The Hoetger Garden at the Diedrichshof

The Worpswede Museum Association includes not only the four museums but also the sculpture garden laid out by Bernhard Hoetger at the Diedrichshof.

The universal artist Bernhard Hoetger came from the Mathildenhöhe artists’ colony in Darmstadt to Fischerhude and then on to Worpswede in 1914. In the immediate vicinity of Vogeler’s Barkenhoff, Hoetger acquired the property next to the residence and studio of the sculptor Carl Emil Uphoff. Before Uphoff, Paula Modersohn-Becker, whom Hoetger greatly admired, had her studio at the adjacent Brünjeshof. In 1915 he began to lay out his design for the garden at the Brunnenhof – now known as Diedrichshof.

From the very start, Bernhard Hoetger created his first residence and workplace as a total work of art. The Brunnenhof became an unified ensemble of architecture, interior design, painting, sculpture, garden art and artisanship. For the garden, Hoetger had duplicate casts made of his sculptures from the Plane Tree Grove in Darmstadt. He also selected the figures Anger, Vengeance and Light from his majolica series Light and the Dark Side of Life and had the sculptures enlarged in cast stone.

The ownership of the property changed over the years. In 1923 the Brunnenhof burned down to its foundation walls. In 1924 Hoetger’s first residence was renamed »Diedrichshof«. 80 years later, the ambitious and costly restoration of the Hoetger Garden, including the reconstruction of its sculptural works, was completed in 2004.

From May to October, every third Sunday in the month, from 2.00 to 5.00 p.m. the privately run Hoetger-Garden at the Diedrichshof is open to the public. In addition, there are occasional events and concerts at the Diedrichshof.

Illustration: Open-plan garden area, 2013, photo: © Uwe Reuter.

To the depicted works by Bernhard Hoetger apllies: © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2016.