This historic building used to be called Hackenberg
Manor House and owned the surrounding land. In the year
1803 the stake of land was sold by the Abbey of Werden
to Prussia, and a few years later it was sold on for
16900 taler (the German currency at that time).
To
begin with there was only an old set of barns, and
in 1829 the first living quarters were built. The
Lord Mayor of Essen, Theodor Reismann-Grone acquired
the Hackenberg Manor House in 1905 and extended the
set of buildings with a summerhouse in the rural
Art Nouveau style. In the 3rd Reich Reismann-Grone
was a leading figure in the ousting of Ernst Gosebruch,
who at the time was the Director of the Folkwang
Museum in Essen and had built up the most modern
collection of art in Germany. In 1937 much of the
work was designated “degenerate
art” and was removed from the museum. In 1996 the
present owner managed to acquire the property, which
by then was in need of extensive renovation, from the
descendents of Dr. Reismann-Grone.
By
1998 it had been renovated as a listed building by
the architect Christian Kohl. The front building
of Hackenberg Manor House, which today accommodates
the Frank Schlag & Cie.
Gallery, was renovated and restored between 2000
and the middle of 2001. From then until the end 2006
the building hosted about 50 exhibitions. |
