Union House (Kiel)

Trade Union House Kiel in Legienstrasse March 2015

The building around 1910

The trade union building at Legienstrasse 22-24 in Kiel is the seat of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), several of its individual trade unions and the non-profit educational institution Arbeit und Leben Schleswig-Holstein e. V. The house is also used by the Kiel SPD as a conference and event location.

Building history

At the beginning of the 20th century, the workforce grew strongly due to the fleet building program of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the determination of Kiel to be the Imperial War Port and the associated expansion of metalworking companies and the shipbuilding industry ( shipyards ). The workers wanted their own political, social and cultural center and contributed a large part of the financing by purchasing shares. The building was erected as a representative brick structure with sandstone elements according to plans by the architect Carl Voss. On October 4, 1904, the foundation stone for the trade union building on Fährstrasse (from 1923 to 1933 and since 1947 Legienstrasse, named after Carl Legien ) was laid. On July 26, 1907, the union leader and long-time SPD member of the Reichstag for the constituency of Kiel, Carl Legien, handed it over to his destination. The house included a hostel for migrant workers, offices, meeting rooms , a library and a restaurant with a large assembly hall.

As early as 1926, according to plans by the architect Arnold Bruhn , an extension to Muhliusstrasse had to be added. The facade of the extension in the clinker expressionist style was decorated with figures by Franz Schweighofer.

Use and meaning

Memorial plaque for the first workers 'and soldiers' council at the Kiel trade union building in Legienstrasse

During the workers' and sailors' uprising in Kiel in 1918, the trade union building served as a meeting place for the workers' and soldiers' council, during the Kapp putsch of 1920 as the headquarters for the defense of Weimar democracy, and during the metal workers' strike for sick pay in 1956 as a center for the strike movement .

His role in the sailors' uprising was honored on the 60th anniversary in November 1978 with a plaque:

“The Kiel Workers 'and Soldiers' Council met in this house at the beginning of November 1918. He gave the decisive impetus for the proclamation of the first German republic on November 9, 1918 in Berlin. "

- Memorial plaque on the house

On September 15, 1920 Albert Einstein spoke in front of thousands of workers in the trade union building about his theory of relativity . The Christian Albrechts University did not want to give him space for his speech because he was Jewish . On September 15, 2015, a plaque was placed on the union building.

On May 2, 1933, the trade union building was occupied by the National Socialists and used for their purposes, the German Labor Front (DAF), which was brought into line. It was foreclosed in 1935 and acquired by the city of Kiel. In 1947 the unions were able to buy back the building.

From 1949 to 1969 there was also a cinema in the house , which was followed by a specialist store for floor coverings after it was closed. This burned out in 1975. On April 26, 1978, the topping-out ceremony was celebrated for the new building that was built on that site, which was inaugurated on May 1, 1979. The Legienhof restaurant is located in the union building .

literature

Karl-Heinz Köpke: On the history of the Kiel trade union building in communications from the Society for Kiel City History, Volume / Issue 79/6, pp. 277–288, Kiel 1999