The World Heritage Committee,
- Having examined Documents WHC/21/44.COM/8B and WHC/21/44.COM/INF.8B1,
- Inscribes Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt, Germany, on the World Heritage List on the basis of criteria (ii) and (iv);
- Takes note of the following provisional Statement of Outstanding Universal Value:
Brief synthesis
Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt is an outstanding early-twentieth century ensemble of experimental buildings and designed landscapes that represents a prototype of Modernism. The place of residence and exhibition grounds of an artists’ colony – a forerunner of permanent international building exhibitions – takes its name from a hill above the City of Darmstadt, in the State of Hesse, Germany. The ensemble consists of works which members of the influential Darmstadt Artists’ Colony contributed to four internationally acclaimed building exhibitions on the Mathildenhöhe in the years 1901, 1904, 1908, and 1914. It includes the central focus of Wedding Tower and Exhibition Hall, together with studio buildings, and an architecturally diverse range of houses set in designed urban open space with parks, pavilions, fountains, works of art and pathways. The ensemble presents a radical synthesis of architecture, design and art, merged with exemplary, high-quality and aesthetically pleasing living and working environments created in the spirit of modern humanism. This pioneering vision was inspired by international artistic and social reform movements of the nineteenth century and initiated by the progressive and commercially minded Grand Duke of Hesse. It was realised by now renowned architects such as Joseph Maria Olbrich and Peter Behrens in the form of a permanent “Gesamtkunstwerk”, a total artwork that is seminal in the history of architecture.
Today, Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt provides a compact and exceptional testimony of the emergence of modernist architecture, urban planning and landscape design, with distinct influences from the Arts and Crafts movement and the Vienna Secession, through to examples of Art Nouveau that led to the International Style of twentieth century Modernism.
Criterion (ii): Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt is a prototype of Modernism that provides compact and exceptional testimony to the emergence of the International Style of twentieth century modernist architecture and urban landscape design; and of the avant-garde processes by which this happened. Its epochal functional and aesthetic quality reveals a vibrant era of artistic and social reform and embodies a crucial international interchange in the development of architecture and design, urban planning, landscape design and modern exhibition culture. It is a holistic symbol of early Modernism. Four pioneering and internationally acclaimed building exhibitions were held between 1901 and 1914, attracting large numbers of visitors and gaining widespread publicity in both the architectural and popular press. The innovative permanency of the exhibitions gave form to the Mathildenhöhe, and all exhibits were developed in collaboration with companies from both Germany and abroad. The exhibitions featured experimental yet functional architecture, innovative room furnishings, and comprehensive landscape design. For the very first time as part of an exhibition, they included the presentation of modern living and working environments that consisted of permanent homes open to the public during the exhibitions.
Members of the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony, inspired by various reform movements, worked on the Mathildenhöhe in artistic freedom. Their different styles combine harmoniously to form an unprecedented total artwork. Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt was more than a collection of artists’ houses and studios. It developed as a semi-utopian community which became a focal point of the relevant trends of early Modernism, and a fundamental influence on numerous international building exhibitions in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Criterion (iv): Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt is a unique and exceptional ensemble of architectural elements in a designed landscape that represents a prototype of Modernism that documents the emergence of the International Style of twentieth century modernist architecture and urban landscape design. It is a total artwork that is seminal in the history of architecture. Construction took place between 1899 and 1914, during an era of radical experimentation that characterises the revolutionary age of Modernism, a major design influence in the twentieth century most often associated with architecture and art.
The radical synthesis of architecture, design and art includes experimental exhibition buildings that feature progressive architecture, ambitious designed urban landscapes, contemporary spatial art, and innovative artists’ houses and studio buildings. Crowning the hill of the Mathildenhöhe is the centrepiece of the ensemble, the iconic Hochzeitsturm (Wedding Tower) with its distinctive shape, like an up-raised hand, and its two wrap-around strips of small windows. Adjoining is the massive Exhibition Hall, described at the time as an “acropolis” and a “city crown”. Together they form a unique silhouette, a landmark for the citizens of Darmstadt and emblematic in terms of local cultural identity. As buildings, they continue in the function for which they were originally designed. The enigmatic Plane Tree Grove, rectangular in plan, extends to the front and adds another dimension, its many sculptural works and inscriptions shaping a place of cyclical nature and universal culture and spirituality. Parallel to the grove is an axis created by the Russian Chapel and the Lily Basin, the latter serving as a reflection pool linked to the sacred building. Complementing this to the south, east and west are studio buildings and an architecturally diverse range of experimental houses set in designed generous urban open space with parks and pavilions, roads and pathways.
