Old slaughterhouse (Soest)

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The old slaughterhouse in Soest is a cultural and community center. It is located in the buildings of the former municipal slaughterhouse opposite the Ulricher Tor, which was in operation from 1881 to 1989.

Exterior view of the old slaughterhouse
Location of the slaughterhouse in Soest

building

The site is on the edge of the city center outside the wall ring and has a total area of ​​approx. 8,000 m². The old slaughterhouse consists of four buildings with a floor space of around 2,500 m². The paths between the buildings are roofed over an area of ​​around 1,000 m². Almost all rooms are at ground level and barrier-free. The silhouette of the old slaughterhouses, the chimney and the former cooling tower characterize the Soest townscape to this day and serve as an emblem for the cultural center located there. Many parts of the historic slaughterhouse have been preserved and incorporated into current use. The boiler house's large boilers are in place and the blood pan is intact. The revised construction plan from 1928 served as a template for many slaughterhouses in North Rhine-Westphalia.

history

Made 1881–1927

Greeting card from Soest with a slaughterhouse as a motif (around 1900)
Head butcher column at the Soest slaughterhouse (around 1900)

The slaughterhouse was built on a plot of land that had previously been acquired by the innkeeper W. Keining at Ulrichertor and was put into operation on April 11, 1881. In its original form, the slaughterhouse mainly consisted of a large slaughterhouse for all types of livestock, as well as stables and administrative buildings. The water supply was ensured by a well. For a number of extensions and an enclosure wall, 10,500 MK were paid in 1882. approved by the city. In 1890 the pig slaughterhouse was expanded and a workers' apartment built. There was another 10,700 MK for this. required. In 1888 the slaughterhouse was connected to the water supply and eleven years later (1899) also to the sewer system. By 1900, the number of slaughters rose to 8,000, in particular due to the high number of pig slaughtering, so that the previous slaughterhouses, which were only designed for 5000 slaughtering, were no longer sufficient. In 1902 it was decided to build a separate slaughterhouse for pigs and small livestock. For this 28,000 marks were granted. As a result of this renovation, a very spacious pig slaughterhouse and slaughterhouse for small cattle, a special albeit small tripe wash , stables for small cattle, etc. created a trichinae showroom . In 1905 the slaughterhouse was enlarged again. For this purpose, the Dowe'sche garden behind the slaughterhouse was purchased. Since the slaughterhouse was particularly lacking in cooling , the municipal administration approved a budget of 155,000 Mk in 1912 for the construction of a mechanical cooling system with ice production and an official apartment for the slaughterhouse manager. The plant could already be put into operation in May 1913. The cold store block with a built-up area of ​​640 m² contained in particular the actual cold store with the cooling cells, the pre-cooling room, machine room, boiler house and ice factory. An ammonia compressor with an hourly output of 60,000 calories with a steam engine drive was used to generate cold. The Humboldt dry air cooler ensured the temperature of the cold store air. At that time you could produce 125 kilos of ice per hour here. To transport the slaughtered cattle from the slaughterhouses, a special transport track was built into the cold store.

The renovation from 1928

Tower of the slaughterhouse, today's view (2008)

The rapid developments in the slaughterhouse industry soon showed that the Soest slaughterhouse no longer met the structural, technical and, in particular, hygienic requirements of its time. Therefore, in 1928 the Städt. Corporations decided to fundamentally rebuild the slaughterhouse, with the exception of the still relatively new cooling system, according to the plans of the specialist architect Frese in Berlin. The cost should be 250,000 RM. During this renovation, the buildings were grouped in the west-east direction as required by the slaughtering process and the technical operation. The slaughterhouses as such remained in their spatial enclosure. However, all stables, the intestinal slime, the fertilizer house, the Trichinenschau and the skin store were rebuilt. The former stable building was converted into a tripe . The open-air bank and the journeyman's room were built into the youth hostel , as well as the apartment for a machinist. In addition, the business rooms were expanded. Both the slaughterhouses and the buildings were technically modernized. A wide roofed transport hall was built between the slaughterhouses and the cold store. Wide asphalt streets allow one-way traffic to run smoothly.

