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Discover Art Nouveau at Zollverein
Original wall and floor tiles from the Wilhelminian era: Golem is one of the new tenants in the comb building on the so-called “white side” of the Zollverein coking plant. The creative company exhibits a unique selection of Art Nouveau historic tiles. Story by Heike Reinhold, Markt 1 Publishing house.
At Zollverein's comb building, you can discover an extensive exhibition of wall tiles, borders and base tiles that are re-editions of Europe's most beautiful Art Nouveau tiles from around 1900. The showroom features robust stoneware floor tiles in a wide variety of colours. In addition to replicas of old sample tiles, new designs are constantly being developed for production.
The preservation of culturally valuable buildings has been the key to the Golem GmbH company for 25 years. "Twelve years ago, our commitment to monument restoration led to the series production of true-to-the-original wall and floor tiles from the Gründerzeit era," explains Tobias Klaus, sales manager at Golem, and adds: “Our origin is restoration, so the Zollverein location is a perfect choice for us.”
The company supplies its wall and floor tiles exclusively through its own shops. Each tile is unique, each shop impresses with its individual ambience. The high ceilings of the comb building provide ideal conditions for presenting the Wilhelminian-style tiles. “The unusual, great ambience of Zollverein provides the right setting for the presentation of our products,” emphasises Christian Herold, sales manager at Golem in Essen.
Tobias Klaus makes it clear: “We are not a conventional tile manufacturer, which is why such an exceptional location as Zollverein is an ideal environment for us.”
Golem can list a number of well-known buildings as references for its craftsmanship. The company produced all facing bricks in adapted glaze colours for the renovation of the Hackesche Höfe in Berlin. For the Schönbrunn subway station in Vienna, Golem reproduced two-coloured stoneware tiles. For Harrods London, large terracotta tiles and form elements were manufactured for the façade.
Public projects are simply the best form of advertising,” Tobias explains, "It's great when people come into our store and say that they would like to have the tiles from the London Underground.”
The showroom at Zollverein is open to visitors from 10 am to 6 pm from Tuesday to Saturday.
