Elephant toilet (pouring)
Coordinates: 50 ° 34 ′ 55 " N , 8 ° 40 ′ 13" E
| Elephant toilet | ||
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| Official name | Pedestrian overpass at Gießener Selterstor | |
| use | pedestrian | |
| Subjugated | Anlagenring, Frankfurter Strasse | |
| place | to water | |
| construction | elevated concrete platform | |
| opening | September 28, 1968 | |
| location | ||
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| Side view | ||
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A pedestrian overpass over a street crossing in Giessen is known as an elephant toilet ("E-toilet" for short) . The building received this nickname because of its exaggerated size and the three large openings above the intersection, which are reminiscent of an oversized outhouse . Today it is regarded as a disruptive factor in the architectural proportionality in relation to the cityscape and as a symbol of a failed city and traffic planning.
location
The elephant toilet spans the intersection of the four-lane system ring, Frankfurter Straße and the pedestrian zone Seltersweg , at the location of the former Selterstore.
Structural design
The crossing consists of an elevated concrete platform , almost 50 meters long and on average 24 meters wide , which is accessible to pedestrians on the narrow sides by stairs and escalators . Along its central longitudinal axis there are three octagonal openings (diameter approx. 9-10 m), which allow daylight for car traffic and a view of the traffic for pedestrians. Architecturally, it can be assigned to the brutalism that emerged in the sixties . The vernacular mocks that these openings were due to a shortage of concrete as a result of an incorrect calculation. The elephant toilet is rated as Giessen's most distinctive landmark .
history
The overpass was built in 1967/1968 when traffic planning and urban development were based on the ideal of a car-friendly city . Before that there was a roundabout . Already in the context of the inauguration on September 28, 1968, the building got its nickname, with which it became known nationwide. With the change in urban development in the following decades, it became a symbol of outdated traffic planning cast in concrete . Demolition of the overpass has been considered several times. The city of Giessen has already raised 2.2 million euros in maintenance and renovation costs since it was built.
For the 40th anniversary of the building in 2008, members of the student association Academic Mickey Mouse Club unveiled a banner with the inscription "Elephant Toilet". From 1977 to 1987 the left-wing city magazine Elephantenklo appeared , which had adopted the name. The unpopular building became cult.
In autumn 2013, the Association of Business People decided to increase the attractiveness of the business environment in the Selterstor area . The elephant toilet was “flushed” for around 150,000 euros: a waterfall was installed for the state horticultural show . To catch the water curtain, a 4.60 by 2.80 meter large concrete box was sunk two meters deep into the ground. The installation has been in operation since the beginning of June 2014.
Traffic significance
The overpass connects the area of the main train station to the city center in a pedestrian way. Originally the facility was not handicapped accessible as it was only accessible by stairs. The subsequently added elevator - like the escalators - did not always work reliably. This means that the elephant toilet is also rated as a “prime example of inhumane urban development” .
See also
literature
- Christian Diller, Ansgar Dorenkamp, Christoph Kolloge: The "Elephant Toilet" - A Giessen landmark in lightweight concrete on the way into the fifth decade of life. Research on the planning history of the pedestrian platform at Selterstor Gießen and results of surveys. = Writings on the history of the city of Giessen 7. Giessen 2009.
- Manfred E. Schuchmann: Gießen - "Elephant Toilet" and Seltersweg . In: Manfred E. Schuchmann u. Christoph Mäckler : Architectural sins in Hesse - 25 on-site visits from A for Alsfeld to W for Wiesbaden . Jonas, Marburg 2009, pp. 78–81.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Manfred E. Schuchmann: Gießen - "Elefantenklo" and Seltersweg , 2009, p. 79.
- ↑ a b Freda Wagner: Giessen's questionable landmark: the elephant toilet . In: Universum = online magazine for the subject of history journalism at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen .
- ↑ Elephant toilet should get "flushing" - BID Seltersweg plans waterfall ( memento of the original from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , October 31, 2013, Erhard Goltze, in: Gießener Anzeiger , accessed on November 8, 2013.
- ↑ a b c mö: Elephant toilet: After escalators now elevator a total loss . In: Gießener Allgemeine , November 12, 2012.
- ↑ Elefantenklo ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at dooyoo.
- ↑ See, for example, Qype .
- ↑ "Elefanten-Klo" now with flushing . hr-online.de, report from June 6, 2014, accessed on June 7, 2014.
- ↑ Elevator at the elephant toilet . In: Gießener Zeitung , March 24, 2013.
- ↑ tt: The system at the elephant toilet is to be replaced from mid-May - the order has been placed ( memento of the original from July 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Gießener Anzeiger, March 5, 2013.