The Second World War 1939–1945

During the Second World War , two Polish forced laborers from the Soest city administration were also used in the city slaughterhouse . One of the two forced laborers was killed in an air raid by gunfire on March 25, 1945. The Second World War ended for the slaughterhouse and for the entire city of Soest in the rubble field. Due to the low income, the forced farming and the lack of slaughter cattle allowed only small construction and repair work.

Reconstruction and the economic miracle 1962–1975

View of the delivery area of ​​the slaughterhouse (1970s)
Foreman's office (signs: "Butcher purchase, house slaughtering supplies →" and "Loading traffic only")
Aerial view of the slaughterhouse area

The new hygiene regulations in 1962 and 1963 prompted a complete redesign of the interior of the slaughterhouses, cold stores and the machine house. The cooling system was automated, coal heating and hot water production mechanized. During the same period, a first cutting room was set up for a meat cutting company founded in 1962. As a result, the number of battles increased significantly. In 1968 the slaughterhouse was approved as an EEC operation. It was only with this approval that meat from abroad could also be cleared during the import inspection in Soest. Over the next few years this research became an enormous source of income, thanks to which the fees for slaughtering could be kept low. In the following years, the slaughterhouse landscape in all of North Rhine-Westphalia changed with the emergence of a number of cooperative slaughterhouses.

Instead of continuing to slaughter in the consumer areas (large cities), slaughter has now been relocated to the production areas. A report by Rasenack and Wowra on the slaughterhouses in the Federal Republic of Germany, which was prompted by this restructuring, attested that the Soest slaughterhouse, which was located in a large pig production area, had good future prospects. As a result, a new meat wholesaler was able to start operations at the slaughterhouse in 1973 and 1975, thereby increasing the number of slaughters considerably.

A negative slaughterhouse structural report from 1975 from the Institute for Market Research at the University of Bonn , in which Soest was classified as an expiring slaughterhouse, initially did not change the fact that the slaughter figures continued to rise. During this time, the damage to the roofs from the war and post-war times was repaired. At the same time, new floors and wall and ceiling cladding in accordance with EC standards were installed in the slaughter and cold rooms. The cooling system was also given a general overhaul. In accordance with the new requirements of environmental protection, the wastewater has now also been pre-treated and the blood collected and given away for further processing. An odor control system was also installed.

Economic downturn and closure 1979–1989

Soest slaughterhouse after its closure in 1989
"Butcher purchase" after the closure in 1989
Entrance sign of the city slaughterhouse, the goal post is still standing

With the end of the import inspections in 1979, the corresponding fee income ceased and the slaughterhouse fees had to be increased. The increasingly tough competition on the meat market as well as the distortions brought about by the one-sided support of the agricultural cooperatives by the EC and the federal states increasingly favored the large companies and brought many municipal slaughterhouses with the medium-sized meat wholesalers into difficulties. After a large company was eliminated in 1980, the number of slaughters also fell rapidly in Soest. The other wholesalers also came under pressure, and the butchers, the original users of the slaughterhouses, increasingly refrained from their own slaughtering and increasingly bought at wholesale markets. Despite a moderate increase in fees - the Soest fees were still at the lower limit in a national comparison - the budget could no longer be consolidated thanks to the steadily increasing expenditure. Declining slaughter numbers, with no prospect of improvement, cost expectations from major maintenance measures, and costs resulting from EC demands led to considerations to close the slaughterhouse. The attempt by some Soest butchers and wholesalers to convert the slaughterhouse into a compact slaughterhouse failed because of the costs. After long negotiations, further efforts by the initiative to build a new slaughterhouse in the city's industrial park with a substantial grant from the city could not be realized due to insufficient slaughter numbers. The Soest City Council decided on June 14, 1989 to close the Soest slaughterhouse on December 31, 1989 at the latest. Due to the dissolution of the head butcher column , the abattoir was closed on August 31, 1989. The cold rooms and cutting rooms were kept ready for the last users until December 31, 1989.

