Döhrener misery

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View of Werrastrasse

The Döhrener Jammer is a historic workers' settlement in the Hanover district of Döhren . It was created from 1869 for the workers of the Döhrener wool laundry and combing ( Döhrener wool ) founded in the previous year and was expanded in several stages until 1927. The estate is an outstanding example of the living and living conditions during Hanover's industrialization.

History of development and description of the building

Detached house on Werrastrasse from 1869

Construction of the settlement began in 1869. The first eleven houses were built on both sides of Werrastrasse on a narrow piece of land in the east of Richartzstrasse that had previously been purchased by the wool combing company. The small, one-storey brick row houses accommodated six to eight workers per family as so-called “aftermants”: The family of five, as a rule, lived on 28 m² on the ground floor, while seven other workers usually found quarters in two rooms in the attic. Eight houses were designed as semi-detached houses (Werrastrasse No. 7–13, 6–12) and could be entered via a central entrance . The three single houses (No. 3, 5 and 4) had one less window axis and were given side or offset entrances. At the time of construction, the plots ended with the rear of the building, the rear gardens were not added until 1884. Until then, there were initially smaller gardens in the east of the settlement, where stables and toilets were also built. At the turn of the century, the front gardens finally followed.

The settlement consisted initially only the two traufständigen detached lines to which four gable 1886 constant, stone back end buildings were added (Werrastraße Nos. 1, 2 and no. 14, 15). An expansion had become necessary to take account of the constantly growing factory. The new houses had two floors, of which the lower one was accessed via a central entrance at the front. A staircase built on the side led to the upper floor, while the attic and basement could be reached via stairs in the house. The facades of the front buildings were a bit more elaborate than those of the terraced houses: plastic brick relocations and verges beautified the exterior.

Construction drawing with front and side views for a workers' double dwelling in the Döhrener Jammer estate, 1888

Between the years 1886 and 1890, additional houses on Weser-, Ems- and Allerstraße added to the ensemble. At that time, the planners still intended to use Werrastrasse as a thoroughfare to Hildesheimer Strasse . Small cul-de-sacs should lead north and south from Werrastrasse. Two brick semi-detached houses were built on Weserstraße (No. 10/12 and 14/16), the floor plan of which resembled the head buildings from Werrastraße. In contrast to these houses, however, were at the Weserstraße traufständig arranged and had a very flat pitch roof . The roofs were not removed until the renovation in the 1980s. A new type, a one-storey semi-detached house made of brick with an extended jamb floor, followed in 1888. Two such houses were built on Weserstraße 6/8 and Emsstraße 5/7; each half of the house had its own entrance at the front. Two more semi-detached houses, in a similar shape but without the jamb floor, were built in Emsstraße (No. 6/8) and Allerstraße (No. 5/7). The southernmost buildings on Weserstrasse (no. 2/4), Emsstrasse (no. 1/3, 2/4) and Allerstrasse (no. 1/3) formed the end to 1890. These semi-detached houses, also made of brick, have two floors; the stairwell lies in the middle and is emphasized by its risalit-like arrangement. Pilaster strips create a vertical structure in the facade. At the back there was a stable and a toilet for each apartment.

Allerstrasse No. 6/8 from 1893

In the early 1890s, the planners created Rheinstrasse, an extension of Werrastrasse that was offset to the north. The original plan to continue Werrastrasse directly to Hildesheimer Strasse was thus rejected. In this context, a new type of building was built on Ems- and Allerstraße in 1893 (Emsstraße No. 9/11 and 10/12; Allerstraße No. 2/4, 6/8, 10/12, 9/11). This type was very similar to the one at the end of Weserstraße (No. 2/4), but had changes in its interior: Here there were three rooms one behind the other, lit in the middle from the side of the building, which allowed larger apartments. The three rooms with kitchen complemented an integrated toilet. In 1900 and 1901, more houses of this type followed in a more externally decorated form on Werrastrasse (no. 17/19, 21/23, 25, 16/18 and 20/22) and Weserstrasse (no. 1/3). They joined the existing development to the east. Brick relocations on the cornices , verges and parapets liven up the facade . There are also elaborately designed decorative structures made of wood on the gable. Another innovation of these houses is that the ground floor apartments were also accessed via the side front (with the exception of Werrastrasse No. 20/22).

