Hermann-Beims-Siedlung

Hermann-Beims-Siedlung, view through Flechtinger Straße

Administration and social building

Flechtinger Strasse, looking north

Hermann-Beims-Siedlung, 2006

Flechtinger Strasse children's home

The Hermann-Beims-Siedlung , also known as Beimssiedlung for short , is a listed housing estate in Magdeburg 's Stadtfeld West district in Saxony-Anhalt .

location

It is located west of Magdeburg city center in the southern part of Stadtfeld West. It is bordered to the south by Hohendodelebener Strasse, to the east by Beimsstrasse, to the north by Große Diesdorfer Strasse and to the west by Seehäuser Strasse. In the southeast is the Enckekaserne , to the west of the settlement the Westfriedhof . The Flechtinger Straße children's house , which is also managed as an individual monument, belongs to the settlement .

Architecture and history

The settlement was built between 1924 and 1932 on behalf of the Small Housing Association and the Magdeburg non-profit Heimstätten AG. The basis was the general settlement plan of the city of Magdeburg drawn up by Bruno Taut . The planning was carried out by the city expansion office headed by Johannes Göderitz . As architects Konrad Rühl , Gerhard Gauger , Adolf Otto and Willy Zabel worked. The aim was to build social housing that would provide healthy housing to large parts of the population at affordable prices. The settlement was the first and largest large settlement in Magdeburg in the 1920s. The planning provided for a considerably larger expansion, but only about a third was implemented. Of the initially planned 5000 apartments, only around 2000 were built. Settlements could not be built in the western and northwestern parts due to the existing commercial buildings. Buildings originally planned in the east were also not carried out.

Most of the apartments were built between 1925 and 1929. During these years around 1950 apartments were built. In 1930/31 only about 30 more apartments and communal facilities were built. The construction of the community facilities including a kindergarten in the green area did not correspond to the original plans. It was named after the Mayor of Magdeburg, Hermann Beims , in 1931.

The settlement consists of three-storey houses with flat roofs , which are arranged in the interior of the settlement on streets in an orthogonal grid system. The residential buildings are almost exclusively built parallel to each other in a north-south direction. There are front gardens in front of the houses . The backs of the buildings face green spaces or large residential courtyards. There are jumble floors in which drying floors are housed. The perforated facades are divided horizontally by plaster, paint and brick bands. A vertical structure is only made sparingly using recessed stairwells. The plaster of the buildings is executed as ocher to yellow rough plaster . Doors and windows are painted in different colors.

The perimeter block development on Großer Diesdorfer Straße, Enckestraße, Hohendodelebener Straße and Seehäuser Straße is covered with traditional pitched roofs.

The design of the settlement is monumental . The individual buildings are rhythmically offset. In some cases, the construction sequences narrow or widen in a funnel shape. In other streets, the building lines run in a straight line.

In the center of the settlement there is a green area that runs from west to east and is dominated by an avenue of poplar trees. The avenue runs in the direction of the towers of Magdeburg Cathedral . To the green axis there are angular staggered head buildings with loggias . A school was originally planned to be built at the east end of the green corridor, but this did not take place.

Shops were also arranged in a central location. Street crossings are emphasized like squares by the staggering of the buildings at the beginning of the streets.

The street lighting was initially mainly carried out using the gas lamps that were common in the city at the time of construction, and electrical lighting was later converted. At special points, there were lighting fixtures specially designed for the settlement in connection with brick pillars. The larger streets of the settlement were originally paved, other streets only had a gravel and gravel surface. The footpaths were paved with a mosaic pavement.

Overall, the settlement forms architecturally calm, clear and self-contained street spaces.

During the time of the National Socialist tyranny, the Hermann-Beims-Siedlung was renamed Encke-Siedlung. The Beisplatz became the Enckeplatz. After the end of the Nazi dictatorship, it was renamed. In 1937 the eastern part of the central green area became part of the Enckekaserne barracks south of it. During the Second World War , there was little damage from bombing. However, the affected buildings were largely rebuilt true to the original.

Between 1964 and 1968, 200 more apartments were built in the previously undeveloped area between Seehäuser and Walbecker Straße. There was also a department store and another kindergarten in the green corridor . In addition, 90 apartments were added through the expansion of some attic storeys. In 1980 the settlement was placed under protection as a monument to urban development. The monument area covers about 35 hectares . Due to the arrangement of several buildings in the green corridor and the expansion of the Enckekaserne, the design of the green corridor no longer corresponds to the original plans.

Today the settlement belongs to the municipal housing association Wobau . In 1994 the housing stock was given as 2270 units. Since the 1990s, the existing structure has been gradually renovated.

In the local register of monuments , the settlement is listed as a monument under registration number 094 70964.

literature

Folkhard Cremer, Dehio, Handbook of German Art Monuments , Saxony-Anhalt I, Magdeburg District , Deutscher Kunstverlag , Munich / Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-422-03069-7 , page 618 f.
Sabine Ullrich, Magdeburg Barracks , State Capital Magdeburg, City Planning Office 2002, page 165 ff.
Monument Directory Saxony-Anhalt, Volume 14, State Capital Magdeburg , State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-86568-531-5 , page 102 f.