The movement had its origins in
Munich with the founding of an association of visual artists in 1892, which broke away from the more formal historical and academic styles of the academy.
Georg Hirth chose the name
Munich Secession for the association. Later, the
Vienna Secession, founded in 1897 and the
Berlin Secession took their own names from the Munich group. The journal of the group,
Jugend, begun in 1896, along with another Munich publication,
Simplicissimus and
Pan in Berlin, became the most visible showcases of the new style. The leading figures of this movement, including
Peter Behrens,
Bernhard Pankok, and
Richard Riemerschmid, as well as the majority of the founding members of the Munich Secession, all provided illustrations to
Jugend. In the beginning, the style was used primarily in illustrations and graphic arts.
Jugendstil combined floral decoration and sinuous curves with more geometric lines, and soon was used for covers of novels, advertisements, and exhibition posters. Designers often created original styles of typeface that worked harmoniously with the image, such as the
Arnold Böcklin typeface created in 1904.
Otto Eckmann was one of the most prominent German artists associated with both
Jugend and
Pan. His favourite animal was the swan, and so great was his influence that the swan came to serve as the symbol of the entire movement. Another prominent designer in the style was
Richard Riemerschmid, who made furniture, pottery, and other decorative objects in a sober, geometric style that pointed forward toward
Art Deco. The Swiss artist
Hermann Obrist, living in Munich, made designs with sinuous double curves, modeled after plants and flowers, which were a prominent motif of the early style.
Joseph Maria Olbrich and the Darmstadt Artists' Colony The
Darmstadt Artists' Colony is a remarkable collection of
Jugendstil buildings created beginning in 1899 by
Ernest Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse, a grandson of Queen Victoria, to promote both commerce and the arts. He brought together a group of designers to create his new community, including
Peter Behrens,
Hans Christiansen, and
Joseph Maria Olbrich. The Colony architecture represented a complete break with the earlier floral style, and was much bolder in its design. Behrens and several of the other architects built their own houses there, and designed every detail, from the doorknobs to the dishes. The most impressive building of the Colony is the Ernst-Ludwig House, named for the Grand Duke, which contained the workshops of the artists. It was designed by Olbrich, with an entrance in the form of a three-quarter circle, flanked by two statues,
Force and
Beauty, by Ludwig Habich (1901). File:Fauteuil et décors de porte de Peter Behrens (Musée de la colonie d'artistes, Darmstadt) (8729765938).jpg|Armchair and
aluminum bronze doors designed by
Peter Behrens for his music room at Darmstadt File:Darmstadt-Mathildenhoehe-Glueckert-Haus-01-gje.jpg|The Mathildenhöhe – Glückert House (1901) File:DA-Haus Behrens1.jpg|Behrens' house File:La colonie dartistes jugendstil (Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt) (7882268852).jpg|Entrance to the Ernst-Ludwig House, the workshop of the artists at the Darmstadt Colony, by
Joseph Maria Olbrich (1901) File:La maison de J.M. Olbrich (Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt) (7945572864).jpg|Olbrich's house, reconstructed in a simpler style after it was destroyed in World War II. Only the colored checkerboard design is original. File:Darmstadt-Mathildenhoehe mit Hochzeitsturm 2005-05-08b.jpg|Exhibition Building (1901) File:Hochzeitsturm DA.jpg|Wedding Tower (1901)
Ålesund The Norwegian town of
Ålesund suffered a disastrous fire on 23 January 1904. With the support of
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany the town was reconstructed in Jugendstil by local Norwegian designers and architects. To honor Wilhelm, one of the most frequented streets of the town is named after him.
Henry van de Velde and Weimar File:Kunstpalast, Raum 6 Henry Van de Velde Zimmer, Foto Otto Renard, 1902.jpg|Interior of Room 6 of the Arts Palace, Düsseldorf by
Henry van de Velde (1902) File:Deep plate by Henry van de Velde, Meissen factory, 1903, porcelain with blue underglaze and gold decoration - Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt - Darmstadt, Germany - DSC00722.jpg|Porcelain plate by Henry van de Velde for
Meissen factory (1903) (Darmstadt Museum) File:Henry van de velde per theodor müller, terrina (1905-06 ca.) e coltello da caviale (1903), argento, weimar.JPG|Silver terrine by Henry van de Velde (1905–06) The city of
Weimar was another important center of the
Jugendstil, thanks largely to the Belgian architect and designer
Henry van de Velde. Van de Velde had played an important role in the early Belgian Art Nouveau, building his own house and decorating it in Art Nouveau style, with the strong influence of the British
Arts and Crafts Movement. He was a known in Germany for his work in Belgium and Paris, and began a new career in Dresden in 1897, with a display at the Dresden Exposition of decorative arts. His work became known in Germany through decorative arts journals, and he received several commissions for interiors in Berlin, for the
Villa Esche in
Chemnitz, the
Folkwang Museum in
Hagen, and the Nietzsche House in
Weimar for
Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, the sister of philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche. He settled in Weimar in 1899 and produced a wide variety of decorative works, including silverware and ceramics, all in strikingly original forms. His silverware was particularly unusual: each piece had its own form, with sleek curving lines, but together they formed a harmonious ensemble. In 1902, he decorated the apartment of Count
Harry Kessler, a prominent patron of the Impressionist painters. In 1905, with the patronage of the Grand Duke of Weimar, he created the Grand Ducal School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar. He created a showcase of applied arts for the Dresden Exposition of Applied Arts in 1906, decorated with paintings by
Ludwig von Hofmann, intended as the main room of a new museum of decoration in Weimar. He transposed the characteristics of his silverware, dishes, and furniture into the architecture. Van de Velde left off the curling vegetal lines of Art Nouveau decoration and replaced them with much simpler, more stylized curves which were part of the structure of his buildings and decorative works.
Peter Behrens and the German Werkbund The architect and designer
Peter Behrens (1868–1940) was a key figure in the final years of the
Jugendstil, and in the transition to modern architecture. Born in
Hamburg, where he studied painting, Behrens moved to Munich in 1890 and worked as a painter, illustrator and bookbinder. In 1890, he was one of the founders of the
Munich Secession. In 1899, he was invited to participate in the
Darmstadt Artists' Colony, where he designed his own house and all of its contents, including the furniture, towels and dishes. After 1900 he became involved in
industrial design and the reform of architecture to more functional forms. In 1902, he participated in the Turin International Exposition, one of the first major Europe-wide showcases of Art Nouveau. In 1907, Behrens and a group of other notable
Jugendstil artists, including
Hermann Muthesius,
Theodor Fischer,
Josef Hoffmann,
Joseph Maria Olbrich,
Bruno Paul,
Richard Riemerschmid, and
Fritz Schumacher, created the
Deutscher Werkbund. Modeled after the
Arts and Crafts movement in England, its goal was to improve and modernize the design of industrial products and everyday objects. He first major project was
AEG turbine factory in Berlin (1908–1909). Behren's assistants and students at this time included
Mies van der Rohe, C. E. Jeanerette (the future
Le Corbusier), and
Walter Gropius, the future head of the
Bauhaus. The work of Behrens and the Werkbund effectively launched the transition from the
Jugendstil to modernism in Germany, and the end of the
Jugendstil. File:MusikzimmerHausBehrensSchiedmayer.jpg|Music room of Behrens' house in Darmstadt (1902) File:AEG by Peter Behrens.jpg|
AEG turbine factory in Berlin, by Peter Behrens (1908–1909) ==Architecture and decoration==