Bertelsmann Corporate Center
| Bertelsmann Corporate Center | |
|---|---|
 Entrance to the Bertelsmann headquarters in 2007 |
|
| Data | |
| place | Gutersloh |
| architect | Robert Rathai |
| Client | Bertelsmann AG |
| Construction year | 1973–1976 ("V1"), 1979/80 ("V2") |
| Coordinates | 51 ° 54 '33.3 " N , 8 ° 25' 15.5" E |
The Bertelsmann Corporate Center (until November 2001: Bertelsmann headquarters ) is an office building in the East Westphalian district town of Gütersloh and the administration building of the Bertelsmann media group . It is the workplace for around 700 employees.
history
In 1868 Heinrich Bertelsmann had sold the parent company of the C. Bertelsmann Verlag opposite the Gütersloh Apostelkirche and moved into a new publishing and administration building near the main train station (today's location of the central bus station / department store C&A). This location in the middle of downtown Gütersloh was the company's headquarters until the mid-1970s .
The plans for a modern new building on the outskirts in the Avenwedde district started in 1972, and in January 1973 the Bertelsmann executive board under Reinhard Mohn made the final decision. Construction on Carl-Bertelsmann- Strasse began in October 1973, the foundation stone was laid on January 17, 1974. 15,000 cubic meters of concrete and 1,000 tons of steel were used for the foundations, walls and ceilings. The first building section "V1" with its two upper floors was put into operation on January 19, 1976. Three years later, the second building section "V2", this time with three upper floors, was added. This was moved into in 1980.
The property, including the parking spaces and the so-called Bertelsmann Lake, is 83,000 square meters. The Bertelsmann Corporate Center has 33,000 square meters of usable space , with an enclosed space of 120,000 cubic meters.
For the office concept , based on US models, the decision was made to use open-plan offices. However, after negative feedback from employees, the second part of the building was already built in 1979 as a cell office building with individual and group rooms. In 1990 the first part of the building was completely redesigned according to the cell office concept. In addition to the administration, the Corporate Center is also home to the classrooms of the private Bertelsmann vocational college founded in 1962, as well as the "Mediastore", where members of the group can purchase products such as books, magazines and CDs from Bertelsmann companies at discounted prices.
In 1995 the Bertelsmann Corporate Center was connected to the combined heat and power plant of the neighboring company Mohndruck .
The company restaurant has space for 350 guests. In 2001 it was expanded to include a winter garden with another hundred seats.
Historic establishment
The study of Sigbert Mohn (1918–2002) with numerous family items from the Mohn family from the 19th and 20th centuries is on display in the so-called tradition room .
In the company restaurant there is a seven-meter-long gate beam from the C. Bertelsmann Verlag headquarters, which burned down during the Night of the Reichspogrom .
Bertelsmann Lake
In 1990, in the course of new buildings for the neighboring Bertelsmann Foundation , a circular lake with a diameter of 145 meters was created in front of the Corporate Center, which was flooded with 20 million liters of water in 1991. It not only serves as a fire fighting water reservoir , but is also home to grass and silver carp , bitterlings , perch and crucian carp . Ducks, geese and swans can be seen there regularly, and sometimes also gray herons .