House at the Zwinger
The house at the Zwinger in the old town of Dresden is a former office block built in 1999 by the investor Advanta. Due to its location on the property of the Sophienkirche , which was demolished by 1963 for political reasons , it is of particular importance in the historical context. The elongated building was given urban significance through the reconstruction of the historic Kleine Brüdergasse . The building designed by Heinz Tesar was popularly known for a long time as the "Advanta bar". Since the complete renovation of the building by the denkmalneu group of companies (spring 2015 to spring 2016), the building has been officially called “The Living House”. In its function as a mixed-use building, it houses shops, offices, apartments, restaurants and a conference center. In the three central stairwells, the Viennese artist and perception researcher sha. Light-sound artworks installed.
location
The house at the Zwinger is not far from the Postplatz opposite the Zwinger . To the north are the Cholera Fountain , the Taschenbergpalais and the Dresden Residenzschloss , to the south the Busmann Chapel Memorial, which is currently under construction, and the Wilsdruffer Kubus, which was built until 2008, are adjacent to the building.
The house at the Zwinger occupies one side of the street of the historic Kleine Brüdergasse, which was almost completely reconstructed as a result of the construction.
Pre- and building history
Until 1963, the Sophienkirche stood on the current site of the house at the Zwinger. The property, which was owned by the regional church of Saxony, was declared public property in 1962 against the will of the regional church and transferred to the state - the regional church received financial compensation in return. After the church was demolished in 1962/63, the HO restaurant “Am Zwinger” was built from 1965 to 1967 on the southern floor plan of the Sophienkirche as far as Wilsdruffer Straße , for which numerous tombs of the church were destroyed. After the fall of the Berlin Wall , the former property of the Sophienkirche became the property of the Treuhand Liegenschaftsgesellschaft (TLG), which in turn sold part of the property to the investor Advanta.
As early as 1991, the city of Dresden launched an urban planning ideas competition for the redesign of the Postplatz, in which the architecture firm Prof. Joachim Schürmann und Partner from Cologne received first prize. In the next few years the design was modified, for example in the area of the former Sophienkirche. In the course of the reconstruction of the Taschenbergpalais, an extension of the palace was planned under the motto “living and working”. The Viennese architect Heinz Tesar emerged as the winner of the urban planning competition in 1993 , so that the planned building was incorporated into the Postplatz concept. In October 1995, the Dresden city council finally decided on the so-called "development plan No. 54 Dresden-Altstadt No. 6, Postplatz / Wallstraße", including the integrated house at the Zwinger. For this, the restaurant “Am Zwinger” was to be demolished and the modern “Wilsdruffer Kubus” was to be built in its place next to the house at the Zwinger.
In July 1998 the demolition of the northern third of the large restaurant “Am Zwinger” began. The site was then handed over to archaeologists for six weeks, who carried out investigations on the preserved wall remains and tombs of the Sophienkirche. Among other things, the north wall of the church and former rows of prayer rooms were exposed. After the excavation sites were spilled, construction of the office block began.
After the construction sign was erected, there was controversy among the Dresden population. A “desecration” of the former church square by the new building and an insensitive handling of the historical structure, especially in the area around the Schloss-Taschenbergpalais-Zwinger, were criticized: “The block, the white concrete wall right next to the Zwinger, half covering it - that can't be true be “, was the tenor of the time. The request of Dresden citizens to make the massive “concrete nose” of the building on Sophienstrasse less massive or made of glass was not accepted. The construction of the house at the Zwinger cost around 100 million DM and took 14 months. It was completed in 1999.
Building description
The house at the Zwinger is 175 meters long and 15.65 meters wide. It has an underground car park over two levels and a ground floor with seven upper floors. The floor area with both basement floors is 26,700 m². The building has around 7,000 m² of land. The glass roof of the house is set back and is accessible.
The Elbe sandstone , which is common in the area , was deliberately not used: "It deliberately does not appear: This is an office and commercial building that is in the plastering tradition!", Says architect Heinz Tesar. The surface was broken up in the lower facade area by regularly scraping the plaster with spoons.
