Schminke House

They are the icons of the “modern architecture”: Frank Lloyd Wright's “Fallingwater”, Le Corbusier’s “Villa Savoye”, Mies van der Rohe’s “Villa Tugendhat” - and Hans Scharoun’s “Haus Schminke” in the small Saxon town of Löbau. The owner of the local Anker pasta factory approached the famous architect after a visit to the Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart. Fritz Schminke wanted “a modern house for two parents, four children, and occasionally one or two guests”. The owner and the architect jointly developed the concept, which was realized from 1930 to 1933 and in which the formal language of modernism is expressed in an exemplary way. The curved body with terraces, outdoor stairs and numerous round porthole windows evokes the association to a ship. In the living area, the rooms flow smoothly into each other. Generous glass surfaces make the garden into an extended living room. Various design elements characterize the spatial experience. The utility rooms and bedrooms, however, are deliberately spartan – everything is practical and space-saving. The house, confiscated by the Soviet Army, was given back to the Schminke family in 1946, but because the pasta factory had also been expropriated, their livelihood had also been removed, and in 1951 they went to Celle. Haus Schminke was then misused for decades. But in this way it was at least preserved, and today after careful restoration can again welcome visitors.

Schminke House
Kirschallee 1 b
02708 Löbau
Germany
+49 (0) 3585 - 862133
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