Town Hall (Dortmund)
The Dortmund City Hall is the seat of the city council and the mayor . It was built in the years 1987–1989 in the modern style.
From 1244 to 1955 the old town hall was located on the market , it was the oldest stone town hall in the German-speaking area north of the Alps. After being destroyed in the war, it was not rebuilt and demolished.
architecture
The building has a square basic shape. The main front with the entrance faces the Friedensplatz . The two steel portals are intended to remind of the history of the former steel city of Dortmund . The reddish granite corresponds to the old town house . The town hall delimits the Friedensplatz together with the opposite town hall. The pavement pattern of the Friedensplatz exactly reflects the geometry of the town hall. The centerpiece of the town hall is a 28-meter-high citizens' hall, which is crowned by a glass dome. It opens up the exhibition rooms on the ground floor with exhibitions on Dortmund's city history and the Ratscafé. The parliamentary level is reached via a double flight of steps. Here is the council chamber with 138 seats, which is intended to symbolize transparency with a bulging glass facade. The armchairs placed in a semicircle allow a direct view of the Lord Mayor. Up to 140 spectators can watch the council meetings from a grandstand on the second floor. In addition to the council chamber, there are four other meeting rooms on the first floor. The office of the mayor and the parliamentary groups are on the other floors.
history
The lack of suitable representation rooms in the city for receptions, the too small council chamber in the old city hall, the lack of space for parliamentary group offices and meetings led to an intensive discussion in 1974/1975 in Dortmund about the construction of a new city hall. The new market (today Friedensplatz) should be redesigned. First there was the proposal to rebuild the old town hall , the remains of which were demolished in 1955 on the old market , on the site of today's town hall. In 1979, Lord Mayor Günter Samtlebe criticized the council for working under unworthy conditions: “We currently have no town hall. We have administrative buildings and the council bodies are spatially attached to the administration as an appendix. "
First of all, an urban planning ideas competition was announced, in which 25 architects took part. A design by Gerber und Partner won first prize. After the spatial program had been specified more precisely, a realization competition for the new construction of the town hall and an extension of the town hall followed in 1980. Dieter Kälberer's design emerged as the winner from the 28 designs submitted. Despite a recession phase with 18% unemployed, the council decided on June 15, 1985 to build a new town hall in principle. The town hall was to be built as a completion of the inner-city redesign after the war and as an expression of the citizens' will to assert themselves. Despite the tense financial situation, the council decided on June 17, 1986 to build the town hall and redesign the Friedensplatz.
Construction work began on January 5, 1987, and the foundation stone was laid by Mayor Günter Samtlebe on May 23, 1987. The document text of the foundation stone says: “Town halls in Dortmund have always been viewed by the citizens as a sign of independence and as a place of encounter and representation. In them always, the creative power, the wealth urban design will and hard work and skill of the Dortmunder craftsmen "After having realized. Two and a half years of construction was the town hall with a big street festival on June 16, 1989 in the presence of Prime Minister Johannes Rau inaugurated . After more than a hundred years, the elected representatives of Dortmund's citizens were given their own building again. The construction cost 62 million DM and the design of the Friedensplatz cost another 10.5 million DM. Which was not without criticism. At the opening, Lord Mayor Günter Samtlebe described the building as a Pantheon (temple of honor) and a “work of the century”. The Dortmunders themselves mockingly call the building a large “beer crate”.
literature
- Sabine Kramer: Architecture and Democracy: An Analysis Using the Example of the New Dortmund City Hall. Peter Lange, Frankfurt 2001, ISBN 978-3631365236 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Gustav Luntowski, Günter Högel, Thomas Schilp, Norbert Reimann: History of the city of Dortmund. Harenberg Verlag, Dortmund 1994, ISBN 3-611-00397-2 , p. 502.
- ^ Gustav Luntowski, Günter Högel, Thomas Schilp, Norbert Reimann: History of the city of Dortmund. Harenberg Verlag, Dortmund 1994, ISBN 3-611-00397-2 , p. 503.
- ↑ Looking back on 20 years of town hall, RuhrNachrichten Dortmund June 16, 2009, accessed February 26, 2012
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 40.8 ″ N , 7 ° 27 ′ 55 ″ E