Biography

German designer, architect and painter. The son of a textile manufacturer, he studied painting at the Staatliche Kunstakademie in Munich (1888-90); he painted primarily at the beginning and end of his career and was a member of the Munich Secession. In 1895 Riemerschmid designed his first furniture, in a neo-Gothic style, for his and his wife's flat on Hildegardstrasse in Munich. In 1897 he exhibited furniture and paintings at the seventh Internationale Kunstausstellung held at the Glaspalast in Munich. Immediately following the exhibition, the committee members of the decorative arts section, including Riemerschmid and Hermann Obrist, founded the Vereinigte Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerk.

As a founder member of the German Werkbund (1907) and its president from 1921 to 1926, and through his activities as a teacher, and author of numerous ideological essays on art, Riemerschmid was one of the leading figures in German Jugendstil. His oeuvre includes interiors, furniture, glassware, stoneware, fabrics, and wallpapers, as well as buildings. The latter include the Munich Schauspielhaus (1900-01, interior), the Garden City of Hellerau near Dresden (1907-08, development plan), the Deutsche Werkstatte factory building in Dresden (1909) and the Bavarian Radio building in Munich (1928-29).