Center department store

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Logo of the Centrum department stores

Centrum was a chain of department stores and a subsidiary of the trading organization HO of the GDR . The department stores were located in the upper and middle centers of the GDR and were mostly larger than the consumer department stores of the consumer cooperative. Many of the buildings erected during the existence of the GDR had metal facades decorated in a grid pattern as a common feature .

Old buildings

The first Centrum department stores were built in already existing department store buildings, for example in Chemnitz in the former Schocken and Tietz department stores and in Görlitz in the HO department store . In Dresden, the 1950s building on Ernst-Thälmann-Strasse, which was supplemented with a corner building to the Altmarkt, was renamed the Centrum department store.

Architecture of the newly constructed buildings

Centrum Warenhaus Hoyerswerda on a postage stamp of the German Post of the GDR, 1969

In August 1965 the groundbreaking ceremony took place for the construction of the first new department store of the VVB Centrum in the GDR assembly method in the new town of Hoyerswerda (at today's Lausitzer Platz). Other new buildings such as the “old” center on Altmarkt in Dresden were built in the prevailing style of socialist classicism at the time . Parts of the cellar facilities in the new buildings were laid out as a civil protection room for the employees, for example in the Centrum Warenhaus Suhl and Berlin ( Anton-Saefkow-Platz ).

From 1970 a number of new buildings in the classic modern style were planned. B. in Berlin on Alexanderplatz , in Dresden on Prager Straße and in Magdeburg , Breiter Weg were built with a new type of facade made of aluminum elements. Constructions made of reinforced concrete were also used, such as B. ceilings adapted to static load profiles (Dresden). The aluminum facade of the Suhler Centrum was designed by Fritz Kühn . The largest and most modern Centrum department store was finally opened in 1979 at Berlin's Ostbahnhof .

The experimental metal facades were a recurring element and trademark of the department store chain, similar to the hydrangea tiles from the earlier Horten AG in West Germany - but were designed individually for each building. Despite local initiatives for preservation, most of the metal facades were not placed under monument protection and were usually replaced by the new owners of the houses ( Kaufhof, Berlin-Alexanderplatz ) or demolished with the building ( Karstadt Dresden and Centrum Warenhaus Suhl); the Magdeburg Centrum Warenhaus (since 1991 Karstadt), on the other hand, is still largely in its original state.

Privatization of department stores after the fall of the Wall

After 1990, the then operated 14 Centrum department stores were divided among the West German department store chains by decision of the Treuhandanstalt : Karstadt should take over 6, Kaufhof 5 and Hertie 3 locations.

Structural use after the "Centrum Warenhaus" was closed in 1990

After the fall of the Wall , most of the Centrum department stores were taken over by Kaufhof , Karstadt and Hertie and the majority of them are still in operation today. After the Karstadt Group's financial difficulties, the decision was made to close a number of stores (e.g. Halle (Saale), Hoyerswerda - April 2007).

  • At the Dresden location, the former center was demolished and replaced by a larger new building. The new building based on plans by Peter Kulka is based on the original facade design, and the building is also called the Centrum-Galerie .
  • The department store in Suhl was rebuilt in October 2006. The building, built between 1966 and 1969 (by Heinz Luther (collective), Ulrich Möckel, Fritz Popp), was reduced by two storeys and a parking garage was added. The original building gave way to a new shopping center by February 2008. With the renovation, the cityscape-defining metal-plastic structural facade by Fritz Kühn (an important metal designer from Berlin) as well as the constructivist fan-shaped staircase made of reinforced concrete and other elements of the art in the building by Waldo Dörsch disappeared .
  • The former Centrum Warenhaus on Berlin's Alexanderplatz (design: Josef Kaiser , built 1967–1970, today Galeria Kaufhof) was rebuilt and enlarged in 2004/2005. The characteristic honeycomb facade was replaced by a new sandstone facade ( Josef Paul Kleihues , Büro Kleihues + Kleihues ).
  • The Centrum Warenhaus Mansfelder Strasse in Halle (Saale) , which opened in 1981, was partially used for exhibitions and art projects after it was closed by Karstadt in 2007 and has housed a furniture store since 2009, for which the street-side facade was partially clad.
  • In the trade fair city of Leipzig , the department store opened by Theodor Althoff in 1914 was torn down down to the listed façade and reopened as an expanded complex in autumn 2006. The 8,300 square meter area was fundamentally renovated and redesigned. The core of the new building is a central atrium with four escalators. The Karstadt department store and other partners used a total area of ​​30,000 square meters here. Karstadt closed this location as a department store branch in February 2019.
  • Center at the Ostbahnhof (Berlin)

