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Culture

From Ahrenshoop to Murnau - Artists’ Colonies

June 22, 2013

German painters developed a love affair with natural light and natural settings in the late 19th century. In their search for the perfect setting, they turned villages such as Ahrenshoop, Worpswede and Murnau into world famous artists‘ colonies. The charming villages still inspire artists today.

https://p.dw.com/p/18uLq

When painters rediscovered nature as a source of inspiration, their style became freer and more expressive. Color, light and motion were captured as if in a snapshot. The works, which were very unconventional for their time, awakened the curiosity of many artists, who wanted to see the scenery and places that had inspired the pieces. A group of like-thinking artists founded a colony in Ahrenshoop on the Baltic Sea. Others were drawn to the moors of Worpswede near the North Sea, where they founded an artists‘ colony in 1889. And the world-famous "Blaue Reiter" group was drawn to the unique light of Murnau in Bavaria.