Travel Germany: Visit the "Happy Rizzi House" in Brunswick


How do you like the work of the American pop artist James Rizzi? He is well known for his colourful work of art and cheerful style. Have you ever secretly dreamed to live some moments as carefree as a child, but are constantly too afraid to be considered as silly? James Rizzi, who died in 2011, obviously thrived on it, and his projects are not only heavily influenced by his home New York but also by how children see the world, and their ability to express themselves freely

The artist published books, designed china, fashion items, toys and in 1996 even the surface of a Boing 757. And then he designed the "Happy Rizzi House," the only of its kind in the whole wide world ...


I admire all people who are brave enough to come up with superb ideas all the time. The Brunswick gallery owner Olaf Jaeschke worked often with James Rizzi, and one day he had the visionary dream to create the "Happy Rizzi House”. The property was designed in 1997 and completed by architect Konrad Kloster in 2001. The property is designed with wild pop art paintings and the most common motives to find all over the facade, are smiling faces together with massive heart-shaped windows, stars and birds.

Happy Rizzi House - A little bit of history


The "Happy Rizzi House" is located in Magni, the historic borough of Brunswick (Braunschweig in German) in Lower Saxony. The area around the Magni church is considered the "cradle of Brunswick". In 861 Count Bruno built his first court there. Thus originated from the term Wiek (port and trading centre) the name Brunonis Vicus for this place, which has been mentioned in 1031 first as Brunswiek. 

The former centre of the village was the small single-nave church, on whose foundations the Magni Church was established in 1252. Much of the surrounding area was destroyed in WW2. The Magni-quarter belongs to one of the five islands of the city of Brunswick, created after the war to protect historical and listed properties. The "Happy Rizzi House" greets visitors and locals on their way to the historical quarter and long forgotten are all complaints raised when the idea for the Happy Rizzi House was first proposed.

Verdict Happy Rizzi House


The house, or shall I rather say the artwork to be more precise, is used as an office building today, but go and visit the city of Brunswick, to admire the facade. Enjoy the moment, you will surely forget everything around you, and start to feel a deep sense of happiness and you probably won’t be able to stop smiling for a long time after your visit. Oh dear, but come on, don’t be silly, that doesn’t really matter, right?








Where is Brunswick?


Berlin – Brunswick 240 km.
Hamburg – Brunswick 200 km.
Munich – Brunswick 610 km.
Amsterdam – Brunswick 435 km.

Address: Happy Rizzi House. Ackerhof 4, 38100 Brunswick, Lower Saxony.

Find more quirky houses in Europe: See the Cube houses of Rotterdam in my article Rotterdam - Cheese Platters and Hard Romance.

From Berlin with love