Limmer water town

The grounds of the Wasserstadt Limmer between two bodies of water with mostly demolished factory buildings, 2008

Water Limmer is the name of an under construction major urban development project in the district Limmer in Hannover in Niedersachsen . On a 23 hectare large industrial wasteland that like a peninsula between two waters, arising apartments as well as commercial and office buildings. In the first of three construction phases, which began in 2019 and should be completed by 2022, 550 apartments will be built. A total of 1,800 apartments are planned, the completion of which is scheduled for 2029.

prehistory

The area of the planned water town Limmer lies between the Hanover-Linden branch canal and the connecting canal to the Leine . It is a former site of the rubber processing industry. Then in 1899 Hannoversche Gummikamm AG began production, which was renamed Hannoversche Gummiwerke Excelsior in 1912 . Mainly technical rubber articles and tires were manufactured. In the company's heyday, the factory had up to 6,000 employees (1922); In 1939 there were still 4,100 employees. In 1928 the company was transferred to Continental AG . During the Second World War, there was a barrack camp for forced laborers with ten residential barracks for 1,220 people on the company premises , and from June 1944, with the subcamp Hanover-Limmer, a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp with up to 1000 female prisoners from the Ravensbrück and against The end of the war from the Hanover-Langenhagen concentration camp came. After the war, Continental AG continued production on the premises known as the Limmer plant until it was closed in 1999.

The company premises in 1912

Not listed factory hall from 1898, demolished in 2018

Former factory building on the Hannover-Linden branch canal , 2015

Land side of the same factory building, 2015

Terrain transformation

The water tower renovated in 2016

After Continental AG's Limmer plant was shut down in 1999 , plans were drawn up to reuse the factory site for residential development. In 2002 the industrial wasteland was designated as a building area.

After an urban development competition for the development of the area, the decision was made in 2003 that residential houses as well as commercial and office buildings should be built on the 23 hectare site. The preservation of the listed factory buildings initially remained open. The factory complex, which had been vacant since 1999, became a destination for young people in the following years, but also for photographers and graffiti activists. First, the younger, not listed building wings were demolished. In 2009 part of the building complex was blown up. Contaminated soil was removed and a layer of sand two to four meters thick was applied. The renovation of the site was completed in 2017. The listed water tower on the factory premises will remain as a central element and landmark of the water city. It is about 100 years old and 50 meters high. In 2016 the tower was renovated for one million euros.

Construction planning

The listed factory halls on the site, 2011

In 2010 the city administration of Hanover assumed a development period of at least 15 years, in which 600 residential units and, to a lesser extent, areas for small businesses or mixed uses should be created in several construction phases. Particular attention will be paid to the design of the riparian zones that will be accessible to the public. In December 2011, the planning as a “concept for the development” with four development areas designated as “village-like” was specified by the Hanover city administration. Accordingly, the water city should be built in sections from east to west.

In 2013, a project development GmbH was founded to realize the Wasserstadt Limmer , which is a joint venture of Volksbank and Günter Papenburg AG . The construction project on around 230,000 m² is to be built in five construction phases. The first development plan was to be issued in 2012, so that construction could have started in 2013. The existing listed buildings in the southwest of the future water city are to be preserved and used by service companies. In the opinion of the planners and the investor Günter Papenburg, these buildings also fulfill an important function: They shield the site from the noise of the Hanover freight bypass to the west . In 2017, the investor Günter Papenburg advocated the demolition of the listed factory building because it was uninhabitable due to poison residues in the building fabric. If the second and third construction phases are tackled, the city would probably have to extend the noise protection wall on the railway line and raise it by three meters.

The plans presented in 2013 for the first construction phase comprised 2,000 residential units on around 80,000 m². Due to a lack of public participation and too dense development, the development plan was rejected by the district council.

The eastern area of the building site, in the background the Limmer district with the St. Nikolai Church , 2018

In 2014 the city administration of Hanover presented a new concept with up to 2200 residential units for 5000 residents in four to eight-storey structures due to the increasing housing shortage. There were objections to this from parts of politics and citizens. A new public participation process has been running since autumn 2014. In May 2015, targets between 1,000 and 1,800 residential units were discussed. In August 2016, the Council's Building and Environment Committee decided to build fewer than 2,000 apartments for well over 3,000 people. In the first construction phase near the village center of Limmer, for which it was decided to display the plans for public participation, 20% social housing is planned. After preparatory work on the property and the construction of a concrete mixing plant by December 2017 , the construction of the houses of the first construction phase should take from 2018 to 2019. ^[obsolete] 500 apartments were to be built in the eastern area of the site. However, construction did not start until 2019 and the first construction phase will not be completed in 2020.