Germany Hall

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Germany Hall
Deutschlandhalle, 2006

Deutschlandhalle, 2006

Data
place Berlin-Westend
architect Franz Ohrtmann ,
Fritz Wiemer
Construction year 1935
demolition 2011
Coordinates 52 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  N , 13 ° 16 ′ 17 ″  E Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  N , 13 ° 16 ′ 17 ″  E

Built in 1935 and after its destruction in World War II , rebuilt Germany Hall was a venue in Berlin district Westend in the district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf , right on the S-Bahn station Messe Süd (Eichkamp) area. After a decision by the Berlin Senate , the listed hall was demolished. With the demolition of the hall ceiling on December 3, 2011, the last phase of the demolition work began.

history

1935–1945: The hall during the Nazi era

General roll call of the NSDAP in the Deutschlandhalle, 1938
The first Deutschlandhalle, 1939

The Deutschlandhalle was one of the world's oldest event arenas of this dimension. It was built on the occasion of the 1936 Summer Olympics as the "largest multi-purpose hall in the world" in Berlin based on designs by hall director Franz Ohrtmann and building contractor Fritz Wiemer ( Wiemer & Trachte ) on behalf of Deutschlandhalle AG in just nine months of construction and on November 29th Opened in 1935 in the presence of Adolf Hitler .

The steel structure , 117 meters long and 83 meters wide , offered space for up to 10,000 spectators; Using the interior space, up to 16,000 people could fit inside.

Afterwards, mainly sporting events, large show events and mass events of the NSDAP and its organizations were held in the Deutschlandhalle . At the Olympic Games in 1936, the wrestling and weightlifting tournaments were held there in the first week and the boxing tournament in the second week . On February 5 and 6, 1938, the first men's handball world championship took place in the hall . In the same year, the pilot led Hanna Reitsch in Germany hall during the Revue Ki sua heli the first helicopter - Halle flight before.

The circus show People – Animals – Sensations took place in the Deutschlandhalle since 1937. On January 20, 1940, the tightrope artist Camilla Mayer fell to her death when a mast broke. The international competition Germany-Italy-Hungary took place on March 15, 1942.

During an air raid on January 16, 1943, an incendiary bomb hit the roof of the fully occupied hall. Neither people nor animals were harmed, but the Deutschlandhalle was destroyed.

1945–1998: post-war period

Permanent use as an ice rink, 2008
Deutschlandhalle shortly before the building structure was demolished on December 5, 2011

The decision of 1949 to rebuild the hall could only be carried out in the mid-1950s, when funding was secured. The reopening took place on October 19, 1957. While the interior design remained very similar to the original state, the entrance area was redesigned. A completely new self-supporting roof structure made of prestressed concrete caused repeated problems later. After the roof of the Berlin Congress Hall collapsed, the Deutschlandhalle was temporarily closed as a precaution in the summer of 1980.

As West Berlin's largest event hall, shows such as Holiday on Ice , People-Animals-Sensations and the British Tattoo military music festival were performed there. Numerous concerts took place in the Deutschlandhalle. Among other things, Neil Diamond , Eric Clapton , The Rolling Stones , Frank Zappa , AC / DC , Metallica , David Bowie , The Who , Pink Floyd , Johnny Cash , Queen , Joe Cocker and Jimi Hendrix have played here, as well as Herbert Grönemeyer and Gianna Nannini . David Bowie had an appearance in the Deutschlandhalle in the film Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo - whereby the audience shown in the film was the audience of an AC / DC concert in the Deutschlandhalle and Bowie for the counter-cut on one New York stage was filmed and cut into the film sequence.

A well-known event was the appearance of Klaus Kinski with his world premiere of Jesus Christ the Redeemer on November 20, 1971, at which Kinski reacted repeatedly to annoying and insulting heckling from the audience with mobbing and insults and interrupted and finally interrupted the appearance several times. Recordings of the event appeared on CD and in several films.

One of the most impressive events took place three days after the fall of the Berlin Wall . A festival was spontaneously organized on November 12, 1989 under the motto Concert for Berlin . Musicians like Nina Hagen , Udo Lindenberg , Neil Diamond , Joe Cocker and bands like Silly , Pankow , Die Toten Hosen , Die 3 Tornados (with their last appearance), Die Zöllner , Puhdys or BAP played with free entry to this emotional event to celebrate. 50,000 visitors from east and west streamed into the hall throughout the day. The concert was broadcast live on the radio for hours by the SFB and other ARD broadcasters.

