Client: Theodor Wiegand Architect: Peter Behrens Construction date: 1911/12

Beginning in 1899, Theodor Wiegand, the successful excavator of Priene, Miletus, Didyma and Samos, lived in Constantinople and served as the representative for the Berlin Museum. In the following year he married Marie von Siemens, daughter of Georg Siemens, whom he had met when she visited the excavation at Priene. In 1911, he was named Director of the Department of Antiquity at the Berlin Museum and therefore proceeded to Berlin in order to set up house. As a modern scholar, who pursued a thorough exploration of whole cities and landscapes, he brought an unusual broad dimension to the study of archaeology. Wiegand likewise strove to create a private house whose architecture would be of the highest standards and ahead of its time and therefore commissioned Peter Behrens for the work who at that time was acknowledged as one of the most talented architects. Behrens began his carrier as a painter and in 1899 was in the artist circle of the Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt where he was permitted to design and build his own house. With this first architecture design Behrens became famous and in 1907, after having been the Director of the School of Art and Design in Düsseldorf, he was called to Berlin by the AEG to serve as designer and architect. He designed products for this company with such craftsmanship that many of them are now in museum collections. His reputation as a innovative architect began in 1909 when he designed the AEG turbine factory in Berlin-Moabit.

On a large lot in the newly developed villa quarter of Dahlem (Peter-Lenné Str. 28-30), Behrens designed for Wiegand not a country home, but a model villa in a classical style that alluded to the occupation of the owner which was characteristic of Behrens’ work at this point in time. All of his designs from this period featured clear, horizontal forms, sharp classical moldings and cool materials. As owner of the villa, Wiegand, inspired by classical architecture revealed during his excavations, had himself determined the form of certain formal details; therefore the front of the house facing the street is taken up by a peristyle similar to that of House 33 in Priene dating from the Hellenistic period. Behrens changed the function of this intimate inner courtyard allowing him to forgo the inclusion of a simple gable while retaining representative elements for the facade. Moreover, Behrens' modern classicism is expressed in an open-mindedness towards all technical innovations. Thus, glass blocks were utilized for the coffered ceiling of the peristyle (the first to be seen in private houses) in order to lighten the effect of the heavy architecture.

Peter Behrens was greatly inspired by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. His influence is apparent in the formation of the ground plan. With Wiegand House, it shows itself also in the arrangement of four corner rooms around a central room and through the addition of asymmetrical elements like the arcaded walkway carried by the heavy columns. Furthermore, we see the influence of Schinkel in the type of roofing and overall in the interior decoration.. Both architects postulated that they created »complete works of art« designing the wallpaper, carpeting and curtains as well as the encompassing architecture. The ground plan of Wiegand House is determined by the representative ground floor with its six palatial rooms furnished with expensive furniture made from a variety of materials. It is a rare occurrence when representative rooms of such houses still retain their original furnishings to such an extent.

Wiegand House - Location of the Berlin Head Office of the DAI The former location of the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut on Maienstraße was severely damaged during the war and it was fortuitous that in 1957 the home of the earlier president of the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut could be acquired. For its new purpose, Wiegand House had to be renovated and modified but was soon too small and so within a decade plans were afoot for the construction of a new building. In 1973, a new building was erected opposite Wiegand House according to plans of the Federal Building Management and today is called Kurt-Bittel House in honor the former president. It is in this building that the administration of the domestic and foreign departments, the editorial offices and the largest archaeological library in Berlin are accommodated. During the 150th anniversary celebration of the DAI in 1979, the federal government furnished the means for the restoration of Wiegand House and placed it under the protection of historical monuments. Today, this protected monument serves as the seat of the president of the DAI and is the meeting place for the central management. Furthermore, beginning in 1973 Wiegand House has been the location of the Architecture Department. Beginning in 1980, the staff from the departments in Baghdad and Tehran, on account of the difficult circumstances in those locations, was provided with makeshift accommodations in Wiegand House. In 1983, the villa neighboring Wiegand House, erected in 1911 for the brother-in-law of Theodor Wiegand by the architectural firm of Cremer and Wolfenstein, was acquired with assistance from the Volkswagenwerk Foundation and was later refurbished for the Orient House. Also belonging to the headquarters of the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut is Lepsius House, only a few minutes away by foot (on Dol 2-6), built in 1910/11 by the architect Hans Bernulli for the chemist Bernhard Lepsius, a son of the former Institute president Richard Lepsius. It serves predominantly as a guest house for visiting scholars and DAI scholarship holders.

Literature Abbildungen und weitere Informationen zum Wiegand-Haus: W. Hoepfner - F. Neumeyer, Das Haus Wiegand von Peter Behrens in Berlin-Dahlem, Das Deutsche Archäologische Institut, Geschichte und Dokumente, Band 6 (1979).