The Theory of Landscape Architecture in Kassel 1948–2023

The teaching of landscape architecture in Kassel began in 1948 at the Werkakademie, and in 1972 the Architecture/Landscape Architecture organizational unit was founded at the Gesamthochschule Kassel, the forerunner of the later Faculty of Architecture, Urban Planning and Landscape Planning.

A pioneer of today's landscape architecture studies in Kassel was Hermann Mattern, who took over the field of landscape culture in 1948 as part of the reestablishment of the Werkakademie based on the Bauhaus model. He was followed by personalities such as Günther Grzimek (1965-1972) and Peter Latz, whose appointment in 1973 coincided with the founding of the Gesamthochschule Kassel. With the appointment of Peter Prinz in 1979, the Department differentiated itself into "Landscape Architecture/Planning" and "Landscape Architecture/Project Planning". A student of Günther Grzimek, Peter Latz, Lucius Burckhardt and Karl Heinrich Hülbusch was Dieter Kienast, who also completed his doctorate with the latter in 1978. In 1989, Peter Prinz was succeeded as university lecturer by Gustav Lange, who taught until his retirement in 2002. After a two-year replacement by Tobias Mann, Ariane Röntz took over as head of the newly named Department of Landscape Architecture I Design in 2004, at the same time as Wigbert Riehl, who headed the Department of Landscape Architecture I Engineering until March 2022. Florian Otto succeeded him in September 2023. Since 2007, the Kassel course has also been enriched by the permanent guest professorship "Landscape Aesthetics in Design".

An exhibition curated by Ariane Röntz, Anne Mertins, Laura Siebken and David Rothfuss in December 2023, which was prepared by students from two seminars, presented the history of landscape architecture studies in Kassel from 1948 to 2023. A publication based on the exhibition is in preparation.

Project leader: Ariane Röntz