Leipzig: Kaufhaus Ebert

1902 – 1904

Architects: August Hermann Schmidt, Arthur Johlige

Thomaskirchhof 22, Leipzig, Germany

Client

In 1902, the client Franz Ebert commissioned the architects August Hermann Schmidt and Arthur Johlige to design a representative building in Art Nouveau style to house a department store for high-quality women’s clothing.

The usable floor space of the building was to cover about 3,000 square meters.

Building

Of the three equally sized façade segments of the building, the façade with the entrance has the greatest decorative value.

Distinctive corner pilasters with squat corner turrets form the connection to the side facades.

The central part is crowned by a segmented pediment with a large central window.

Above it is a crowned tower bay whose window follows the radius of the masonry and under which the name of the builder can be read.

Reliefs

The reliefs on either side of the main entrance show the allegories of the deadly sins, Superbia (vanity) and Luxuria (hedonism).

Indanthren House

In the thirties and forties, the Ebert department store was a branch of the Indanthren houses of I.G. Farben.

Indanthren houses were business houses set up by the German chemical company I.G. Farben, where textiles dyed or printed with indanthrene were sold through their own fashion service.

During World War II, the two large allegories were dismantled as a metal donation.

Post-War

In 1949, Konsum Leipzig took over the department store and ran it under the name ‘Kaufhaus Fortschritt’.

Since 1990, a bank branch has been located in the building.

Restoration and Renovation

In the years 1995 to 1996, the building was renovated, during which the two allegories that had been dismantled were replaced and the decorative elements were gilded.

The gilding of the copper elements on the facade was already planned in the building design, but was not done at the time and was only carried out during the renovation as a requirement of the preservation of historical monuments.