Large sporting events also took place regularly in the Deutschlandhalle. Against the resistance of the DFB , the first indoor soccer tournament with professional teams was held on German soil from January 13th to 17th, 1971 . Many boxing matches took place there, including an exhibition match between German champion Georg Butzbach and Muhammad Ali on June 4, 1979 . The hall was one of the venues for the Berlin six-day race from 1961 to 1990 . The basketball show troupe Harlem Globetrotters made repeated appearances in the Deutschlandhalle. In 1980 the final of the European Cup of National Basketball Champions took place in the hall and in 1995 it was the venue for the final of the basketball - Korać Cup , in which Alba Berlin won and thus achieved his first and only European Cup victory.

1998–2009: Closure, reopening as an ice rink and demolition plans

In 1995 the building, which at that time had been in operation for 60 years, was listed as a historical monument . On January 1, 1998, the Deutschlandhalle was closed and the Berlin Senate planned to demolish it at the urging of Messe Berlin , despite the monument protection . At this point in time, the exhibition company wanted to build a multi-storey car park because the necessary renovation would have been too expensive in their opinion. The mood of the Senate at that time was not uniform, as the Senator for Economic Affairs, for example, pleaded for a complete renovation and conversion into a multifunctional arena. This would also have been necessary because the plan was to have the ice rink on Jafféstrasse also demolished - in favor of a south entrance to the exhibition grounds - and the Berlin Capitals Association would therefore have been without a venue. According to the plans, the Deutschlandhalle should be demolished before the Jafféhalle.

After the ice rink on Jafféstraße was finally demolished in 2001, the Deutschlandhalle was ultimately provided with an ice rink and several cabins for the Berlin Capitals and amateur sports and was again available for major events and for the first time primarily for ice sports from August 15, 2001. In the meantime, the Deutschlandhalle stood empty for almost three and a half years, without maintenance, refurbishment or renovation.

At the end of 2005, the Deutschlandhalle was closed again, as a routine inspection revealed that the roof had to be replaced. In March 2006 the hall was then reopened for ice hockey and was home to the ECC Preussen Juniors Berlin until it was closed in April 2009. In the same month the last sporting event, a game for promotion to the ice hockey junior Bundesliga against the Herford EV , had played in this venue.

The roof structure was nominated in 2007 for the award as a historical landmark of civil engineering in Germany .

2009–2011: The end of the hall

The roof of the Deutschlandhalle was blown up on December 3, 2011
The demolition work on the building front of the Deutschlandhalle on January 27, 2012
Blown roof of the Deutschlandhalle on December 5, 2011

On May 27, 2008 the Berlin Senate decided to demolish the Deutschlandhalle and build a new ice rink near Glockenturmstrasse.

After the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district had tried to prevent the demolition in the meantime, the Berlin Senate took the proceedings and approved the demolition in November 2010. A milestone in the demolition work was the demolition of the roof on December 3, 2011. By 2014, a new exhibition and congress hall - called City Cube  - was built on the site and opened on May 5, 2014. The construction costs were estimated at 65 million euros. This 20,000 m² building with two storeys started the congress business because the asbestos-contaminated ICC is to be renovated.

See also

Web links

Commons : Deutschlandhalle (Berlin)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Deutschlandhalle has been blown up. In: Der Tagesspiegel , online edition, December 3, 2011.
  2. a b Deutschlandhalle - people, animals, emotions. In: Der Tagesspiegel , May 27, 2008.
  3. 50 years of Deutschlandhalle . AMK Berlin (Ed.), Berlin 1986, p. 9 ff.
  4. The legend now enjoys its status . In: Berliner Zeitung , April 12, 1995
  5. ^ Henry Edwards et al. : Stardust - The David Bowie Story . New York 1986, p. 381.
  6. Melancholy and pain in parting . In: Berliner Zeitung , April 30, 2009.
  7. The last hour strikes for the Deutschlandhalle. In: Berliner Morgenpost , April 30, 2009.
  8. Brigitte Schmiemann: With the Deutschlandhalle a piece of history falls. In: Welt Online , May 27, 2008.
  9. Accessed September 25, 2014
  10. Demolition approval / Senate seals the end of the Deutschlandhalle . In: Berliner Morgenpost , November 4, 2010.
  11. NS prestige building takes three seconds to end. In: Die Welt , December 2, 2011.