House of Technology (Königsberg)

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New building
State 2008

The House of Technology , built in 1924/25 by the architect Hanns Hopp , was an exhibition hall for agricultural machines on the exhibition grounds of the German East Fair in Königsberg . With its expressive structures clad in dark red brick and the portal designed in exposed concrete, the House of Technology is one of the most outstanding buildings of Expressionism in Germany. After the roof was damaged in World War II, the building was repaired after 2004 and is now used as a shopping center.

architecture

The architect Hanns Hopp, who, as an employed architect of the Königsberg Messamtes, was responsible for all the draft planning of the German East Fair, designed the Haus der Technik as a large exhibition hall for agricultural machines from 1923. Like the other trade fair buildings, the House of Technology was also located in the old ramparts. It had a railway connection so that large machines could also be brought into the hall. After the inflation ended, the building could be erected in 1924/25. Hopp designed a large central building cube with a flat hipped roof, the large hall was located here. At all four corners there were smaller two-story cubes that had different functions. There was a cinema, the administration office, a restaurant and finally Hopp's architecture office and his own apartment. With the Haus der Technik, Hopp made an outstanding contribution to expressionist architecture in Germany. With its dark red brick shell and the contrasting details in light exposed concrete, the building has a very expressive effect. The completely new portal motif made of exposed concrete was particularly innovative and has no direct model in architectural history. The sculptor Hermann Brachert created a house brand at the entrance for the Haus der Technik: the figure of a worker with a mighty gear wheel. Ernst Filitz made two other figures of workers, one with a hammer, the other standing next to a machine.

In 1933 the building was renamed " Schlageter House".

During the Second World War , the roof collapsed. The building then only existed in its outer walls and was then used as an open marketplace for a long time . In 2004 it was auctioned by the city to a Kaliningrad investment company with the stipulation that the house be restored, redeveloped and converted into a department store with a guarded parking lot, cafes and a wide range of services. This has already been partially achieved.

literature

  • Robert Albinus: Königsberg Lexicon. City and surroundings. Special edition. Flechsig, Würzburg 2002, ISBN 3-88189-441-1 .
  • Fritz Gause : The history of the city of Königsberg in Prussia. 3 volumes. 2nd / 3rd supplemented edition. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 1996, ISBN 3-412-08896-X .
  • Hanns Hopp, Karl-Heinz Clasen , Franz Steiner: The house of technology [in] Königsberg . New architecture 1924/25.

Web links

Commons : House of Technology  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Gabriele Wiesemann: Hanns Hopp 1890–1971: Königsberg, Dresden, Halle, East Berlin: a biographical study on modern architecture . T. Helms, Schwerin 2000, ISBN 3-931185-61-3 .
  2. ↑ Baldur Köster: Königsberg. Architecture from the German era . Husum 2000, ISBN 3-88042-923-5 , p. 146 f .

Coordinates: 54 ° 43 ′ 17.6 "  N , 20 ° 30 ′ 33.8"  E