Behrens House in Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt [Door of the Month]

It happened once again! I had my door of the month all picked out; an Art Nouveau stunner in Paris, France. Then, I had layover in Frankfurt, Germany on my way to the U.S. for work.

It’s Christmas market season and I made plans to see a colleague, Christof, who lives in Darmstadt a town about 40 minutes from Frankfurt Airport. He advocated for taking a drive to Michelstadt which apparently has a magical Christmas Market.

I decided that we should save that for another time since I had a long day of travel ahead of me and didn’t feel like sitting in the car for an hour each way.

So, we had a mug of glühwein at the Darmstadt Christmas Market and then Christof gave me a tour of his home city. We exited the schloss , one of the few buildings in the center of town that survived bombing in WWII, via a bridge over the former moat.

I looked off into the distance and saw a tower with a step-gabled roof. “What’s that?”, I asked. Christof told me that it was Darmstadt’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. Interesting… “How far away is it?”, I asked. “Maybe 15 minutes walking”, Christof replied.

“Then, let’s go!”

It turns out that not only was Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was selected for this honor in 2021 because it is home to an early 20th century artists’ colony that left behind some spectacular examples of Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) architecture.

The latest door of the month is the entrance to Behrens House in Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt. I was busy looking at the tower and Orthodox church with turrets beaming in the golden hour sun when Christof casually pointed out this door down a hill.

I immediately ran down the hill to get a picture. This German Art Nouveau door is absolutely stunning, don’t you think.

I love finding amazing doors when it is completely unexpected and it happens to me more often that you’d expect. My husband calls it my “doordar” (radar for doors 😅). He might be onto something!

Which Door Will You Open Next?