Wiener Garten

The Backhausen Anniversary Collection comprises an array of designs from the textile manufacturer‘s archives from the Fin de Siècle.

The art nouveau patterns created by well-known artists – most notably the Orakelblume (Oracle Flower) by Prof. Koloman Moser from 1901 and the famous Blumengarten (Flower Garden) design by Prof. Josef Hoffmann from 1914 – blossom once more in exclusive colours and materials. 

Orakelblume, Blumengarten, Herzblatt, Wellenherz, Herzlaub, Herzblume and Weingarten are the fragrant names of these patterns and motifs, which conjure up images of the plants found in a typical Viennese garden and give the collection its floral name. 

The connecting elements in the collection Wiener Garten are its colours and heart-shaped leaves, a motif that closely links the patterns Orakelblume and Blumengarten through its natural shapes and swirling lines. The hues of the original Vienna Modern designs have been expertly woven using a contemporary colour palette and elegant, new fabrics.

The art of Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann incorporated both reality and the art nouveau movement in everyday life in equal measure, in order to encourage the artistic reinvention that also permeated into planning and technology – a process that spurred a renaissance in arts and crafts.

At the same time, their works demonstrated playful fantasy, in which these hidden and explorable elements – in the sense of Klecksography – in the ornaments caught the eye in a manner that coincidence and fantasy evolved into a unique game.

The different layers of meaning in the designs could also be intertwined in this way.  Moreover, the heart and leaf patterns, flowers and vines imbue simple, everyday motifs with a superstitious, magical, romantic appeal, just like the Orakelblume so clearly heralds and unites these themes through its flower. 

Backhausen's design archive contains approximately 5,000 original patterns, motifs and designs stemming from the era of the Wiener Werkstätte. The seminal works of Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser and others serve as valuable sources of inspiration for the creative team at our design house, as they have done throughout our history.