AMO culture and congress center

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AMO, 2013
April 1951
Shortly after completion in May 1951
AMO in 1953
AMO on a November night in 1952
1953
AMO, 1955
View from the southeast, 1965
West side
Front, 2013
View from the east

The AMO Kultur- und Kongresshaus is a listed event house in Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt .

location

It is located in the southern part of Magdeburg's old town at Erich-Weinert-Straße 27 . The house is operated by the Messe- und Veranstaltungsgesellschaft Magdeburg GmbH (MVGM), owned by the City of Magdeburg. A little further to the west is the House of Young Talents .

Furnishing

The house, often only briefly referred to as AMO , has a large hall with an area of ​​700 m², which can accommodate up to 710 people depending on the type of seating. Without seating, there is standing room for 1,673. In addition, there are other rooms, such as a small hall (200 standing places), the Bördestube (99 seats), the Salon Magdeburg (50 seats) and conference rooms.

The Greek restaurant "Troja" is located on the ground floor and can be reached via a separate entrance.

architecture

The AMO was built in 1950/51 in the neoclassical style for the Magdeburg industrial companies Krupp-Gruson , Buckau-Wolf , Otto Gruson , Maschinenbau Mackensen and Gerätebau Schönebeck at a cost of 2.5 million DM.

The planning of the house was carried out by the architects Gustav Pohl and Hermann Gspann . A monumental plastered building was created. The facade of the building, which is covered with a flat roof, is strictly structured by axes, a structure that is reminiscent of Baroque buildings . Art Deco influence can also be found in the details . Windows and doors of the AMO are of stone framed. The simple cornice is also made of stone. In the eastern half of the southern facade there is a three-axis risalit that dominates the appearance of the building . The three main entrance portals that lead into the entrance hall are integrated in the three axes. There are tall windows above the portals with double doors. The roof protrudes and carries a balustrade on which there are four flagpoles. In front of the entrance area there is a platform to which a wide five-step staircase leads.

The side facade is designed similar to the front facade. Here, too, there are three entrances and high hall windows. A simply designed two-storey side wing adjoins the west side. It is covered by a gable roof.

The room inside the building, originally used as a ballet hall , is decorated with wall paintings.

The building is considered to be an important example of the architecture of the transition from the Soviet military administration to the GDR in terms of art history, but also in terms of industrial and urban history. The planning took place before the national traditions were brought into focus in the architecture of the GDR. The building is registered in the local register of monuments.

The house is surrounded by a park that emerged from a glacis belonging to the Magdeburg Fortress . The north-west Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn sports field is also integrated into the park .

history

On the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the October Revolution , the building, which was largely completed in May 1951, was officially opened on November 7, 1951 as the Ernst Thälmann Culture House by General Director Ossipow. At that time, the companies were part of the Soviet industrial association AMO , in which the Soviet joint-stock companies dealing with mechanical engineering were grouped together. This gave rise to the name of the house, which is still in use today. The abbreviation AMO, which was also little used in the GDR , gave rise to speculation about its meaning. There are also incorrect assumptions that the name means administrative or general military organization . In her autobiography, published in 1997, the RAF member Inge Viett , who went into hiding in the SKL from 1987, criticized the fact that the Kulturhaus had been given the name AMO in 1990, meaning Am Markt Orientiert , as part of a privatization .

During the GDR era, the house developed into the most visited cultural center in Magdeburg. In addition to cultural and entertainment events, many official and propaganda events were held in the building. As early as 1952, there was criticism that, with 22 meetings and conferences in August alone, there was not enough space left for other cultural work consisting of circles, lectures and folk art. On September 3, 1952, Magdeburg's mayor Philipp Daub received the President of the GDR, Wilhelm Pieck , in the house. On 27 August 1953, joined the county council of the district Magdeburg together in the Cultural Center for a special session. The FDGB chairman Herbert Warnke and Alois Pisnik ( SED ) spoke . The district day met more often in the AMO. But also conferences like a delegates conference of the Deutsche Volksbühne with Walter Maschke took place in the AMO.

In August 1957 Nikita Khrushchev and Walter Ulbricht visited the AMO. It is said that both of them ate here so quickly that the waitress had not yet entertained the other guests when they finished their meal. Since Khrushchev and Ulbricht then quickly urged to leave, the other guests had to leave in a rush.

Even in the period after the political change in 1989 , the AMO remained an important location for cultural and concert events. In 1991, the Treuhandanstalt had plans to privatize the building, which had since become part of the SKET , which met with widespread criticism. In addition to the Prime Minister of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, Werner Münch ( CDU ), the DGB State Chairman Jürgen Weißbach and the Magdeburg City Council spoke out against privatization and in favor of maintaining it as a cultural institution.

