German garden show 1950

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Federal President Theodor Heuss (3rd from left) at the opening event on June 3, 1950
A typical chairlift gondola opened in 1950
The "Tazzelwurm" lift in 2007

The German Garden Show 1950 was a garden show on the Killesberg in Stuttgart in 1950. She followed the tradition of three imperial garden shows the pre-war period from 1933 to 1939. Together with the Southwest German Garden Show (SÜWEGA 1949) in Landau it forms the link to the numerous Federal garden shows from 1951. After years of war and privation, the population turned to the garden show with great interest, which resulted in the statistical success that 1.9 million visitors saw the garden show.

history

At the end of the war, the Killesberg and the associated park consisted of ruins and bomb craters. The last Reichsgartenschau in 1939 had taken place eleven years earlier . In September 1949, under the sign of the rebuilding, the city of Stuttgart awarded the planning contract for the "German Garden Show", which was to begin on June 3, 1950 and was opened by Federal President Theodor Heuss . The show ran until October 20, 1950. The exhibition grounds were based on the same grounds on which the 1939 Reich Garden Show took place. As was the case for the 1939 Reichsgartenschau, the Potsdam garden designer Hermann Mattern (garden and landscape architecture) was responsible for the overall planning . Although Mattern on the eastern slope had to cede land for the planned "Killesbergsiedlung", he succeeded in implementing it with sustainable continuity under the modified conditions.

The “garden” theme also became important in 1950 with numerous special shows and extensive supporting programs. This was reflected in impressive displays of potted and decorative plants, but also cut flower ensembles . Aquarium and terrarium shows followed . Shows with an industrial touch, for example on the topics of wine press technology and fruit processing as well as "garden clothing for work and recreation" rounded off the selection of topics.

buildings

Mattern decided to build contemporary new buildings after most of the buildings at the Reichsgartenschau had been destroyed. Glass, steel and concrete replaced the native stone. Its architecture revealed itself - freed from the ideological ballast of the Third Reich - in a transparent, open and light construction, in which a sign of a new social order was recognized. For example, he had an exhibition hall built in a steel construction with all-round glazing at the main entrance, which, with dimensions of 115 meters in length, 21 meters in width and almost ten meters in height, dominated the place of activity and was on budget . For symbolic purposes, Mattern left the remains of the former main hall of the Reichsgartenschau and only exchanged the wrought-iron sovereign eagle for peace doves . A special attraction of the area was Mattern's observation tower, which rose 21 meters into the sky with a shaft made of glass and steel supports. Rolf Gutbrod , the builder of the Liederhalle on Berliner Platz in Stuttgart, created the colorful “Milchbar”.

It was also possible to realize the project to set up a chairlift that created a connection from the exhibition halls to the “Valley of Roses”, operated by the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG . The chairlift was used by half a million visitors. Gastronomic establishments were also rebuilt in the unmistakable style of the 1950s.

Killesberg-Kleinbahn

The rails and passenger cars of the miniature railway at the Reichsgartenschau were still there. However, the locomotives were missing, which is why the Stuttgart trade fair company ordered two copies of the tried and tested Martens steam locomotives (50 hp) from Krauss-Maffei and a diesel locomotive (35 hp) from the "Mosbacher Lokfabrik Gmeinder". The delivery took place until June 30, 1950. The locomotives were christened “Blitzschwoab”, “ Tazzelwurm ” and “Springerle”.

Individual evidence

  1. Harald Schukraft: Stuttgart after the Second World War - a new beginning on ruins. In: Karl Moersch, Reinhold Weber (ed.): The time after the war: Cities in reconstruction. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-17-019724-4 , p. 362 (German Garden Show 1950).
  2. Stuttgart Exhibition GmbH (Ed.): German Garden Show Stuttgart 1950. Plan and guide. Stuttgart 1950.
  3. a b Ralf Arbogast: Stuttgart, The green experience. 1993, p. 60 f.
  4. a b Torsten Brecht: The small train in the Killesberg Park. on: killesberg-kleinbahn.de
  5. Complete overview of the garden show grounds
  6. A short history of the Killesbergpark and the Stuttgart trade fair.
  7. ^ Hermann Mattern: German garden show 1950 on the Killesberg. at: architekturmuseum.ub.tu-berlin.de , Stuttgart - details.

Web links

literature

  • Ralf Arbogast (Ed.): Stuttgart, The green experience. Recreational landscapes, parks and garden shows in the past and present. Silberburg-Verlag, Tübingen / Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-87407-122-7 .
  • Stuttgart Exhibition GmbH (Hrsg.): German Garden Show Stuttgart 1950, plan and guide. , Stuttgart, Vermittlungsring, 1950, OCLC 312174360 .