The design of the house is based on the earlier use of the site. “The architecture of the house follows the ground plan of the Sophienkirche, which was demolished in 1962 by decision of the party and state leadership of the GDR”, so the building ends exactly at the northwest end of the former church building. As early as 1993, the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Saxony was able to persuade the investor Advanta to reproduce the floor plan of the Sophienkirche in red Meissen granite on the open space around the house at the Zwinger after its completion . During the construction of the house at the Zwinger, the main passage of the building was relocated in such a way that the floor plan of the double polygon choir of the church could be completely reproduced. The house at the Zwinger was also built in such a way that a narrow strip of the former north wall of the Sophienkirche remained undeveloped and could be represented as a pavement, whereby the volume of the sacred building can be experienced. A branch of the “Society for the Promotion of a Memorial for the Sophienkirche Dresden e. V. ”in the house at the Zwinger - the Busmann Chapel memorial is being built on the narrow piece of land at the house at the Zwinger, which the state capital Dresden acquired in 2001 .
use
Until 2007, the house at the Zwinger was used as an office building and by numerous catering facilities. Restaurants, such as Busmann's Brazil , which closed in 2010 , recalled the historical place with their names. The family Busmann had the Sophienkirche called Busmannkapelle donated.
Plans such as that of the Radeberger Brewery , which wanted to open a restaurant in the building over two to three floors, were not implemented. The small park south of the house at the Zwinger was not used as a beer garden as planned. In 2006 the owner of the property, Octavian Hotel Holding GmbH, which also includes the Taschenbergpalais in their portfolio, decided to convert the office part of the house into a 5-star hotel by 2008. The hotel was to consist of around 200 rooms and suites as well as conference rooms, restaurants and a wellness center. For the conversion, plans were made with the British architect Norman Foster and the German architects Hollin & Radoske. The operator was to be the InterContinental Hotels Group . In 2008 Octavian wanted to sell the property because she wanted to withdraw from the real estate business. Due to a lack of interested parties, the building remained in their possession and it was planned to convert the upper floors of the house into a 4-star hotel. In 2014 the house at the Zwinger was acquired by the denkmalneu group, which specializes in renovation projects, together with a European family office. After complete renovation, it was reopened in May 2016 under the name “Das Lebendige Haus”. The building now houses shops, restaurants, offices, apartments for holiday guests and business travelers, penthouses and the felix restaurant. In the three central, glass staircases, the Viennese artist sha. Large-format works of light-sound art installed, which are especially visible at night from the Zwingerterrassen.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b denkmalneu GmbH: The Living House. In: www.daslebendigehaus.de. Retrieved May 3, 2016 .
- ↑ Postplatz. In: dresden.de. State capital Dresden, accessed on August 23, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Bernd Möller: A look that doesn't exist: To the "dispute" about the Advanta bar. ( Memento from July 24, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Dresdner Blätt'l 10/98, June 12, 1998.
- ↑ Bettina Klemm: Crypts of the Sophienkirche are disappearing again. In: Sächsische Zeitung , October 5, 1998, p. 9.
- ↑ a b c Peter Redlich: "Eating cube" - partial demolition starts. In: Sächsische Zeitung , June 30, 1998.
- ↑ a b The Atlantic Kempinski in Hamburg is being completely renovated. NFH online, October 14, 2008.
- ↑ a b Ulrich van Stipriaan: Spoon and sketchbook. Conversation with Heinz Tesar, architect of the “Haus am Zwinger” . In: trialog, No. 3, 1999.
- ^ Gerhard Glaser : The Sophienkirche memorial. A place of mourning, a place against forgetting . In: Heinrich Magirius, Society for the Promotion of the Sophienkirche (Ed.): The Dresden Frauenkirche. Yearbook on their past and present . Volume 13. Schnell + Steiner, Regensburg 2009, p. 195.
- ^ Bettina Klemm: Dresden "Zwinger-Riegel" is being converted into a hotel. In: Saxon newspaper. January 22, 2010, accessed May 23, 2020 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 3 '5.1 " N , 13 ° 44' 7.3" E