Great Berlin Wheel
| Great Berlin Wheel | |
|---|---|
|
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| According to the architects involved, this is what the project could have looked like. | |
| Basic data | |
| Place: | Berlin , Germany |
| Status : | Project was not implemented |
| Architect : | KCI (observation wheel) Pott Architects ("departure hall") |
| Technical specifications | |
| Height : | 175 m |
| Building material : |
Steel glass |
| Building-costs: | 120 million euros (planned) |
The Great Berlin Wheel or observation wheel Berlin was a planned Ferris wheel at the zoological garden in the Berlin district of Tiergarten . The intended location was a side plot on Hertzallee , around 300 meters north of the Zoologischer Garten station, which was formerly used by the Zoological Garden as a farmyard . The zoo used the proceeds from the sale of the property to build a new building to care for the animals.
After the building permit was granted by the District Office in Mitte on October 22, 2007, the ceremonial - but only symbolic - groundbreaking ceremony took place on December 3, 2007 by the then Governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit . At the time, investors specified 2011 as the planned target date; however, construction did not begin.
The observation wheel , originally planned to be 185 meters high, was planned by the KCI company and, in its 28 capsules, should allow up to 2240 visitors per hour to view Berlin. Due to increased steel prices, the planned construction height was reduced by ten meters in 2008; it should now be 175 meters. The futuristic terminal design came from pott architects . The estimated construction costs were put at around 120 million euros; The client of the project was Great Berlin Wheel GmbH & Co. KG .
Technical details
With a speed of about 15 meters per minute, the rotation time per lap should be about half an hour. The total weight of the construction would have been around 4200 tons .
The air-conditioned capsules (4.70 m × 11.60 m) made of glass and steel could each have seated up to 40 people. Each of the 28 capsules should weigh around 18 tons. The hub (total length: 25 meters - diameter: 5 meters) of the wire rope-covered observation wheel should have been supported by 106 meter long supports.
A striking hall construction as a "departure hall" was to be built on the ground based on the model of the London Eye . Gastronomic offers, shopping opportunities and a large hall for events were planned there.
While it was possible to construct the wheel center lying on the Thames during the assembly of the London Ferris wheel , the Berlin observation wheel would have had to be assembled vertically with an auxiliary construction.
criticism
Critics feared that the lighting of the wheel could disrupt the day-night rhythm of individual animals in the zoo. This fear was however rejected by representatives of the zoo. The criticism that the wheel would create a “fair look” around the zoo was also rejected by the client with reference to the futuristic design of the ferris wheel.
Funding problems and failure
The Great Berlin Wheel was to be financed through the closed-end fund Global VIEW - Great Wheel Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG . In 2009, the German Consumer Protection Association advised investors "to look after their investment immediately and have claims for damages against the banks or prospectus publishers examined".
At the beginning of April 2010, criminal charges were filed against those responsible for the fund on suspicion of misappropriating investor funds. Some of the money deposited is said to have been diverted to a company in the Caribbean . The public prosecutor's office has started investigations against the managing directors of the project company.
At the end of 2010 the Global VIEW fund was dissolved. The approximately 10,000 investors who brought in 208.5 million euros were offered a compensation rate of 60%, around 150 investors disagreed and complained. The project will no longer be operated.
In March 2015, a real estate company in Munich reported that a “private investor group” had bought the property.
See also
Web links
- Website of the client - pictures, technical data, current information ( Memento from April 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- Website of the architecture office "pott architects"
- Website of the engineering company KCI
- Website of the "Great Wheel Corporation" ( Memento from July 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Incorrect planning makes farmyard more expensive. In: Der Tagesspiegel from March 19, 2008
- ↑ Brigitte Schmiemann: Groundbreaking ceremony for the observation wheel at the zoo . In: Die Welt , December 3, 2007
- ↑ Groundbreaking ceremony for Europe's largest ferris wheel. Spiegel Online , December 4, 2007, accessed April 4, 2009 .
- ↑ Berlin from above from 2010 . In: Berliner Zeitung , October 31, 2008
- ↑ A new superlative for the city . In: taz , December 4, 2007
- ↑ Turned out? Gloomy prospects for investors in the "Riesenradfonds". At: German Consumer Protection Ring e. V. , August 20, 2009.
- ↑ Berlin giant wheel a case for the public prosecutor. In: Berliner Morgenpost , April 14, 2010
- ↑ The public prosecutor's office is turning the wheel . In: Berliner Zeitung , April 15, 2010
- ↑ Fund for the zoo ferris wheel will be dissolved . In: Der Tagesspiegel .
- ↑ Plans buried - university campus instead of ferris wheel
- ↑ Risky Ferris Wheel Fund Thousands of retail investors could sue Deutsche Bank
- ↑ On http://www.reissco.de/ it said in June 2015: "The Land Berlin still has to agree to the sale of the property."
Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 36 ″ N , 13 ° 19 ′ 58 ″ E