Beginning in 1903, the Rheinstrasse was built. Here, for the first time, employees found accommodation in so-called "master's apartments". The houses directly reflected the higher status of these employees in that they were given more generous floor plans than the previous workers' houses, and the facades were also much more artistic. It all started with the corner houses at Rheinstrasse No. 2/3/4, Emsstrasse No. 14/16, Rheinstrasse No. 6/8, Allerstrasse No. 13/15 and Rheinstrasse No. 10 / Allerstrasse No. 14, together with the Row houses on Rheinstrasse (No. 14, 16, 20, 22). The two-storey brick buildings have plastered surfaces, partly stone-framed windows and ornamental frameworks under the roof, which brings life to life. The single houses were all laid out as a single horse and had three or four-room apartments with a kitchen. Additional loggias or winter gardens also highlighted the high standard . Starting in 1914, further new buildings filled the remaining vacant lots on Rheinstrasse in the same quality. They received a veneer made of dark red clinker bricks and all got an individual appearance via semicircular bay windows , illuminations and roof extensions.

As the last part of the settlement, the buildings at Kastanienallee No. 2 and 4 were built from 1925 onwards. They already showed stylistic devices typical of the 1920s, but were subordinate to the neighboring buildings on Hildesheimer Straße.

  • Weserstrasse No. 2/4 from the late 1880s

  • Weserstraße No. 1/3 from 1900

  • "Master's apartments" on Rheinstrasse no. 2/3/4 and Emsstrasse no. 14/16 from 1903

  • Rheinstrasse No. 22 from 1904

Naming

From the beginning, workers from the Döhren wool laundry were housed in the settlement. The naming in the vernacular as Döhrener Jammer probably results from the fact that the workers were poorly paid. They were recruited from Eichsfeld and were mostly Catholic, almost an affront in Protestant Döhren. On Hildesheimer Strasse, the apartments for the leading forces in the wool laundry were in multi-storey houses.

Salvation in the 1970s

The end of the Döhrener wool

In 1972 a group of investors led by Ulf Cloppenburg, a descendant of the Düsseldorf clothing company Peek & Cloppenburg , took over the majority of the shares in the economically troubled Döhren wool laundry and combing shop . The investors acquired around 75% of the shares that had previously been owned by Commerzbank and the Hanoverian paint dealer Günther Schiemann; Between 15 and 20 million marks were paid for this. At the works meeting in May 1972, Cloppenburg announced that he would have to close some areas, but wanted to keep the company. At the end of the year there was a turnaround: The management announced that the company would be liquidated and all machines and systems would be sold. A floor space of 740,000 m², built on with the factory and the Döhrener Jammer workers' settlement , went to Neue Heimat , a union-owned housing company. Cloppenburg earned 55 million marks from the sale of the land and an estimated 10 million marks from the machines, which aroused nationwide media interest. The headlines in the press were among others: "This is the greatest scandal of the post-war period" ( FAZ of July 25, 1975), "Verkloppt an Cloppenburg" ( The time of February 23, 1973) and "A company earns on its own death" ( Süddeutsche Zeitung , 1973).

Development plans for the Neue Heimat

In 1974 there were three alternative concepts for the new construction of the factory site and Döhrener Jammer . Most comprehensive before this was Alternative III, the concept of the housing company Neue Heimat . Its plans included building a total of 2,100 new apartments in Döhren that would accommodate 5,000 people. The houses of misery with their 200 apartments would have disappeared completely and replaced by 400 new apartments. According to alternative I, on the other hand, all of the apartments in Jammers should have been preserved, according to alternative II, half of them should have been preserved. Neue Heimat's intention was to build additional office and commercial buildings east of Hildesheimer Strasse . In order to be able to realize this, the specifications for residential construction in the areas west of Hildesheimer Strasse should have been used to the maximum.

