Old Town Hall Altona
The old town hall Altona was a building in Altona (today part of Hamburg ). It was used as the town hall from 1721 to 1898 , then as an archive and destroyed in the Second World War (1943).
prehistory
The city of Altona had belonged to the Duchy of Holstein, ruled by the Danish king in personal union , since 1640 and was the second largest city in the state after Copenhagen . During the Great Northern War , soldiers of the Swedish general Stenbock set fire to the city in January 1713 . A total of 960 houses and more than 270 so-called booths with a total of around 1560 apartments were destroyed - two thirds of Altona. Altona's first town hall on the corner of Breitenstrasse and Kirchenstrasse was also a victim of the fire. Altona President Christian Detlev von Reventlow granted all those willing to build enormous tax advantages and thus ensured the city was rebuilt quickly.
building
The town hall, which was built in the French baroque style, was located on the so-called (Altonaer) Rathausmarkt. Langestrasse ran on the left and Königstrasse on the right. The house was a two-story building approx. 15 m long and approx. 10 m deep, had an arched portal to which a staircase led up from both sides. Furthermore, a balcony supported by column-like pillars extended over it. Above the balcony there was a heraldic gable on which the figure of Justizia was enthroned. The roof was designed as a hipped roof, with a tower including a clock on it. To the left of the town hall, on the corner of Langenstrasse, was the main guard and council station.
history
Instructions for the new construction of the town hall were sent to the city master builder Claus Stallknecht (1681 to 1734), who was appointed in 1714 and was primarily responsible for the design of the public buildings. A collection in all Danish churches enabled start-up funding, but ultimately the budget turned out to be just as tight as the estimated time frame. Above all, Stallknecht initially lacked the brilliant idea for a new town hall. He had a beautiful representative building in mind, but one that did not dominate the rather winding streets, which for reasons of cost had to largely retain their original structure.
According to an anecdote, the label on a red wine bottle inspired the Stallknecht to build it. Accordingly, in view of the high expectations that were placed on his work, he sat down in a tavern and ordered a French wine. When looking at the château shown , he suddenly had the idea of what the new building should look like. It is also believed that Stallknecht, about whose life little is known, studied in Hanover and was taught by a French teacher.
Construction lasted from 1716 to 1721. Stallknecht provided the design and at the same time became an entrepreneur. He took over the construction work for 8000 richstaler including the delivery of 150 oaks from the city forest. The building contract of 1716 prescribed the exact division of the rooms, the materials and the artistic design ( inside Zinnober-Roth, golden lists ). The “Ratsweinkeller” restaurant was located in the basement, with the offices, courtrooms and conference rooms above.
The roof - allegedly the first mansard roof in Northern Europe - was covered with black glazed panes , the turret with lead . Due to a permanent lack of money, the work progressed only slowly, the building acceptance did not take place until 1721. In official letters Stallknecht complained that the construction had become much more expensive and that he had to inject his own capital
In the years 1795/1796 the state master builder Christian Frederik Hansen rebuilt the upper court room, for which he received a remuneration of 50 Rthlr. received.
Since there has been a Danish lottery since 1771, an arbor (balcony) resting on pillars was built in front of the main front of the building for the public draws in 1802 so that the draws in Altona could be carried out. In 1853 the lottery was canceled. The balcony was therefore torn down again in 1867 and the front received the original staircase with a portal and a small balcony above.
With the opening of the New Town Hall on May 12, 1898 (originally a train station), the building erected by Claus Stallknecht officially became the "Old" Town Hall. At the same time, the Altona City Archives were housed in the basement of the new town hall from 1898. The dampness of the cellar damaged the records considerably, so it was decided to move the archive to the old town hall. In 1925 the city colleges approved the position of full-time archivist. The writer Paul Theodor Hoffmann took up this position in 1926. In 1927 the new rooms could be moved into. The city archive was now so well equipped both spatially and financially that it was able to place particular emphasis on exhibitions in addition to the collection of filings, order work and user support and thus became an important educational institution for the city of Altona. As part of the Greater Hamburg Act , the Altona City Archives became a branch of the Hamburg State Archives on April 1, 1938 . The theater collection of the City of Hamburg was also stored there.
During Allied air raids in the summer of 1943, an explosive bomb hit the building directly through the clock tower. The stored archive material was completely destroyed. As the archivist Paul Theodor Hoffmann later wrote, the manuscript department of the Low German poets with letters from Klopstock , Claudius , Liliencron and others had been deposited in a huge, supposedly fireproof safe. When the cupboard was recovered weeks later, only ash was found in it. Born in Altona and later Mayor of Hamburg, Max Brauer wrote after his return from exile in America:
“ We found neither the old town hall nor the city center. Our Altona, our old home, was extinguished. "
The town hall of the Danish town of Viborg , which was built there from 1728 to 1730 according to Stallknecht's plans, looks like a scaled-down copy of the Altona town hall.
literature
- Gobert Klée, Renata Klée: The architectural and art monuments of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Volume 2 Altona-Elbe suburbs. Christian Wegner, Hamburg 1959, p. 114f.
Web links
- Article in the Hamburger Abendblatt about the old town hall
- Brief outline of the history of the town hall on www.mein-altes.hamburg
- Article about the town hall in the Ottensen district archive
Individual evidence
- ↑ Oliver Kaever, From dusty country road to Ikea-UFO , August 21, 2014, Die Zeit (accessed October 15, 2019)
Coordinates: 53 ° 32 ′ 57 ″ N , 9 ° 57 ′ 8 ″ E