Siedlung Brandenbusch, an ornate model village

The Siedlung Brandenbusch wasn't created to prevent social unrest or to provide better living conditions for the Krupp Company workers. It was built on the edge of the park of Villa Hügel, the Krupp family residence, as an ornate model village that housed essential villa staff, like chauffeurs, overseer, master carpenter, electrician, gardener, tailor, kitchen staff and cleaners.

The church is located on the street Am Brandenbusch on what used to be the edge of the first building phase of this model village. This evangelical aisleless church was built in 1906 after designs drawn by August Senz. Later a large community hall was added on to the side.

This open green space on the corner of Am Brandenbusch and the Eckbertstrasse is all that remains of the simple white buildings that once stood here as part of the first building phase. The parts of the model village that were destroyed during WW2 were never rebuilt.

On the edge of the second building phase -started in 1902- a small triangular village green open up along Am Brandenbusch. This informal space laid to grass sets off the buildings in an eclectic romantic style (Landhausarchitektur) beyond.

The buildings of the second building phase were larger and more modern than those of the first building phase. The buildings are typivally1,5 to 2 storeys high with a pitched roof. Large dormers and lunette vaulted roofs are used to create living space on the first floor. The facades are either rendered or brick-clad. Especially the gable end receives special treatment with horizontal wood cladding or ornamental wood beams reminiscent of half-timbering. Wooden window shutters add to the village feel of the place. Also note the decorative masonry work known as a dental course (shown right).

This large block stand opposite the small green. It contains several dwellings in a C-shaped volume with the central section rendered white and the ends in an eclectic mix of wood cladding, brick and decorative half-timbered beams. The architect Senz has used symmetry more often in his designs for this romantic model village, especially in semidetached properties.

In contrast the building around the green show great variety in asymmetrical treatment of the volume and the facade. The rendered houses often have contrasting bands of brickwork, often as a decorative band. In other buildings wood cladding is used to break up the facade and provide an appealing visual  contrast.

The houses are situated along the street in a repetition of stylistic types. Most houses are semidetached, like these on the Klausstrasse. Thought has been given to alternate the decorative types to prevent sameness and give some feel irregularity and spontaneity. The effect is similar to the Victorian model homes estates of the Artizans, Labourers and General Dwellings Company built in Greater London. 

The buildings were designed for their aesthetic effect with a limited number of design elements. Most houses have a simple pitched roof, some with a hip end (shown right) to create a more picturesque outline The model village has great unity through the use of few materials that are used repeatedly, sometimes in different ways. The green shutters being a good example.

A more picturesque silhouette is also achieved by using lower annexes and perpendicular roofs. Here the main body of these semidetached houses has been designed as most other houses with rustic eaves and bands of brick masonry dividing the rendered facades to great effect. In contrast the annex has a hipped roof and half-timbered walls on a brick plinth. 

In this block of semidetached houses the entrances are incorporated into a protruding section under a hipped lower roof that seamlessly extend into the pitched roof with hip ends. Two low sloping roof dormers emphasise the entrance. The facade is a variation on the type with a half-timbered protruding section, a ladder fries below the roof and brick courses above the windows.

These semidetached houses are one of two such blocks that have survived WW2 bombing. They are simple volumes rendered white under a pitched roof covered with orange clay tiles. These 19th century buildings are much less decorative than the ones from the second building phase.