  • Centrum am Ostbahnhof , 1981

  • Galeria Kaufhof Berlin-Ostbahnhof, 2006

  • Demolition of the department and event store, 2018

Locations

Mug from the department store restaurant
  • Berlin-Mitte department store : takeover by Kaufhof, conversion into a galeria, new facade
  • Berlin-Friedrichshain , at the Ostbahnhof. The "Centrum-Warenhaus am Ostbahnhof" was built in 1979 to supply Friedrichshain with the new buildings around it. The proximity of the Ostbahnhof (then the main train station) also required an upgrade of the northern area. After the fall of the Wall it became a Hertie department store and after the takeover it went to the Kaufhof company. Despite the conversion to the “Galeria-Kaufhof”, sales and the attractiveness of the department store environment in the area around the station on Erich-Steinfurth-Straße also remained low. Because of the poor results, despite attempts at further use, the lease had been terminated. the department store was closed in 2017. The decline in sales led to the karting and event center on the fifth floor, a pharmacy and other dealers moving in, a bowling alley. The Kaufhof property has belonged to the Austrian Signa Group since autumn 2016. Due to the commercial construction of the Bahnhofkarree between Koppenstrasse and Andreasstrasse, the renovation of the residential development, the location of the demolition of the department store and the large, covered parking lot as a fillet plot is a well-developed construction area for investors. The aim is to use the “empty housing” for office space.
  • Dresden department store, Altmarkt : After the opening of the following new building on Prager Strasse, the previous location was given up.
  • Dresden department store, Prager Strasse : takeover by Karstadt, after merging with Hertie in 1994, plans change: Karstadt takes over the new Hertie building with changes, Hertie moves into the former Centrum building. Later, after the Hertie-Haus was closed (2004), it was demolished and replaced by the Centrum-Galerie (with Karstadt-Sport-Haus).
  • Erfurt, Anger : Takeover by Hertie, after provisional renovation, later under Karstadt direction, conversion to EKZ Anger 1, from there Karstadt department store.
  • Görlitz : Takeover of the Görlitz department store by the previous owner Karstadt (like 1929–1945), renovation according to monument protection requirements. Spun off in 2004, Karstadt-Kompakt in 2005, then spun off to Hertie GmbH , closed in 2009. 2013 purchase by investor from Lübeck, new opening planned.
  • Halle (Saale) : Takeover by Karstadt, move to Marktplatz in planned. New building failed, closed in 2007.
  • Hoyerswerda (cultural monument): takeover by Karstadt, Karstadt bargain market in 2004, closed in 2007, followed by Aldi Nord .
  • Karl-Marx-Stadt , today again Chemnitz (like until 1952): Takeover by Kaufhof after Intermezzo Karstadt 1990/91, 2001 closure of both houses (Tietz and Schocken) after the opening of the new building at the central stop. Conversion of the Tietz House into a museum / adult education center etc., the Schocken House into a museum.
  • Leipzig : Takeover by the previous owner Karstadt, gutting / renovation in 2005/06 and subsequent reopening, closure in 2019.
  • Magdeburg : Takeover by Karstadt, then complete conversion and renovation. Exterior facade under monument protection since 2012.
  • Neubrandenburg : Takeover by Kaufhof. The future is uncertain as there has not yet been any fundamental renovation or the like, still “just” Kaufhof.
  • Rostock : Takeover by Kaufhof after Karstadt-Intermezzo 1990/91, 1998 conversion to Galeria Kaufhof.
  • Schwedt / Oder : takeover by Hertie, closed in 1996, conversion to a shopping center.
  • Suhl : Takeover by Kaufhof after Karstadt-Intermezzo 1990/91, closed in 2000, conversion to a shopping center.

Web links

Commons : Centrum Warenhaus  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ First groundbreaking. In: New Germany . August 11, 1965, accessed February 12, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Information - About the SUHLERMODERNE initiative to maintain the Suhler Centrum department store, SuhlerModerne initiative
  3. ↑ The aluminum honeycomb facade was torn down in 2004 when it was converted into the Galeria Kaufhof.
  4. ^ Condition shortly after the takeover by Karstadt
  5. ↑ The aluminum honeycomb facade described as spectacular in Suhl was torn down despite strong protests in 2006 and replaced by an uncharacteristic new building
  6. ↑ The Centrum department store in Suhl , In: SuhlerModerne.de
  7. ↑ https://www.mdr.de/sachsen/leipzig/leipzig-leipzig-land/schlung-karstadt-lETZ-tag-100.html
  8. ↑ Galeria Kaufhof am Ostbahnhof closes in 2017 Department stores have a hard time in times of booming internet retail. In: Berliner Morgenpost , June 2017
  9. ↑ Galerie Kaufhof closes: Not only the department store era ends at Ostbahnhof . In: Berliner Woche, June 2, 2017
  10. ↑ Plans for the renovation of Galeria-Kaufhof at Ostbahnhof presented . In: Tagesspiegel from July 2, 2017
  11. ^ Stefan Harter, Volksstimme Magdeburg: Old Center has a rarity. Retrieved June 6, 2019 .
  12. ↑ List of monuments of the state capital Magdeburg. Retrieved June 6, 2019 .