Goliath Marl

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The "Goliath" in Marl in April 2006
"Goliath" shortly before the demolition on August 13, 2006
The "Goliath" was blown up on August 13, 2006
Newly built Saturn market on the former Goliath site and renovated "Tree Frog"

The Goliath was the tallest of four high-rise residential complexes built in the 1970s in the city center of Marl on the northern edge of the Ruhr area and was considered the city's controversial landmark . The building became known nationwide through its spectacular demolition in August 2006.

Construction, first occupancy and the better years (1972 to 1984)

The Goliath was built between 1972 and 1973, roughly at the same time as the neighboring residential complexes “Laubfrosch”, “Wohnen West” and “Wohnen Ost” and the “Marler Stern” shopping center The same residential buildings lined up in a row (Bergstrasse 218, 220 and 222) with 17 upper and two basement floors and a total of 153 residential units (102 of which are approx. 90 and 51 with approx. 60 square meters of living space) and a two-storey car park. At 53 meters, the Goliath was the tallest skyscraper in the Recklinghausen district when it was completed , but soon had to cede this record to the Löhrhof Center (56 m) in the district town, which has now also been demolished . The owner of the building complex has been the Marl housing association Neuma since construction began.

The apartments in Goliath were popular in the early years because of their modern construction, favorable layout, green surroundings and extensive shopping and cultural activities in the vicinity. At the end of 1984, however, 25 of the apartments were empty and the tenants criticized numerous defects in the building.

Conditions deteriorate despite renovation (1985 to 2000)

After the completion of extensive renovation measures costing around 3 million DM, all apartments were temporarily rented again in 1988. In the years that followed, however, the tenant structure deteriorated steadily, with a sharp increase in vandalism and renewed vacancies in apartments. Since the mid-1990s, the residential complex has been classified as a social hotspot .

In 1995 a private investor bought the Goliath. After the building became increasingly neglected and the new owner tried unsuccessfully to sell their apartments to the tenants, Neuma bought the building back in 1997.

At the turn of the millennium, only around 40% of the apartments were rented, and the larger ones in particular could hardly be rented.

Concepts for the future of the "Goliath" (2001 to 2003)

As early as 2001 there were calls for the Goliath to be demolished, but these were initially rejected as unrealistic. Instead, the building should be renovated again. Plans included a new entrance area with a porter, a newly designed facade and a rotating Mercedes star on the roof.

However, since the state of North Rhine-Westphalia refused to participate in the estimated costs of 2 million DM, the Neuma decided to demolish the building in 2003.

Empty move and demolition (2004 to 2006)

The building was unleased from mid-2004 and was completed by the end of the year. The demolition, initially planned for 2005, began in May 2006 with the demolition of the parking garage and the partial gutting of the apartment blocks. On the morning of August 13, 2006, they were demolished using 350 kilograms of explosives in the so-called tilting collapse process . It took 10 seconds from the first ignition to the complete collapse of the building. The demolition was watched by around 7,000 onlookers and comprehensively documented by several television stations (including RTL and Sat.1 ).

A Saturn electronics store opened on the former Goliath site on October 25, 2007 after around ten months of construction .

At times the neighboring “Laubfrosch” residential complex (with 13 floors and 172 residential units) was also to be demolished. However, since this has a comparatively good occupancy rate and the previously problematic vandalism due to the installation of cameras in the corridors has decreased significantly, this plan was initially abandoned. In 2006 the building complex was renovated for around one million euros.

Trivia

On the morning of April 1, 2007, the online magazine “Marl aktuell” reported that Neuma had decided at short notice to blow up the recently renovated “Tree Frog” and “Wohnen Ost” in 2008. However, the message was exposed shortly afterwards as an April Fool's joke.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 70,000 tons per ton. Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung on February 5, 2012 ( Memento from March 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ Brochure Goliath - A giant kneels. Published by the city of Marl and the WAZ .
  3. ↑ Wohnen-Ost and the tree frog should fall now. Marl Aktuell on April 1, 2007 ( memento of September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 39 '22.6 "  N , 7 ° 5' 59.2"  E