Depot of Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The depot of Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen in Vacha in what is now the Wartburg district in Thuringia existed from the end of the 1950s to 2014 and was characterized by a construction that was unique in the architecture of the German Democratic Republic of the time, with a three-storey administration building designed as a rotunda .

prehistory

Shortly after the formation of the Bad Salzungen district in the course of the district reforms in the GDR , Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen was founded there on October 13, 1952 , a state-owned company whose task, among other things, was to ensure passenger transport in the young district. The company's headquarters were in Bad Salzungen , while the administrative headquarters were set up, initially provisionally, in Vacha. Vacha joined in the district the Werratal with the county town of Bad Salzungen and industrial sites Dorndorf and flag with the front rhythmic nearby places of Geisaer Office for Geisa and the immensely important for the young East German potash mine site Unterbreizbach . Almost at the same time as the establishment of the company, this region was cut off from public passenger and freight traffic due to the short-term shutdown of the Ulstertal Railway, which crossed the nearby state border with the Federal Republic of Germany several times . Although a bypass route was hastily set up for freight traffic between Vacha and Unterbreizbach , passenger traffic was to be covered by bus traffic in the future . This made Vacha an important network hub for the young transport company from the start.

Vacha depot

After it was founded, motor traffic grew rapidly, partly through the acquisition of new vehicles, partly through the expropriation of small private haulage and transport companies such as the company Bräunung from Geisa in 1953. In 1954 the company had 26 buses, 13 trucks and 100 employees. The operating resources were distributed decentrally to various operating locations, some of which were taken over by private companies. For example, the former locomotive shed of the Wenigentaft-Oechsener Railway in Niederoechsen was used as a workshop. A large traffic yard was planned for Bad Salzungen, but ultimately not built. To amalgamate the operating locations scattered throughout the Vorderrhön, the construction of a central depot in Vacha, in the "Straße der Völkerfreundschaft", on the outskirts towards Sünna, began on May 4, 1957 . This corresponded to the most modern standards of the time and had 35 garages with space for up to 45 vehicles, a paint shop, washing facility, social rooms and much more. By the time it was completed in spring 1961, around 2 million marks were invested.

Administration building rotunda

A special architectural feature was the three-storey administration building of the depot, designed as a rotunda , which from then on, located next to trunk road 84 at the entrance to the town from the direction of Geisa, shaped the townscape of Vacha. In the building designated as "Block D" (next to the garages, Block A and B and Block C with paint shop and workshop), all social and office rooms of the depot were to be accommodated. Initially planned in a rectangular shape, the round construction was favored with the requirement for a third floor. The cost plan for the building in 1957 (without the third floor) provided for a converted space of 2111 m³. In 1961, shortly before completion, the planning was supplemented by a porter's lodge. The rotunda "Block D" was the last building to be completed due to some delays in the construction process; it was opened for use in the summer of 1961.

The tower consisted of three floors with a storey height of 3.30 meters each, so that the building had a height of almost 10 meters plus the roof with a slope of 5 °. Inside, in addition to offices and the porter's lodge, there were rooms for a driving school and a club room. However, the latter was not implemented in favor of additional office space. The internal staircase was made of solid travertine , which was delivered from Bad Langensalza .

The Bauhaus University Weimar included the rotunda in the Thuringian architecture guide.

Vacancy and demolition

With the restructuring of local public transport after the collapse of the GDR regime , the Vacha depot was no longer needed for its original purpose. The city of Vacha tried to re-use it. Among other things, a use as a sports and leisure facility with a youth hostel in the rotunda was discussed. Ultimately, all plans failed due to a lack of financial resources and unclear ownership. A forwarding company took over the property and used it until it was sold in 2005. The property, which had been vacant after the change of ownership and was structurally intact until then, became a victim of severe vandalism and was completely devastated within a very short time.

The city of Vacha succeeded in acquiring the ruined building and at the beginning of February 2014 the city council decided to provide funds for the demolition of the property. This started in winter 2014 and was completed in April 2015.

literature

  • Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Headquarters Vacha - 1952–1990 , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Vacha headquarters - 1952–1990 , Rockstuhl Verlag, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 5 ff.
  2. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Headquarters Vacha - 1952–1990 , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 7 ff.
  3. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Vacha headquarters - 1952–1990 , Rockstuhl Publishing House, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 11
  4. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Headquarters Vacha - 1952–1990 , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 14ff.
  5. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Headquarters Vacha - 1952–1990 , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 39
  6. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Headquarters Vacha - 1952–1990 , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 40ff.
  7. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Vacha headquarters - 1952–1990 , Rockstuhl Publishing House, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 46
  8. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Headquarters Vacha - 1952–1990 , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 43
  9. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Headquarters Vacha - 1952–1990 , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 40
  10. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Headquarters Vacha - 1952–1990 , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 4
  11. ↑ Michael Knauf / Eugen Rohm: The history of VEB Kraftverkehr Bad Salzungen - Headquarters Vacha - 1952–1990 , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2009, ISBN 978-3-86777-113-9 , page 30ff.
  12. ↑ Nobody has to feel disadvantaged , insuedthueringen.de, 6.2.2014
  13. ↑ The eyesore should give way , hersfelder-zeitung.de, October 24, 2014
  14. ↑ From the traffic junction to the ruin , insuedthueringen.de, April 8, 2015