Munich: Kunsthaus Brakl

1909 – 1910 and 1912 – 1913

Architect: Emanuel von Seidl

Lessingstraße 2, Beethovenplatz 1, Munich, Germany

In 1909, Franz Josef Brakl commissioned the construction of a residential building on Beethovenplatz in Munich, designed by architect Emanuel von Seidl. This was followed by the construction of a new exhibition building for his art gallery in 1912/1913.

Franz Josef Brakl

At that time, Brakl was one of the most important gallery owners of modern art in Germany. He exhibited works by artists of the Blaue Reiter and Die Scholle associations.

Initially, Franz Josef Brakl was a lyric tenor at the Komische Oper in Vienna. There, he was discovered by Karl von Perfall, the director of the Theater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich, who engaged him immediately.

On June 1, 1898, Brakl took over the directorship of the Gärtnerplatz Theater but relinquished it just one year later.

Art Gallery Brakl

Brakl retired from active theater life in 1905. He founded the Kunsthaus Brakl, which quickly gained a strong reputation.

In February 1910, he presented Franz Marc’s works  in a solo exhibition and introduced Marc to August Macke.

The new exhibition building, which opened on May 26, 1913, features late Art Nouveau décor. The exhibition rooms are arranged around a skylit central hall.

Showrooms

Franz Josef Brakl changed the way the works of art on display were presented in his newly created rooms. Previously, he had displayed them in simulated residential rooms; however, the halls of the newly built Kunsthaus offered entirely new possibilities for presentation.

In the skylight hall, he installed black wall coverings to showcase and accentuate the artworks’ distant effect.

Design

In 1913, the Bayerische Staatszeitung wrote about the rooms’ design:

“The surrounding rooms have wide windows. The walls are covered with cloth in different shades according to the rooms, forming a corresponding background depending on the strong or mild tones of the paintings.

The lower wall of the hall is covered with a light fabric, while the upper wall is covered with matte black—the latter being a completely new approach!

The other rooms are covered in dark blue, white, purple-ochre brocade, golden yellow, ivory, moss green and strong red, while the staircase is striped in light purple.

The gray linoleum flooring and muted reddish-mahogany plinth and door frames in all rooms have a tone-connecting effect.”

Conversion and Renovation

The University of Munich acquired the building at the end of the 1920s. In 1928, it was rebuilt and modernized according to plans by Theodor Fischer.

Today, the former gallery building houses the medical library and reading room of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, offering a total of 165 spaces for reading and working.

From 2011 to 2013, the historic building underwent renovations and expansions.