Private homes have always been places where people display their wealth. For the public, however, this luxury remains unseen. Over the centuries, living styles have undergone continual change as the functions of individual rooms become increasingly specialised.
During the Renaissance, the villa was revived as a comfortable country residence. It was not until the 19th century, however, that this type of building also entered the urban context, shaping cities and also spa towns, with Baden-Baden being a case in point.
The design of villas initially drew on styles from past eras – from antiquity and the Renaissance to the Baroque. Towards the end of the 19th century, however, people turned away from historical models and industrially mass-produced goods. The Arts and Crafts movement, followed later by Art Nouveau, sought new forms and individual design.
The aim was to create a so-called Gesamtkunstwerk, or “complete work of art”. Architecture, furniture, everyday objects and even clothing and jewellery were intended to form a harmonious whole. Despite the movement’s socialist ideas, this type of architecture remained primarily the preserve of a wealthy elite. After all, creating such fully integrated interiors through painstaking craftsmanship was extremely expensive.
Baden-Baden is also home to an outstanding example of the combination of late Historicism and Art Nouveau: Villa Sirius at 15 Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße. Designed by the architect Fritz Klingholz, it was built in 1910 for the chemist and industrialist Max Fremery. Klingholz produced elaborate designs for the villa, carefully considering every detail of its interior down to the smallest detail.
