Hafenplatz (Hanau)
The port square in Hanau marks the historic road access to the Mainhafen of Hanau, the second largest port along the Main .
Development
The square is dominated by a monumental block of flats that surrounds it with three wings and extends to the west with a fourth wing along Westerburgstraße to Canthalstraße. This block of flats was built for the port and was intended to offer work-related apartments for those employed in the port. It contained 24 two-room, 67 three-room and eight four-room apartments. In charge was probably city architect Wilhelm Kroegel, (born September 2, 1869 in Cologne, † February 24, 1941 in Hanau). The building was completed in 1927. The central axis of the buildings encompassing the square opens up to a monumental gate that marks the port entrance. At the same time, the facility was designed as a monumental “monument to work”: two 3.50 m high colossal concrete figures by August Bischoff are set over the passage and symbolize trade and work or “workers of the fist and workers of the forehead”. Because of the cogwheels on which one relies, they are also popularly known as the cheese rollers . The buildings were provided with flat roofs - for the first time in Hanau . The facility was badly damaged during the air raids on Hanau in World War II , but was rebuilt almost unchanged after 1950. Only the flat roof - with the exception of the "gate building" - was replaced by a flat hipped roof.
The buildings are Grade II law after the Hessian Monument Protection Act as a material entity classified and part of the Route of Industrial Culture Rhein-Main .
Urban aspect
The Hafenplatz is the southernmost of a series of squares that run almost axially from north to south through the old and new town of Hanau: Schlossplatz , Old Town Market , Freedom Square , New Town Market , French Allee .
While the buildings are cultural monuments, the square itself is not shown as an overall facility. This may be due to the fact that the square can hardly be experienced as a square today due to its urban development treatment. To the north it is optically cut off from the city center by the embankment of the Frankfurt-Bebraer railway . The passage in this direction, which crosses two double-track railway lines directly behind one another at the western entrance to Hanau Central Station , looks like a tunnel. Immediately in front of it is Westerburgstrasse, Bundesstrasse 45 , which has been widened to the structural maximum due to the enormous increase in car traffic since the square was built. In addition, the historic gate passage is no longer used for vehicle traffic to the port. This goes around the building today. Today, the square looks like a green space accompanying the B 45.
literature
in alphabetical order by authors / editors
- Gerhard Bott : "Modern building" in the city of Hanau 1918–1933. "Demolition crime" and reconstruction after 1945 . In: Hanauer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Gerhard Bott 90 . Cocon, Hanau 2017. ISBN 978-3-86314-361-9 , pp. 85-113.
- Martin Hoppe: Hanauer street names . Hanau 1991. ISBN 3-87627-426-5
- Carolin Krumm: Cultural monuments in Hessen - City of Hanau . Ed .: State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen. Wiesbaden 2006. ISBN 3-8062-2054-9
- Magistrate of the City of Hanau: Route of Industrial Culture Rhine-Main. Hanau I . = Local route guide 10. Frankfurt 2006.
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ′ 26.1 ″ N , 8 ° 55 ′ 1.2 ″ E