In fact, the AMO ultimately became the property of the city of Magdeburg. It is still known as a location for a wide variety of events and concerts. Examples are appearances by groups such as Rosenstolz , Ich + Ich and Unheilig . The AMO was also the venue for party conferences and political events. For example, in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt in 1998, the later Chancellor Gerhard Schröder appeared at an election campaign event of the SPD . During an election rally of the FDP with Cornelia Pieper , Wolfgang Gerhardt and Klaus Kinkel , an incident occurred when an AMO curtain lit during a speech by Cornelia Pieper after she had announced fireworks in the state parliament in the event of an election success.

In the course of the meeting of the Magdeburg City Council on July 4, 2013, it was surprisingly known to the public that the Magdeburg city administration was considering closing and demolishing the house. City councilor Olaf Meister ( Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen ) had requested that a corresponding printed matter planned by the city administration for the non-public part of the city council meeting be dealt with in the public part. Lord Mayor Lutz Trümper then initially withdrew the printed matter. On September 5, 2013, the mayor submitted a new, this time public, printed matter to the city council, in which only a termination of a corresponding user agreement on December 31, 2014 and thus the closure of the AMO was requested. The parliamentary groups of the Left and Alliance 90 / The Greens spoke out in press releases against the closure plans. With 25 votes, mainly from Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen, FDP and Left, the city council narrowly rejected the termination of the user agreement, against 24 votes from the CDU and SPD.

A tender followed to separate the AMO from the MVGM and to operate it privately in the future, but this was unsuccessful. Two applicants withdrew their takeover offer. A third application intended to be converted into a school did not meet the requirements of the advertisement. The mayor relented and now also suggested that the MVGM should continue to operate. In 2016, the management of MVGM described the project to revive the AMO as a success story. It was possible to almost double the number of events in 2015 and to increase the number of visitors. Investments were made in stage technology, foyer, equipment, windows, security systems as well as kitchen and staff rooms. Nevertheless, continued operation was initially only planned until 2019. In a printed paper in 2019, the city council was proposed to extend the deadline further until 2024 and then to make a new decision on continued operation. On December 5, 2019, the city council decided on an amendment by the Green / future council group, with the votes of Greens / future, Left and SPD, but going beyond that, to lift the time limit and to continue operating the AMO on a permanent basis.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of monuments in Saxony-Anhalt. Volume 14: State capital Magdeburg. State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology, Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-86568-531-5 , p. 187.
  2. ^ Heinz Gerling: Monuments of the City of Magdeburg. Helmuth-Block-Verlag, Magdeburg 1991, ISBN 3-910173-04-4 , p. 20.
  3. ↑ Iris Reuther in: Magdeburg - Architecture and Urban Development . Verlag Janos Stekovics, Halle an der Saale 2001, ISBN 3-929330-33-4 , p. 67.
  4. ↑ List of monuments in Saxony-Anhalt. Volume 14: State capital Magdeburg. State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology, Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-86568-531-5 , p. 188.
  5. ↑ Helmut Asmus: 1200 Years Magdeburg - The Years 1945 to 2005. P. 440 incorrectly mentions November 7, 1949 as the date of the opening of the house.
  6. ^ House of culture for metal workers from Magdeburg. In: New Germany . November 9, 1951, p. 3.
  7. ↑ Inge Viett: I have never been more fearful. Rowohlt Taschenbuchverlag, Reinbek 1999, ISBN 3-499-60769-7 , p. 325.
  8. ↑ Helmut Asmus: 1200 years Magdeburg - The years 1945 to 2005. P. 440.
  9. ↑ How has the competition of cultural houses improved the cultural mass work? In: New Germany. October 30, 1952, p. 6.
  10. ^ Peace treaty instead of general treaty. In: New Time . September 4, 1952, p. 1.
  11. ↑ We must learn lessons from our history. In: New Germany. August 29, 1953, p. 3.
  12. ^ Friedrich Schindler, What is it about in Magdeburg in the Berliner Zeitung of January 31, 1953, page 3.
  13. ↑ Karl-Heinz Kaiser, do you remember? , Volume 1, Herkules Verlag Kassel 2014, ISBN 978-3-941499-87-4 , page 25
  14. ^ Protests against Sket's intention to sell AMO. In: New Time. August 31, 1991, p. 23.
  15. ↑ Ute Semkat, Large-scale deployment of federal politicians in the world of April 24, 1998
  16. ↑ Katja Tessnow in the Magdeburger Volksstimme from July 6, 2013.
  17. ↑ draft resolution DS0308 / 13 for the Magdeburg City Council
  18. ↑ Response to AMO Kultur- und Kongresshaus - indispensable from August 8, 2013 (PDF; 239 kB)
  19. ↑ Robert Richter, wafer-thin majority for receipt of AMO in Magdeburg popular vote from September 6, 2013
  20. ↑ Rainer Schweingel, Amo remains and becomes an alternative for the town hall in the Magdeburger Volksstimme of August 28, 2014
  21. ↑ Karolin Aertel, Has the amortization paid for itself? in Magdeburger Volksstimme of June 6, 2016, page 7

Coordinates: 52 ° 6 ′ 50.8 ″  N , 11 ° 37 ′ 39.6 ″  E