Kurt Schwitters

The process of “Merz-ing” in Kurt Schwitters’ work finds its clearest expression in his world-famous Merzbau. In a sense, it has become the very embodiment of Schwitters’ Merz art. The Merzbau was a structure created within an interior space, one that grew continuously and was transformed by the artist’s hand over many years. Here, Schwitters “Merz-ed” everything conceivable and inconceivable – that is, he reworked an enormous variety of materials and objects into a walk-in installation, under the guiding principle:

“Merz does not want to build; Merz wants to transform.”

The Merzbau began on a small scale around 1920 in Schwitters’ studio, located in his home in Hanover. Here, he constructed what he called “Merz columns”. In a tower-like manner, he assembled bases topped with something resembling busts, which he then covered and adorned with a wide range of objects and materials. The studio walls were likewise covered with papers and other materials, and hung with paintings. Over the following years, the columns merged with the wall designs, and step by step a walk-in installation took shape.

“The Merz column became the Merzbau – an entire room, designed all around.”

From the studio, the Merzbau spread throughout the entire apartment – across the balcony, into the cellar, the cistern, and up to the attic. By the time Schwitters left Hanover in 1937, the Merzbau extended across eight rooms, distributed throughout the whole apartment building. Constructed with wood and plaster, it became ever more labyrinthine and geometric. Schwitters built grottoes devoted to various literary themes, as well as erotic ones. In some cases, he invited artist friends, such as Hannah Höch, to design a grotto themselves. Works by other artists and personal belongings of friends were incorporated, alongside all manner of everyday materials. The Merzbau thus functioned as an installation, an architectural structure, a work of art, and also as a document and a time capsule.

In 1943, the apartment building was destroyed – and with it the Merzbau. Even years later, while living in exile, Schwitters continued to make plans and seek funding to recover at least parts of the Merzbau from the ruins. The reconstruction shown here was created between 1980 and 1983 as part of the exhibition Der Hang zum Gesamtkunstwerk, which was conceived by Harald Szeemann. The reconstruction is based on a small number of photographs from the 1930s, as well as accounts by contemporary witnesses.