Gottschalk & Co.

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Gottschalk & Co. was a cloth weaving mill in the northern part of Kassel , which was founded in the second half of the 19th century and, after a checkered company history, ceased production in 1999.

Former Gottschalk site (2007) before liquidation

Founding and development in the 19th century

The tent and cloth factory Gottschalk & Co. was founded by Moritz Gottschalk and Johannes Cönning , both of whom had previously worked as commercial employees at Aschrott 's Leineweberei . From around 1860 onwards, the company produced in the upper Seilerweg, today's Gottschalkstraße, on a site that was directly adjacent to the main plant of the Henschel & Sohn locomotive factory . The main products were canvas and tents. The Gottschalk & Co. company is thus closely linked to the industrial history of Kassel, particularly the northern part of the city.

While the success of the entrepreneurial family Henschel began as early as 1810 with the construction of the casting house at the foot of the Möncheberg, the founding of Gottschalk & Co. and other companies was directly complementary to the dynamization of the (late) industrial development of Kassel . The factory was in the vicinity of the Thielemann company (wagon construction), which was initially located directly on Holländischer Platz, the municipal gas station, the cattle and slaughterhouse behind Mombachstrasse and the HaFeKa ( Ha ut and Fe tte, Ka ssel) in the central area of ​​the industrial settlement outside the old Town. Other businesses also included the piston-Seeger company (iron goods) and breweries with beer gardens. These shaped the image of the working-class district, which from now on expanded ever faster along the siding and the canalized Ahna northwards in the direction of Schenkebier Stanne .

Industrial revolution, rise, expropriation

Gottschalk & Co AG shares of more than 1,000 marks on June 28, 1920

Gottschalk & Co. developed in a similar way to its competitors Salzmann & Comp until the period after the First World War . and Enka Spinnfaser in Bettenhausen. In 1905 the Dieterici & Lebon company in Eschenstruth was taken over and converted into a stock corporation . After the National Socialists came to power, the company was Aryanized by the Kassel Chamber of Commerce and Industry and incorporated into the Henschel company as a "war important production". This development took place from 1936, most recently on the instructions of the minister responsible for the four-year plan , Hermann Göring, and ultimately Albert Speer, who was responsible for armaments on Hitler's staff .

Moritz Gottschalk's granddaughter Leni Frenzel, who returned from exile after the end of the war and got the company back, rebuilt the factory from summer 1945. A year later, production started again. From the mid-1950s to around 1962, mobile electric radiators were made from delivered porcelain ribbed radiators in three different sizes: 1000 W (5 ribs), 1500 W (8 ribs) and 2000 W (10 Ribs).

Post war history and demolition

Gottschalk premises from Möncheberg, before the demolition in 2006

After the transfer of ownership back in the 1990s, the Gottschalk & Co. company - again in the legal form of a stock corporation - continued to produce until 1990, when it sold the production equipment to Fuldaer Mehler AG . Production continued until 1999, with around 900 employees until the end.

In 2002 the state of Hesse bought the site for the expansion of the University of Kassel . As early as 1989, four buildings were listed as a historical monument : the two gatehouses that once housed the administration of the factory, the hall opposite and two buildings in the north-western part of the site. The remaining buildings were demolished.

New use

In 2009, construction work began on the northern extension of the Kassel University campus. The former factory buildings were demolished except for the listed parts and the site was completely redesigned. It is now dominated by modern university buildings.

Torhaus B served as a kitchen for 1001 Chinese during Documenta 12 in 2007 , whom the artist Ai Weiwei had brought to Kassel for his art project "Fairytale" and who were housed on the Gottschalk site. After the renovation, it has served the departments of architecture , urban and landscape planning at the University of Kassel since 2018 .

Another former hall was used as an exhibition space for Documenta 14 in 2017 .

The "Dyeing" cultural center was opened in another part of the building at the end of 2019.

literature

  • Annette Ulbricht (Ed.): From Henschelei to University. The campus of the University of Kassel on Holländischer Platz and its history. Kassel University Press, Kassel 2004.
  • Annette Ulbricht (Ed.): Henschel, Gottschalk & Co .: The industrial prehistory of the campus Holländischer Platz Kassel. Kassel University Press, Kassel 2012.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Baetz: Notes on the secret councilor Sigmund Aschrott and his importance for the economic and urban development of Kassel. Typescript , Kassel 1951, p. 2. (copy in the Kassel city archive)
  2. a b Handbook of German stock corporations . (various years)
  3. a b c d Press release of the University of Kassel from October 19, 2009 ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uni-kassel.de
  4. University of Kassel: Budding architects learn in the old industrial building. April 26, 2018, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  5. ^ Gottschalk-Halle (University of Kassel). Retrieved March 8, 2020 .
  6. Old industrial building becomes a cultural center - an asset for the entire university. October 31, 2019, accessed March 8, 2020 .