the wittgenstein house in skjolden
TRANSCRIPT
David Connearn and Dawn Phillips
The Wittgenstein House in Skjolden
In the autumn of 1913 Ludwig Wittgenstein fled Cambridge for Skjolden in central Norway, in search of solitude to work without distraction on the problems of logic he had inherited from Bertrand Russell. The eventual prod-uct of this work would be the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, completed during Wittgenstein’s active service in the First World War. In Skjolden Wittgenstein designed a small wooden house, intended to be his permanent work-place. The site chosen was deliberately remote, perched on a cliff ledge facing Skjolden and reached by boat across Lake Eidsvatnet. The building, completed in 1915, was later given to Skjoldener Arne Bolstad, but continued to be used by Wittgenstein as the most significant of his working retreats, notably during 1936-7 whilst writing the manuscripts of the Philosophical Investigations. Wittgenstein finally attempted to return there in 1950 shortly before his death.
The Letter Campaign
The house was dismantled in 1957 and moved from its site to the village where it was reconstructed, with alter-ations, using the original materials. The stone foundation plinth and access path remain in situ, subject to natural decay. Neither has been surveyed or documented in detail and no construction plans survive. At present there are no conservation provisions which protect the site or the reconstructed building‘s fabrics, both of which fall outside the scope of current Norwegian national conservation legislation. In 2009 a campaign of letters from Wittgenstein scholars worldwide was initiated by David Connearn and Dawn Phillips. Its purpose was to bring the national and international importance of the site and its associated fabrics to the attention of the regional Luster Kommune and the national Riksantikvaren. The campaign was reported in the national newspaper Aften-posten, and Bergens Tidende.
MATERIAL(S)Ludwig Wittgenstein – Verortungen eines Genies / Contextualizations of a GeniusAusstellung im Schwulen Museum Berlin, 18. März bis 13. Juni 2011Exhibition at the Schwules Museum Berlin, March 18 to June 13, 2011www.ludwig-wittgenstein.com www.SchwulesMuseum.de
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The Skjolden house from Lake EidsvatnetPhotograph: Ben Richards, 1950
View across Eidsvatnet Lake from the original house site Rebuilt house (original front) facade, 2009
The original interior walls, 2009 Plinth site from above, 2009 Original stone plinth, 2009
Current developments in Skjolden
In 2010 Skjolden gained a cruise liner terminal, re-establishing its potential as a tourist portal to the three proxi-mate national parks. Luster Kommune concurrently funded a feasibility study for a new access road and car-park on the far shore of Lake Eidsvatnet, proximate to the original house site. The site was placed under a planning restriction.
The requirement of Comprehensive Conservation Planning
The regulation of the site and encouragement of tourist access entail a responsibility for public safety. Any alter-ation of access, or change to the site itself, will impact on its character and on the scope of any future conser-vation. In such cases, international best practice recommends, at the outset, the commission of a process of Comprehensive Conservation Planning, which takes into consideration the full scope of the site’s significance in relation to any development that might ensue. This at present is signally lacking.
The architectural legacy of Wittgenstein in Skjolden has local, national and international significance. It is the singular most important unresearched item of Wittgenstein’s oeuvre. It has a crucial relation to his later archi-tectural work in Vienna, and is centrally linked to his philosophical writing. Its conservation is not incompatible with the development of amenities for tourism in Skjolden. However the site and the house are currently at risk from development limited by local perspectives alone, and lack of adequate funding. The Wittgenstein legacy in Skjolden demands a level of principled conservation planning which accords with its status, as was afforded to the Hamsun legacy, resulting in the internationally acclaimed project which produced the Knut Hamsun Centre in Hammeroy.
Wittgenstein trained as an engineer and practiced as an architectect. The house is his built thought. It should be treated with the same respect as his manuscripts.
The Authors
David Connearn, born 1952, read History at Cambridge, where he developed a long-standing interest in the work of Wittgenstein. He studied sculpture at Camberwell School of Art and The Slade (University College London) and worked as an assistant to Sol LeWitt. He is an artist , and lives in London. He makes drawings and has designed and built several buildings. His art-work is represented in major national and private collections.
Dr Dawn M. Phillips is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Philosophy at St Anne‘s College Oxford. Her work on Wittgenstein includes articles on the logical clarification of thoughts, the ‘say-show’ distinction and the picture-theory of language. She also writes on aesthetics and the philosophy of images and is currently preparing a book on the Aesthetics of Photography.
In collaboration, David Connearn and Dawn Phillips are endeavouring to inspire local, national and international support to protect and conserve the legacy of the Wittgenstein House at Skjolden.
Contact
[email protected]@freeuk.com
MATERIAL(S)Ludwig Wittgenstein – Verortungen eines Genies / Contextualizations of a GeniusAusstellung im Schwulen Museum Berlin, 18. März bis 13. Juni 2011Exhibition at the Schwules Museum Berlin, March 18 to June 13, 2011www.ludwig-wittgenstein.com www.SchwulesMuseum.de
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