Citizen protests and rescue

The first protests took place shortly after the sale to the Neue Heimat became known . In April 1973 a group of young people occupied three buildings on Wiehbergstrasse, villas no. 10 and 92 as well as house no. 11, and announced with a banner : "THERE IS UNUSED LIVING SPACE THAT IS TO BE DESTRUCTED !!" The demands of the group turned to the city of Hanover. Among other things, the demolition of well-preserved houses should be prevented and a supply of electricity and water arranged. Because of the ongoing protests, the city of Hanover signed a framework agreement with Neue Heimat in 1975 . The city promised to draw up a development plan for residential use for the former industrial areas. In return, the housing company had to undertake not to demolish the listed buildings. In addition to the misery, this also affected the clock tower, the gatehouse and the turbine house on Leineinsel. Years of neglect of some of the buildings worsened their condition so much that Neue Heimat wanted to be relieved of their maintenance obligations. The adult education center “Döhren is being changed” appealed to the city council against the demolition. The town planning historian Sid Auffarth added an expert opinion to the appeal, according to which the remaining industrial buildings and the misery were "indispensable components of the overall complex". It is about "a unique series of social and cultural historical documents". The individual buildings of the Jammer were finally sold to private interested parties from 1981 and successively renovated.

As the last remaining local evidence of this form of workers' housing estate in northern Germany , the entire ensemble in Allerstrasse, Emsstrasse, Hildesheimer Strasse, Kastanienallee, Rheinstrasse, Richartzstrasse, Werrastrasse and Weserstrasse is now a listed building .

literature

Web links

Commons : Döhrener Jammer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Wolfgang Neß, Ilse Rüttgerodt-Riechmann, Gerd Weiß (ed.): Architectural monuments in Lower Saxony. 10.2. City of Hanover, part 2. Friedrich Vieweg and son, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 1985, ISBN 3-528-06208-8 .
  2. ↑ a b A company earns on its own death , article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung from 1973, printed in: Wolle Döhren. Contributions to the land use plan , issue 7. Published by the City of Hanover, City Planning Office, in July 1974. Authors: Jürgen Eppinger, Michael J. Güttler, Roland Kaster and Helga Bertram.
  3. ↑ a b verkloppt in Cloppenburg , articles ZEIT of 23 February 1973 accessed October 2, 2015.
  4. ↑ a b The 'wool' no longer exists in Döhren , Issue 13 of the cultural information , published by the City of Hanover, Culture Office, 1987. Written by class 4b of the Olbersstrasse primary school with the collaboration of Margrit Wolter and Klaus Stadtmüller.
  5. ↑ a b c Wool Döhren. Contributions to the land use plan , issue 7. Published by the City of Hanover, City Planning Office, in July 1974. Authors: Jürgen Eppinger, Michael J. Güttler, Roland Kaster and Helga Bertram.
  6. ↑ Former “wool” houses occupied by young people , article in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from April 1973, printed on page 177 in: The wool no longer exists in Döhren , issue 13 of the cultural information , published by the state capital Hanover, Kulturamt, 1987. Written by class 4b of the Olbersstraße elementary school with the assistance of Margrit Wolter and Klaus Stadtmüller.
  7. ↑ Letter from the city district planner for Döhren-Wülfel, Eckart Klein, to class 4b of the Olbersstrasse elementary school of March 27, 1977, printed on page 182f in: The wool no longer exists in Döhren , issue 13 of the cultural information , published by the state capital Hanover, Kulturamt, 1987. Written by class 4b of the Olbersstraße elementary school with the assistance of Margrit Wolter and Klaus Stadtmüller.
  8. ↑ Working group calls for protection of the earlier “wool” buildings , article in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from May 1980, printed on page 185 in: The wool no longer exists in Döhren , issue 13 of the cultural information , published by the state capital Hanover, Culture Office, 1987 Written by class 4b of the Olbersstraße elementary school with the assistance of Margrit Wolter and Klaus Stadtmüller.
  9. ↑ The ensemble specifically comprises: Allerstrasse 1/3, 2/4, 5/7, 6/8, 9/11, 10/12, 13/15, 14, Emsstrasse 1/3, 2/4, 5/7, 6/8, 9/11, 10/12, 13, 14/16, Hildesheimer Straße 290, 292, Kastanienallee 2, 4, Rheinstraße 1a, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, Richartzstraße 23, 25, Werrastraße 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21/23, 22, 25. Source: Lower Saxony State Administration Office - Institute for Monument Preservation: City of Hanover: Directory of architectural monuments according to § 4 (NDSchG) (except for architectural monuments of the archaeological monument preservation), as of July 1, 1985

Coordinates: 52 ° 20 ′ 3.9 ″  N , 9 ° 46 ′ 1.8 ″  E