Riquethaus
Riquethaus stands in Leipzig’s city centre as an Art Nouveau building with colourful mosaics and a pagoda-inspired roof turret. Its narrow plot led to a steel-skeleton construction.
Built between 1908 and 1909 by architect Paul Lange, the building served as a business and trade-fair house for Riquet. Tea, coffee, cocoa, spices, chocolate and Asian goods shaped its commercial purpose. Chinese and Japanese pagodas inspired the curved, double-storey roof, while Japonism influenced the façade’s design. The first-floor spaces display external steel columns, ceiling beams, mirrors and wood decoration. A restoration in the 1990s rebuilt the tower destroyed during the war and returned the structure to its original appearance.
The ground floor has housed the Riquet coffee house since 1996, continuing the site’s connection with tea and coffee. Two copper elephant heads guard the entrance, giving the building its memorable nickname, Elephant House.
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- Leipzig
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