Ornament-free cubic tenements in Bremen's Emmastraße
Cubic Tenements

Built in 1930 based on plans of architect Friedrich Wilms: Wohnhäuser Emmastraße No. 258 and 260
Strolling through Bremen's neighborhoods such as Schwachhausen, you mostly see homes and appartment buildings with pitched-roof structures—often featuring gabled dormers. There is a striking exception in the Emmastraße (between its intersections with the H.-H. Meier-Allee and Wätjenstraße): two-flat-roofed cubes. An on-site panel with the title “Zwei Wohnhäuser” (“Two Homes”) explains:
In 1930 built according to plans of the architect Friedrich Wilms. The cubic tenements have no ornaments and feature flat roofs and window banks; they are representing a radical break with the environment's traditions of construction and were treated with polemic hostility. They belong to the few examples of tenement construction of classic modern architecture in Bremen.
Each of the houses feature a front wall that exhibits reflection symmetry considering the window arrangement—with the virtual line down the center of the front-wall square being the axis of symmetry. The tenements have “Bremer Kulturdenkmal” (“cultural heritage of Bremen”) status since 1993. A German-language Wikipedia entry is available: Wohnhäuser Emmastraße.


How to get there

Take the No. 6 light rail and exit at “Haltestelle Emmastraße” (“Emmastraße stop”). Cross the H.-H. Meier-Allee towards the city-green corner and go south on the tree-lined Emmastraße. Walk past its junction with the Gevekothstraße and look out to your left for the flat-roofed tenements, which are a little further back from the curbside than the other houses alongside the street.
Follow Me on Pinterest
Bremen snapshots