Keller. On two floors, decorative art objects from Darmstadt workshops could be viewed and purchased during the exhibition "A Document of German Art".

In 1894, Czar Nikolaus II of Russia married Princess Alix, the youngest sister of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig, who commissioned the building of the Russian Chapel. It was inaugurated in 1899 and was used by the family of the Czar whenever they visited. The architect was Louis Benois of St. Petersburg. Today, it is the church of the Russian orthodox community in Darmstadt.

The Swan Temple with its 8 double pillars and dark glazed ceramic tiles was designed by Albin Mueller for the exhibition of the Artists‘ Colony in 1914 as a ceramic garden pavillion. A special feature is the acoustic: if you stand in the middle and speak, the little temple becomes a whispering gallery.

The "Large Glückert House“, designed in 1901 by Joseph Maria Olbrich for the furniture maker Glueckert, served him as an exhibition room until the break-up of the Artists‘ Colony. Since 1971, the Large Glückert House has been the home of the German Academy for Language and Literature.

As the only residential building in the 1904 exhibition of the artists' colony, an ensemble consisting of three houses was built on the corner of Stiftstraße and Prinz-Christians-Weg. Here, too, the client was Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig, and the group of houses was designed by the architect Joseph Maria Olbrich as an example of artistically designed homes "for the not overly wealthy citizen". The "Blue House" and the "Wooden Gable House", were for sale after completion, the "Gray House" served as a servant apartment for the court preacher Hermann Count Keyserling, who established his "School of Wisdom" there.

The residential buildings, separated from each other on the inside and each with a separate entrance, were placed next to each other on the irregularly cut plot of land in such a way that they formed a whole from the outside, but were clearly distinguished from each other by the different originally designed gables.

The "Ledigenwohnheim“, a hostel for single people, was built to the plans of Ernst Neufer in 1954/5 and is one of the five completed "Meisterbauten“ on the Mathildenhoehe in Darmstadt. Neufert’s plans were used in a slightly changed form by the "Bauverein“ for working class accomodation. The result was a six-storey apartment block with 156 small apartments, which was originally intended as homes for single people. In the building was also a laundry, a shop and a restaurant. At the start of the 21st century the building was completely renovated under the management of Ramona Buxbaum, whereby a number of larger apartments were created. The electric wiring and plumbing were modernised. Since it is a listed building, some apartments had to retain their original form.

The Exhibition Hall on Mathildenhöhe, which opened in 1908 together with the Hochzeitsturm, is the venue for outstanding special exhibitions of international contemporary art as well as art and culture around 1900. The tension between contemporary presentations and cultural-historical positions of the turn of the century results in an extraordinary and vital programme in which utopias and a spirit of departure meet a striking sense of form and reality.

The Exhibition Hall remains closed due to general renovation.

The "Hochzeitsturm“ (Wedding Tower) and the Exhibition Hall (1907-1908) were the work of Joseph Maria Olbrich. Hidden under the hall is the fascinating vault of a walled water reservoir, a technical masterpiece.

The reservoir was built between 1877 and 1880 to the plans of the engineer Otto Lueger at the highest point of the Mathildenhoehe – and at the time fed the city’s water supply network.

The villa on the edge of the Mathildenhoehe was built in 1908 for Paul Ostermann, the director of the collection of the grand duchy, by Alfred Messel, the architect of the state museum. The classsical style of the villa bears no relation to the Art Nouveau of the neighbouring Artists‘ Colony. Today Ostermann House, also known as Alfred-Messel-House, is the home of "Hessen Design“.

The Vortex Garden with a villa on Mathildenhöhe is Darmstadt's only public park in private ownership.

Designed according to the principles of permaculture and the balance of natural eco-systems, the owner would like to make the garden accessible as a "place of vitality, renewal and recreation". On request, the design and the idea of the garden are explained to interested visitors.

From 9 am to 9 pm the garden is open for visitors free of charge.

The "Haus Martinus" (formerly "Haus Hubertus") was designed in 1921 by the architect Jan Hubert Pinand.

The Artists' Colony Museum in the Ernst Ludwig House built in 1901, documents the history of the Darmstadt Artists' Colony (1899-1914) on the Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021.

The museum provides a comprehensive overview of the creative work of universal artists such as Joseph Maria Olbrich and Peter Behrens. The idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk as the ideal of the Art Nouveau movement is brought to life in spatial ensembles. The museum's sculpture studios, built in 1904, host special exhibitions from the 19th century to the present.

Downhill from the museum lie seven of the eight artists‘ houses, which were show-cased during the first exhibition in 1901 (three further exhibitions were held in 1904, 1908 and 1914).

The Artists' Colony Museum is certified for accessibility in the "Reisen für Alle" project.

The detailed information can be found here: www.reisen-fuer-alle.de

Partner of the DARMSTADT CARD:

reduced admission

The fountain in front of the Russian Chapel was built for the fourth exhibition of the Darmstadt Artists‘ Colony in 1914. It was designed by Albin Mueller, following the death of Joseph Maria Olbrich, leader of the artists‘ colony. The floor tiles were completely renewed in 1993.