From the city slaughterhouse to the cultural center 1983–2010

In 1983 an initiative was founded in Soest that wanted to run a cultural center on its own responsibility. In 1986 it became a registered association as the “Kulturinitiative Das Haus eV”. In 1993 this association opened the Soest community center on the site of the former municipal slaughterhouse. In 1994 an art house cinema was opened as part of the Kulturhaus .

In 1998 an expansion of the contract took place: under the name “Kulturhaus Alter Schlachthof” eV, the sponsor has been running the “Kulturbüro Soest” in the “Alten Schlachthof” since November 1998 in addition to the community center.

Todays use

Cultural events

Logo of the culture house "Alter Schlachthof" eV

As a socio-cultural center , the "Alter Schlachthof" cultural center offers various events. Cabaret artists and comedians such as B. Volker Pispers , Anka Zink , Konrad Beikircher , Dieter Hildebrandt , Atze Schröder , Gaby Köster , Markus Maria Profitlich or Matze Knop as well as musicians such as Apocalyptica , Fiddler's Green , Honeyboy Edwards or The Toasters appear as well as regional, artists and amateur groups. Trade fairs, sporting events and dance afternoons for senior citizens also take place in the hall of the Kulturhaus. There are also major and collaborative events such as B. the flea market around the Soest graves . The event hall offers space for a maximum of 600 people and is equipped with a variable stage.

A restaurant with a beer garden belongs to the cultural center.

movie theater

The SchlachthofKino is an art house cinema with 90 seats and a focus on German and European films. The cinema opened in 1994 and has shown a daily film arts program ever since. A special feature of the cinema, in addition to the cozy atmosphere, is the daily short film that, selected to match the main film, is shown as a supporting film instead of advertising.

The SchlachthofKino is awarded annually by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM) and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW for the outstanding main film program, as well as the educationally valuable children's film program and the short film program.

Culture office

The Soest Cultural Office has existed since November 1998 as the central point of contact for artists and cultural workers in the city who requested such an institution to succeed the Cultural Office.

The staffing and financing was made possible by an ABM of the employment office, the necessary infrastructure was provided by the "Alter Schlachthof" cultural center. On November 9, 1998, the cultural office began to collect and inventory the current cultural data - databases were created on artists and cultural workers, educational institutions, the media and the planned events.

The following projects have since been carried out with the support of the cultural office:

  1. "Jazz am Hellweg"
  2. "Wegmarken", funded by the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Urban Development, Culture and Sport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
  3. Children's art courses, in cooperation with the Kreiskunstverein Soest
  4. "Drüggelter Kunststückchen" in the Drüggelter Chapel in the municipality of Möhnesee

The Kulturtaxi is a weekly radio broadcast by the Kulturbüro on Hellweg Radio . The regular broadcast reports on local cultural offers and is at the same time image promotion for the city in the immediate vicinity.

Different groups and interest groups meet regularly in the rentable group rooms of the Kulturhaus.

Individual evidence

  1. Chillers, ice machines. United German refrigeration machine factories Borsig-Germania-Humboldt GmbH Cologne-Kalk.
  2. ^ The history of the city of Soest - Chronology ( Memento from March 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Accessed on September 21, 2015.
  3. Soest is Part 2: Scriptwriter Michael Gantenberg ... - From Schweinemett to Cabaret. Accessed on September 21, 2015.

swell

  • Brief insight into the development of the Städt. Slaughterhouse. In: History of municipal and other authorities - written in 1937 by the officials
  • Conrads, Dr .: untitled (conclusion of the Soest slaughterhouse). Soest: Manuscript (City Archives) 1990
  • City Archives Department: History of Forced Laborers in Soest. Factual representation: Soest, September 26, 2000 (written by Dr. Gerhard Köhn)

Web links

Commons : Alter Schlachthof  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 33 ′ 55.3 "  N , 8 ° 6 ′ 28"  E