Praterinsel—same plot, different day
Remote, yet still in the heart of Munich (northeast of the Isar’s prominent museum island, home to the famous Deutsches Museum) is the Praterinsel—a small island rich in history.The island was used by Franciscan monks—whose monastery once stood on the site of the present-day National Theater—until the early 19th century for agricultural as well as recreational purposes. In 1810, the secularization forced the monks to sell the property to Anton Gruber. On his new property, and inspired by the Prater in Vienna, Gruber opened a restaurant and an amusement park with swings and a merry-go-round and named it the “Praterwirtschaft.” (“Prater” derives from the Latin word “pratum” (meadow) and in German signifies a public garden.) In 1834, his son Georg expanded the business by adding a ballroom. Soon the island, having been dubbed Praterinsel, became a favorite destination of local revellers. The fact that the island was located outside the town gates indicates how small Munich was only 150 years ago.
After half a century of financial success, Gruber’s prosperous years on the Praterinsel ended. The idyllic atmosphere on the isle was disrupted when the Maximilianeum and the Maximilian Bridge were built. The invention of the railway made distant recreational sites equally attractive to fun-seeking Münchner . Gruber was forced to sell the island to Anton Riemerschmid, the owner of a distillery, then a typical industry in Munich, which, by 1851, boasted 50 factories.
Riemerschmid’s liquor business was one of the most successful of its kind and was known far beyond Munich’s borders for several reasons: Riemerschmid was among the first factory owners—an honorary title in the late 19th century—in the region to provide his employees with housing (in the form of apartments above the factory). Riemerschmid was also one of the first to provide young women with an education in commerce.
In addition, the Praterinsel’s factory served as an experimental laboratory for two important German chemists. It was here that Justus von Liebig invented an artificial fertilizer and Max von Pettenkofer discovered the importance of hygiene.
The Riemerschmid family also played a significant role in founding one of Munich’s most important cultural institutions. They not only provided the property for the Münchner Kammerspiele Theater on Maximilianstrasse, but they also invested in its construction. The architect Richard Riemerschmid, a fine exponent of Art Nouveau in Germany, designed the theater’s interior, today deemed to be one of the most impressive of its kind and the only Art Nouveau theater in Germany.
The schnapps factory’s most prosperous years lay just ahead. In the 1920s Anton Riemerschmid’s great grandson, Robert, improved the quality of the beverages produced. As a result the liqueur business flourished as never before and gave Robert the opportunity to rebuild and extend the buildings on the Praterinsel while not forgetting his family’s tradition of promoting culture. As a cofounder of the radio station “Deutsche Stunde in Bayern,” which later became the Bayerische Rundfunk, he organized symposia and lectures by renowned scientists, artists, authors and politicians.
Even though the factory was completely destroyed and plundered during World War II, the Riemerschmid family managed to survive these dark years financially and was able to resurrect their business in the postwar years. Yet, after over a century of alcohol production on the Praterinsel, the island no longer provided the space required to realize the owners’ expansion plans. In 1984, the Anton Riemerschmid GmbH moved to Erding.
By then, the Wasserwirtschaftsamt (water supply and distribution department) and the Alpine Museum had found a home on the island. But it was feared that the part of the Praterinsel on which the closed-down factory stood would slip further into decay. In 1988, a private investor purchased the property. After four years of battles with bureaucracy, and the storage and factory halls were transformed into unique exhibition and event venues, the cultural organization Aktionsforum Praterinsel finally opened its doors. Today, 21 artists work in 19 ateliers. Further cultural programs are organized whereby the curators’ emphasis lies in the fine arts ranging from classical modernism to contemporary art. Starting on February 21, photographic and video works by Adidal Abou-Chamat will be on display. For a full list of events at this popular venue, visit >a href="http://www.praterinsel.org"targetextern>www.praterinsel.org. Above all, the Praterinsel provides an extraordinary location for numerous regular club events featuring electronic music.
Still remote, yet centrally located, the Praterinsel has long been associated with amusement. One hopes this will remain so in the future.