Integrity
Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt has sustained its significance with time: the nominated property is of an adequate size and wholeness to contain all attributes and elements that are necessary to convey its proposed Outstanding Universal Value. The boundary has been drawn to constrain the principal place of residence and exhibition grounds of the artists’ colony, including all its most significant buildings and spaces, illustrating clearly its functional integrity and pattern of spatial organisation: in particular, the Wedding Tower (as the highest elevation of the ensemble’s silhouette), the Exhibition Hall, the Ernst Ludwig House, the Studio Building of 1914, together with the many artists’ houses. These are complemented by the Plane Tree Grove, the fountains and sculptures, as well as the paths in the designed landscape. Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt demonstrates exceptional structural, functional, and visual integrity, even though some elements of the site were carefully restored after suffering damage in the Second World War. It is in a good overall state of conservation and does not suffer from adverse effects of development or neglect. The impact of any potential deterioration processes is strictly controlled.
Authenticity
Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt is fully able to convey its significance over time, as expressed by a highly authentic location and setting together with a combination of attributes and elements that are genuine, credible and truthful.
The essential ensemble of architectural elements and designed landscape meets a high standard of authenticity in terms of form and design, materials and substance. Furthermore, Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt displays a consistent authenticity of the ensemble as a whole. This is reflected in buildings and spaces whereby the original intention has been faithfully retained, and the continuity of traditional function and use has been sustainably managed. Its spirit is sustained in vibrant cultural expression. Assisted by a combination of general lack of disturbance, continued use and constant maintenance, the originality and overall condition of the site is very good. Various elements of the Mathildenhöhe that were damaged by war were carefully restored shortly after hostilities ended, and all subsequent extensions to the property were executed in line with monument protection agencies. Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt remains able to clearly display its significance in terms of the emergence of Modernism and as the first international and permanent building exhibition.
Protection and management requirements
Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt, with its ensemble of buildings and designed landscapes, is completely protected as a cultural monument under the Hessian Act on the Protection and Conservation of Monuments (Section 2 paragraph 1 HDSchG). The direct surroundings of the ensemble are also subject to monumental protection as an ensemble (Section 2 paragraph 3 HDSchG). Moreover, UNESCO World Heritage sites are subject to special protection by the federal state of Hesse (Section 3 HDSchG).
The buildings of the ensemble are predominantly under state ownership (City of Darmstadt or the State of Hesse) and private ownership. Restoration and renovation works at the ensemble are carried out by the owners in close collaboration with the competent federal authorities. In future, they will also be coordinated by a site manager.
A buffer zone is delineated to ensure that development controls are sufficient to protect the nominated property from potential negative impacts, to conserve the historically and art-historically relevant sightlines to and from the site, and to protect the continuity of character in the setting in a way that is compatible with the proposed OUV of the nominated property. In addition, construction activities within the site itself and in the buffer zone are regulated by way of legally binding, identified areas of historical interest, a land-use plan, and local building plans. These instruments regulate the conservation of the historically and art-historically relevant sight lines to, and from, the site. In 2015, an Advisory Board was created to integrate existing plans with the World Heritage nomination process.
- Recommends that the State Party give consideration to the following:
- Developing a conservation management plan to guarantee a consistent conservation approach and strategy for all buildings of the property,
- Strengthening the link between the private owners and conservation services,
- Ensuring an appropriate balance between development and conservation activities in budget allocations,
- Including in the interpretation and presentation of the different buildings of the property the history of their conservation;
- Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre by 1 February 2022 an updated report on the relocation of the proposed visitor centre outside the boundaries of the property, including the new project developed for the visitor centre, the new approved building plan 032 and detailed information on the impact of vehicular traffic on sightlines for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 45th session.