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1924 – 1926
Architect: Wilhelm Kreis
Joseph-Beuys-Ufer 33, Düsseldorf
The listed Rhine Terrace, an event building with a restaurant, was built on the occasion of the Great Düsseldorf Exhibition 1926 for Health Care, Social Welfare and Physical Exercise (GeSoLei) according to plans by the architect Wilhelm Kreis.
Buildings of the GeSoLei
Along the Rhine front, starting at the old Oberkassel Bridge, the riverside area was built over a length of 2 km. The buildings around the Forum for Art and Science and the Rhine Terrace Restaurant were to remain as permanent facilities even after the end of the GeSolei.
All other exhibition buildings were built for a period of one year.
The Art Palace from 1902 received a new facade and was thus integrated into the design of the complex. Opposite it, Kreis planned the new art exhibition palace, which would house the future art museum.
In between was the so-called courtyard of honor, which the circle closed off to the north, leaving only a gate entrance with an open cross connection on the upper floor.
In the south, two wings bordered the long axis of the courtyard of honor, which directed the view to the Rheinhalle, today the Tonhalle, as the central festival hall.
Rhine terrace
The extensive complex of the Rheinterrasse lay to the north of it, directly near the banks of the Rhine. The reinforced concrete structure is clad in bricks. Window cornices and pillars made of tuff and lime sand strips contrast with the dark, reddish-brown brick fields.
The northern wing of the elongated building ends with a canted corner tower, which, by turning 45 degrees, conveys the curvature of the Rhine and the riverside road.
Rheingold Hall
At the center of the complex is the oval 470 square meter Rheingold Hall with a shell-shaped dome hanging on flying buttresses, which is flanked by a tower on the street-side facade.
When designing the interior, Kreis attempted to realize the basic idea of the arts and crafts movement by creating a total work of art.
Architect Wilhelm Kreis
Wilhelm Kreis was a co-founder of the German Werkbund and director of the Düsseldorf School of Arts and Crafts from 1908.
He had already been appointed to the School of Arts and Crafts in Dresden in 1902 after his furnishing of temporary buildings at the 1900 Paris World Exhibition, the 1901 Dresden International Art Exhibition and the 1902 Turin World Exhibition had been awarded.
Interior
The Rheingold Hall is vaulted by a shell-shaped umbrella dome, from which flying buttresses divide the wall into individual panels. Each wall panel is in turn covered by a shell.
The dome ended in a conical ceiling crown made of mirrored glass panels with rotating colored light, designed by Kreis.
Murals by Ernst Aufseeser filled the wall spandrels; today they are hidden under a cladding made of beaten silver.
All other rooms on the Rhine Terrace were also equipped with lamps designed by Wilhelm Kreis and with murals.
The pillars of the dome vault underlined the cave-like character of the room, and the color and material design underlined its representative function.
Outdoor area
At the rear of the building there is a large terrace facing the Rhine with a pavilion and staircases.
Monument protection and conversion
The building ensemble of the Rhine Terrace has been a listed building since 1982.
In 1994 it was converted according to plans by Helmut Hentrich (HPP architectural office). In this context, the so-called Radschlägersaal with large glass surfaces was built in a steel skeleton construction.
