Counts block
The Graefsblock is a residential and commercial building in Coburg at Steinweg 1. The listed building was built in 1937 as part of a selective old town renovation based on plans by the Coburg architect Reinhard Claaßen . Paul Schultze-Naumburg had a decisive influence on the design .
history
In 1904, the city of Coburg acquired a block of houses in Spitalgasse in order to demolish it and create a road breakthrough for a connection between Mohrenstrasse and the old town. In 1909 a few buildings were demolished. A few houses at the Spitaltor remained standing for the time being, the so-called Gräfsblock, named after the businessman Max Gräf, who ran a grocery store there. A lack of financial resources from the municipality prevented a renovation in the following decades. At the beginning of the 1930s, 56 people lived in the four dilapidated, medieval houses.
As one of the first cities in Bavaria, the city administration, which since 1931 was the first mayor of the National Socialist politician Franz Schwede , applied for funding for the renovation of the old town, which was made available on the basis of the Housing Settlement Act of the Reich Ministry of Labor of September 22, 1933. The redevelopment should take place in the course of job creation measures. The four old buildings were demolished between October 1933 and April 1934. In April 1934 an ideas competition was held for the new building. The building had to be designed in homeland security style, the city's artistic advisor was Paul Schultze-Naumburg. The work of the Coburg architect Arthur Bergmann was selected as the best design. However, the design of the municipal building authority, which presumably came from Reinhard Claaßen or Paul Schultze-Naumburg, was implemented. Among other things, the plans had to be revised based on a template in the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior . Claaßen worked out the artistic details. The foundation stone was laid on June 29, 1936, the topping-out ceremony took place on October 10, 1936 and the inauguration took place on August 1, 1937. Local Nazi propaganda described the building as a "prime example of practical old town renovation". The building should be a symbol of the creative power of the Third Reich and the city government. The newly created square in front of the Count's block was given the name “ Old Guard Square ”.
The representative city building housed apartments on the upper floors, the tourist office on the ground floor and a rectifier station for the city's gas and electricity company in the basement . The construction costs amounted to around 218.00 RM of which 38,000 RM were covered by subsidies. The Reichstreubund Berlin granted a loan of 130,000 RM, the city gas and electricity works provided 30,000 RM.
In 1945 the American army confiscated the count's block for its military police. Since 1957 the ground floor has been mainly used for gastronomy.
Building description
The hipped roof house attached to the hospital gate was designed in the local style . Accordingly, it has clear and reduced forms and no elaborate decorative elements. The plaster facade has sandstone inclusions, the roof is covered with slate and dark oak wood was used for the doors.
The three-storey, two-winged building with a basement and an L-shaped floor plan originally had 1062 m² of floor space. There are apartments on the upper floors. The ground floor façade is structured in the style of a medieval department store with arched arcades on all sides on square pillars. Five shops were planned there.
The main facade facing Mohrenstrasse has eight window axes on the upper floors. The windows on the first floor have a circumferential profile cornice as a separation from the ground floor with the arched arcades. The windows on the second floor are lower than on the first and sit on profiled benches. House dormers are arranged all around in the hipped roof. On the west side there was originally an access terrace delimited by an embossed rectangular base. This was built over in the 1990s with a flat sloping roof and a frame glass facade for the city café.
literature
- Christian Boseckert: "... so that Coburg becomes more beautiful"? The Nazi building policy in the Vestestadt (1933-1945) . Volume 26 of the series of publications by the historical society Coburg eV, Coburg 2014, pp. 53–70.
- Peter Morsbach, Otto Titz: City of Coburg. Ensembles-Architectural Monuments-Archaeological Monuments . Monuments in Bavaria. Volume IV.48. Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-87490-590-X , p. 367.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 15 ′ 37 ″ N , 10 ° 57 ′ 53 ″ E