Sernau Office

Architects Martin Knauthe and Alfred Gellhorn designed this office building for toy and joke article exporter Paul Edgar Sernau. Today it is regarded as an outstanding example of metropolitan avant-garde secular architecture in Halle. The idiosyncratic, three- to four-storey stucco building with a shallowly sloping pentroof is marked by bands of windows and rounded corners. Chamfered windowsills, lintels and posts give the windows particular character. The entrance (not original) has a slightly protruding porch with a short roof. The interior of the building was also designed for effect. Red terrazzo and red brass piping were used for the staircase, and between the first and second storeys, the staircase walls are decorated with murals by Karl Völker. The Sernau office building was originally designed as one of a group of office buildings, but the others were never built.