Art Nouveau in Hamburg or Jugendstil

Art Nouveau in Hamburg. Click on the photo for a larger format.

In our walk last Saturday, we came across this mural in the Schanzenviertel. Before coming to Hamburg I had no idea that Art Nouveau (Jugendstil in German) was of any importance in the city. Once you start looking for apartments however, you notice how some owners describe their houses "jugendstil style".

Sadly, most of this houses are not authentic, as I said, and according to the book I am reading (Inferno: the destruction of Hamburg), no house or building in Hamburg is older than 70/60 years old.

Anyway, it has a huge surprise finding this mural. I have no idea what it represents or why is there. I can tell you only that it is located in the Schanzenviertel in the Margaretenstrasse.

Some museums in Hamburg claim to have collections of Jugendstil part of the "Hamburg Sezession" group. Again, I have never heard of this. I have read a little bit about Art Nouveau and I have heard of Viennese and Parisian Art Nouveau, in Prague, Barcelona, Brussels, some Baltic cities and small french cities as well. I read as well about some southern German cities that had Jugendstil, but never Hamburg.

I am going to read more about it. Looks interesting.