The Ehrenhof and GeSoLei 1926: A New Image for the City

The editor of the French newspaper Le Petit Journal found perhaps the most eloquent words to describe the GeSoLei 1926: “The city of Düsseldorf, as it says of itself, is aware of the usefulness of its creation. It hopes that this will serve not only the reconstruction of Germany but also the general welfare of humanity […]. Such intentions command our utmost respect, no matter who conceives of them.”

With more than seven million visitors, over 900 exhibitors, plus a separate art exhibition and garden show, the GeSoLei 1926 (Die Große Ausstellung Düsseldorf 1926 für Gesundheitspflege, soziale Fürsorge und Leibesübungen – The Great Düsseldorf Exhibition of 1926 for Health Care, Social Welfare and Physical Exercise) was a flagship project for the Republic and a major urban initiative for the city, intended to modernize Düsseldorf and showcase its status as a progressive metropolis.

 “The GeSoLei represents a crucial milestone for Düsseldorf as a modern exhibition and trade show city,” says Wolfram Diener, President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf. “It firmly anchored the idea of leveraging major events to advance Düsseldorf’s international standing.”

To this day, the most visible legacy of the GeSoLei is the Ehrenhof. A monumental complex in the style of Brick Expressionism and Neoclassicism was created for the exhibition, intended to symbolize modernity, health, education and art. Architect Wilhelm Kreis conceived the ensemble as a total work of art – an interplay of architecture, sculpture, painting and mosaics. As a result, the Ehrenhof has indeed developed into a long-standing cultural center that today houses, among other institutions, the Kunstpalast museum and the NRW-Forum 

Today’s cultural center was, for decades, the heart of Messe Düsseldorf: Until the early 1970s, the exhibition center stretched from the banks of the Rhine to Fischerstrasse – which is now home to the headquarters of ERGO and was then the site’s main entrance. The east wing of today’s Kunstpalast served as Hall A, while the former Rheinhalle – later renamed the Tonhalle – functioned as a versatile event hall for conventions, concerts and trade show events.

That tradition continues at Messe Düsseldorf’s state-of-the-art Exhibition Center today. Hall 6, for example, hosts superyachts during boot, the international boat show, and has also welcomed performers including Bryan Adams and Elton John. The Rheinterrassen and parts of the green spaces surrounding the Rheinpark likewise trace their origins to GeSoLei 1926.

Düsseldorf’s history as a city of exhibitions and trade shows, however, dates back much further – to a prominent guest: Fourteen companies from the Bergisches Land used the opportunity of Napoleon’s visit in 1811 to showcase the strength of the regional economy. The First Düsseldorf Trade Exhibition marked the beginning of a successful history of exhibitions.

In the decades that followed, Düsseldorf hosted smaller-scale world’s fairs and industrial showcases featuring major names such as Krupp, Haniel and Villeroy & Boch. Traces of these events remain visible in the city today. Golzheimer Insel, for example, was originally an island in the Rhine. It was connected to the mainland for the 1902 Industrial and Trade Exhibition and later became the site of today’s Rheinpark.

But the GeSoLei 1926 surpassed anything seen before. Spanning a total of 120,000 square meters of exhibition space between the marina and the Oberkasseler Brücke, the general exhibition lasted several months and continues to shape the cityscape to this day. The GeSoLei’s influence on urban development extends far beyond the exhibition grounds: Beginning in 1924, the Haus Rheinpark complex was built along the western section of Kaiserswerther Strasse – spacious residential high-rises in the modernist New Building and Brick Expressionism styles, which also defined the design of the Ehrenhof complex. Comfortable apartments with elevators, central heating and up to 300 square meters of living space demonstrate how the GeSoLei served as a driving force for urban development: The northern part of Düsseldorf established itself as a modern, upscale residential neighborhood – right in the vicinity of the new showcase district.

Architect Jurek Slapa was involved in the transformation of the former Rheinhalle into today’s Tonhalle by HPP Architekten in the 1970s and knows the complex from two perspectives – historical and architectural. Today, he and his colleagues at sop architekten are responsible for the designs of Messe Düsseldorf’s current construction projects – Hall 9 and the new administrative headquarters – and Slapa sees a direct line from 1926 to the present: 

“Today, just as back then, functionality is the top priority in the architecture of trade show buildings,” says Slapa. “At the same time, trade show architecture has always had a representative character, shaped by the prevailing zeitgeist. The Ehrenhof building complex is monumental and austere. Today’s trade show architecture is designed to be more open, flexible and inviting.” One example is the new South Entrance, for which Jurek Slapa and his team were also responsible.

A century later, GeSoLei 1926 continues to serve as a guiding principle for Messe Düsseldorf in many respects. Just as the design of the exhibition and event spaces back then was based on the most up-to-date standards, Messe Düsseldorf continues to raise the bar in the development of its infrastructure today – for example with the ongoing construction of its new headquarters. 

“We’re building a completely new administrative headquarters that meets all the requirements of a modern workplace,” says Bernhard Stempfle, Managing Director of Finance and Infrastructure. “It’s an investment in productivity and creativity. What we’re creating here is a flexible and agile work environment where we’ll be able to develop the best solutions for our customers.”