100 years Anniversary of Henkellsfeld

On November 27th, 1909 – exactly a hundred years ago – the official opening celebrations of the classical edifice housing the Henkell & Co. cellars in Wiesbaden took place. To this day the building, both prestigious and highly functional, is the headquarters of what is now an international company with subsidiaries in ten European countries. Henkell & Co. cellars is marking the 100th anniversary of its building in Wiesbaden with a historical exhibition of the original development, detailing the building phases of the structure, which was designed by the famous architect Paul Bonatz. This fascinating documentation is open to the public until the end of the year in the Gründersaal (Founder’s Hall) at Henkellsfeld.

A successful enterprise needs space

The impulse to build the new company building came from Otto Henkell, who first entered the family business in 1891. He was the grandson of company founder Adam Henkell, who originally started the business with a wine shop in Mainz in 1832 and progressed to popular makers of sparkling wines in 1856. Grandson Otto soon made his mark with some especially progressive marketing ideas and became regarded as one of the front-runners of his time. He grasped the importance of branding and launched Henkell Trocken, which has enjoyed a strong brand awareness ever since. Otto Henkell also realised the necessity of advertising and invested what in 1904 was regarded as an enormously lavish “promotion budget” of 100,000 Marks. Thanks to his innovative strategies, Henkell & Co. became so successful that the company rapidly outgrew the space provided by its old building in Mainz. In 1906, the visionary Otto Henkell decided on an extensive new building for the winery, which would integrate production, administration and sales under one roof.

Top architects submitted designs

Once the decision had been taken for a plot of land on the site of an exhausted gravel pit in Wiesbaden, the company then looked for the optimal design of the new building. Only the best would suffice for Otto Henkell and seven prestigious architects were invited for the competition. However, in August 1907 – in advance of the official decision – Otto Henkell gave the task to the comparatively young 30-year old architect Paul Bonatz. Shortly thereafter the examining committee of experts agreed with his suggestion. Bonatz’s designs envisaged a five-storey cellar complex, where future wines would be matured, the cuvées blended and ennobled into sparkling wines. The intermediate floors were designed to house the riddling racks and the upper floors reserved for gigantic vats and bottle storage racking, for the fermentation and maturing process. The actual production took place above ground. The production rooms originally included a disgorging hall, where the sediment in the young sparkling wine was removed, but which is now used to hold internal events. There was also the packing hall where bottles were corked, labelled and prepared for transportation and where 90 million bottles of sparkling wine are now filled each year. The most attractive part of the building’s interior was, and still is, the resplendent marble hall, which acts as a most prestigious foyer. It was originally decorated in a strictly classical style, but two decades after the opening of the winery, Otto Henkell issued orders to add large numbers of neoclassical mouldings and rococo rocailles, lending the marble hall its present palatial appearance. The marble hall remains in frequent use by the company for presentations, receptions, festivities and concerts.

Showcase project for Prof. Paul Bonatz

In October 1907, the building work commenced to implement the architectural designs of Paul Bonatz. The new company premises were completed in record time. In October 1909, just two years after the start of construction, the export department of Henkell & Co. cellars could already move to its new location and on 27 November 1909 the official opening ceremony of so-called “Henkellsfeld” took place.

Such a fast realisation of Paul Bonatz’s designs was made possible by the use of concrete, which at that time was an innovative construction material. Some of the production rooms and the cellar levels provide a clear view of the supporting trusses used in the construction and reveal the building methods.

The remarkably rapid completion, the organisational tour de force and the prestige of the magnificent winery building provided a significant boost to the already moderately successful career of architect Paul Bonatz, who was at this time only 32 years of age. In 1908 he was appointed by the Stuttgart Technical University as professor of architecture and urban planning, succeeding his teacher Theodor Fischer. Subsequently, in addition to his duties as a professor, Bonatz was busy with a series of construction contracts. Many public buildings, including the Tübingen University Library (1910-1912) and Stuttgart Railway Station (1914-1928) as well as commercial and industrial buildings, such as for the makers of Zeppelinbau in Stuttgart (1929-1931) count to his works. He later gained a reputation as an international architect, with such projects as the State Opera in Ankara (1944-1948). Bonatz was also involved in civil engineering works and began in 1926 to assist in the planning of locks for the Neckar canal. With his architectural designs of private houses he always demonstrated a preference for grand, impressive structures – that in their elegance and spaciousness are all reminiscent of the Henkell & Co. cellars.

100 years anniversary with a photo-documentary

With an exhibition in the Gründersaal, Henkell & Co. is marking the centenary of their Headquarters with historical photographic documents of the building phases, from the initial surveying to the final completion of the winery. The pictures and exhibits also depict the original production methods of the winery and the advertising in use at that time. This fascinating journey back in time is open until the end of 2009 and will also feature as a part of tours of the winery. To accompany the exhibition the winery has published a replica of the original brochure that was given to guests and visitors to the winery in 1910. It offers a contemporary insight into what was already a 75-year tradition in Mainz and provided an overview of the arrangement of the new sparkling wine cellars at Henkellsfeld in Wiesbaden.