Orangerie Gera

The Orangerie is a Baroque building in Gera. It forms the western end of the Küchengarten in the Untermhaus district. Since 1972, it has housed the Gera Art Collection, which has also used the Otto Dix House as a second exhibition building since 1991.

The Orangerie was built between 1729 and 1732 on behalf of Count Heinrich XVIII Reuß. The architect of the late Baroque two-wing complex in Gera's Küchengarten, which was originally a formal French garden, was the princely Saxon state master builder Gottfried Heinrich Krohne. The central pavilion with the ballroom was only built from 1748 to 1749. Initially, it served as an orange and greenhouse. After the death of the last count from the House of Reuß-Gera in 1802, the Orangerie was abandoned as such by the princely house and experienced varied uses during the 19th century as a lazaret and stable, gymnasium and coffee house. From 1878 to 1919, it was the domicile of the Gera Art Association.

In 1947, the building began its museum use with a special exhibition "Music and Theater in Gera". In 1953, after Stalin's death, the Küchengarten was transformed into a Stalin Memorial Park and the Orangerie into a Museum for the History of the Revolutionary Workers' Movement of the Gera District. In 1963, this museum became part of the City Museum, and from then on the building was used for changing special exhibitions. Since 1972, the Orangerie has finally served as a presentation hall for permanent and temporary exhibitions of the Gera Art Collection.

In preparation for the Federal Garden Show 2007, the Orangerie was extensively renovated. The Küchengarten was redesigned and was one of the official BUGA accompanying projects. In May 2007, the newly created forecourt of the Orangerie was named Orangerieplatz.