Löbau: Schminke House

1931 – 1933

Architect: Hans Scharoun

Kirschallee 1b, Löbau, Germany

In 1930, pasta manufacturer Fritz Schminke commissioned architect Hans Scharoun to design a modern residence for him, his wife, Charlotte, and their four children, located next to his factory in Löbau.

Background

Following his father’s death in spring 1920, Fritz Schminke officially took over management of the Loeser & Richter company, a position he had held temporarily since 1918. Since 1881, the Loebau factory’s pasta products had been world-famous under the Anker trademark.

Fritz Schminke systematically transformed the company into a manufacturer of branded products. He used only uniformly aligned folding box packaging in blue and orange, some of which had viewing windows.

The noodle factory was one of the first German companies to package its branded products in cellophane.

Hans Scharoun

After seeing his buildings at the Weissenhof Siedlung in Stuttgart (1927) and the Werkbund exhibition in Breslau in Breslau (1929), the Schminke couple sought contact with Hans Scharoun.

They wanted a modern house for their family of six, a maid, and up to two guests. They wanted south-facing living spaces, unobstructed views of the garden, easy management, and a place for the maid to live.

Schminke House

In close coordination with the client’s wishes, the Schminke House was built relatively quickly as a representative family home in close proximity to the factory.

Like a dividing bar, the elongated building with a restrained façade separates the factory area from the private area. The house opens to the garden with curves, high windows, terraces, and external stairs.

The residence is entered via a prestigious entrance that provides access and an exit under an overlong canopy, allowing one to enter and exit dry.

Construction

The steel skeleton construction with pumice concrete infill enabled a flexible interior design, eliminating the need for load-bearing partition walls.

The living areas are accessed from the central living hall. The elongated living room on the first floor opens into a conservatory with angled, floor-to-ceiling louvered windows and planters.

Facing the factory, the room catches the southern sun through its high windows. It opens to the garden to the north with floor-to-ceiling windows. The transition from living space to outdoor space is seamless due to the transparency.

The steel roundabouts, concrete body, and porthole windows on the garden side reflect Scharoun’s interest in shipbuilding. Standing on the curved terrace overlooking the garden and pond, one is reminded of a ship’s deck.

To this day, the building is known as the Nudeldampfer, or “noodle steamer.”

Interior

The light coming in from all sides inside the house supports the impression that the rooms flow into each other.

The living room opens directly to a large dining room with round, glass ceiling panels that bring in extra light, making the room appear larger.

A spacious staircase with a wide handrail, which the Schminke children used to slide from the upper floor to the first floor, leads to the equally bright bedrooms and children’s rooms upstairs.

The kitchen is made of low-maintenance materials and was designed according to the principles of the Frankfurt kitchen.

Garden Design

Herta Hammerbacher and her husband, Hermann Mattern, collaborated with gardener and perennial grower Karl Foerster of Potsdam to design the 3,500-square-foot residential and ornamental garden.

Additionally, the Schminkes acquired an adjoining 11,000-square-foot piece of land for a kitchen garden. Its scattered fruit meadow remains as it was originally designed.

After Fritz Schminke commissioned architect Hans Scharoun to design his private residence, he also hired him to plan the conversion and expansion of the factory buildings, as well as the design of Anker pasta’s trade fair exhibition stands.

In 1934 and 1935, the factory façade on Äußere Bautzener Straße was redesigned. The complete reconstruction of the factory did not take place at that time due to financial constraints and the outbreak of World War II.

Post-War Years

The Schminke family lived next to the factory site for twelve years until the Red Army confiscated their home in 1945. Fritz Schminke was dispossessed in July 1946.

Due to delivering food to the Wehrmacht, Fritz Schminke and his younger brother, Joachim—who had taken over management of the company after Fritz was drafted into the army—were considered war criminals in the Soviet occupation zone.

At this time, Fritz Schminke was still a Soviet prisoner of war, and he was not released until November 1948.

The Schminke family moved west in 1950–51. In the following decades, Haus Schminke was first a Russian military command, then a recreational home for children, a clubhouse for the Free German Youth (FDJ), a house for the Young Pioneers, and finally a recreational center. In 1993, it became the property of the city of Löbau.

The city handed over management of the house to an association. Between 1999 and 2000, the house was renovated extensively for the first time.

Renovation

During the careful restoration of the house and garden, the original components of the building’s structure were completely preserved and restored, as was much of the quartz exterior plaster.

Inside, the wall-mounted interior, fixtures, cabinets, and Frankfurt kitchen were largely preserved.

In 2007, the Stiftung Haus Schminke (Haus Schminke Foundation) was established in cooperation with Hess Leuchten AG of Baden-Württemberg.

Following Hess Leuchten AG’s withdrawal due to insolvency, the city of Löbau has been the sole sponsor of the foundation since May 2009.

The house is open for tours on certain days, and visitors can also stay overnight or rent the house for events.