Blücherpark
The Blucher Park is a park in Cologne district Bilderstöckchen , District Nippes . The Volkspark was built between 1911 and 1913 according to the plans of the garden architect Fritz Encke . It is considered the first urban park for the former industrial suburbs Ehrenfeld and Nippes in the north-west and north of Cologne . Its size today is 18.4 hectares . The Blücherpark borders in the south on the park belt (the K12 district road ), in the west on the A 57 and in the north and east on residential areas between Äußere Kanalstrasse and Escher Strasse. On the east-west axis, the parking area is divided into the north and south by Heidemannstrasse. There is a sports field in the north and a pond in the south. The name of the park is reminiscent of the Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher .
description
The Blücherpark forms a 700 m long and 200 m wide rectangle , to which a lower-lying sports field connects to the north .
In contrast to the softly shaped foothills park , which was created around the same time, the Blücherpark is strictly geometrically structured and is reminiscent of the garden creations of the baroque period , which were concerned with pomp and representation .
The core of the Blücherpark is embedded in a forest-like border of different widths, which opens out in large parts like a bay. In this edge of the forest there are resting places and a small shelter hall parallel to the numerous avenues . There is no clearly protruding main entrance; the side entrances are treated equally.
All parts of the park are assigned to a large central axis, which culminates in an unlisted Volkshaus, which should be in the middle of the park - on the current open space between the pond and the southeastern garden. Encke had planned this Volkshaus as a three-wing complex, with a raised central building and two narrow side wings on the northwest side, which were to border a garden terrace. The southeast side of the Volkshaus should have a square in front of which the paths of the side entrances should lead.
At the southeast end of the park is a polygonal pool of water that marks the end of the flower garden. From this point the view leads to the northwest directly to the group of trees at the other end of the park and not only gives an impression of the symmetry of the complex, but also conveys an openness and spaciousness that cannot be found in any other Cologne park.
There is a small fountain in the polygonal water basin, which is accessible via four flights of stairs . In addition, until a few years ago it was surrounded by very tall pyramid poplars . The routing in this part is quite detailed and leads to the edge of the park in three strictly geometric levels, each divided by hedges. What is striking are the numerous concrete spheres that are either attached to low pedestals at the crossroads or protrude as massive hemispheres directly from the ground - a motif that Encke takes up again on the opposite side of the complex, where he marked the original park exit with these concrete spheres. To the northwest of the small water basin is an elongated lawn, the center of which is adorned with a circular flowerbed. From the side avenues of plane trees , a small path leads to the right and left to a square surrounded by trees. The right-hand square is oval and equipped with benches. It is also the starting point of the long avenue of lime trees leading to the northwest . The square on the left is designed as a square and originally leads to Grolmannstrasse. Today there are two table tennis tables and several benches here.
Between the small garden wing and the pond there is a large playground that is bordered by two rectangular sections of the forest. The park building that was not implemented should be located here.
One of the attractions of the Blücherpark is the approx. 1.5 hectare rectangular pond , which is open to boating from spring to autumn and used to be a popular winter meeting place for ice skaters . Since the pond is about 2.50 m lower than the general level of the park, stairs lead to its narrow bank and to the small boathouse, to which a kiosk with restoration is attached. The terrace of the boathouse is very busy in summer.
The pond is lined by two long avenues of lime trees, which in turn are bordered by the forest-like edge of the park. A square-cut children's playground with climbing frames and sandboxes is located on the northern edge of the park.
To the west, the lower part of the Blücherpark ends with two walled, elevated places planted with chestnut trees. Both avenues of linden trees lead to wide stairs, the railings of which are each decorated with two lying stone lions. There used to be a refreshment booth on the left square. In the right place was a paddling pool, which is now filled with earth and has been converted into a flower bed. Stairs lead down from both places into a symmetrically laid out flower garden. The route is again kept in small parts and allows numerous visitors to be guided to the individual sections. The corner points of the flower garden are each planted with pyramidal cut taxus ; towards the street, the wing is closed off by a high hedge with several rose beds. The north-western part of the park is raised by 0.70 m across from the street and is only accessible via a wide stone staircase. In the outermost corners of the park facing the street, there are also two squares with horse chestnut trees , so that Heidemannstraße appears like an axis of symmetry in which the northern and southern parts are directly reflected.
Beyond these two spaces, there is a large lawn, enclosed by maple avenues , which extends to the end of the park. Encke had declared this lawn as a meadow for the people, which should provide space for physical activity and relaxation. Today, however, mostly only physical relaxation is enjoyed here.
The end of the Volkswiese and at the same time the northern border of the park forms a slightly raised viewing bastion, which is emphasized by the two semicircular walls already mentioned, but also by two high pyramid poplars . An early design provided for grove-like groups of trees at the two corners of the Volkswiese, similar to that in the foothills park. Instead of them, however, it was decided to use two rectangular squares. Also planned, but not implemented, was a music pavilion on the southwest side of the Blücherpark.
The northern part of the facility, which is on the site of a former brickworks pit , is self-contained and contains a picturesque football pitch with a semicircular end.
A still very well-preserved staircase at the head of the sports field leads in generous arches down to the lawn and surrounds a steeply sloping natural garden. A place with several family seats is located at the observation bastion above the staircase described. A large playground with numerous climbing frames, swings and sandboxes is located in the transverse axis of the sports field, directly on the north flank of the park.
History of creation
Since 1904 the city of Cologne had been looking for a suitable plot of land for the Blücherpark. Their concern, however, was not only to find a site for the park, but also to acquire the surrounding (until then agriculturally used) terrain so that the costs of the facility could be earned again through the increase in the value of the land that the park was supposed to bring about could become.
Six years later this goal was achieved, and at the crucial council meeting on December 9, 1910 , the alderman Matzerath explained a first alignment plan .
However, the property speculation did not work out due to the outbreak of the First World War and the “country house development” on the southwest side of the park had to be abandoned. The 40 hectares were instead released in the years after the war for land, some of which were used by less wealthy citizens. Only on Grolmanstrasse could part of the original plans be realized.
Fritz Encke had a free hand in designing the content of the Blücherpark, but had to comply with the city council's request "to give the park such a shape that it makes the largest, longest possible impression on those who walk through it". For traffic-related reasons, a cross street was planned - similar to the Vorgebirgspark - that divides the park into two blocks and was accessible until the A57 was built.
Encke designed a strictly symmetrically structured system, which at the beginning of the 20th century, which was artistically shaped by Art Nouveau , appeared a bit out of date at first glance. He himself wrote about the Blücherpark that “it was not the addiction to imitate that art movement (that was the Baroque ) that was the cause of the design”, but the design resulted from the endeavor to meet the modern demands that “one is upon the public park of a big city must be ”. The high proportion of usable areas - such as relaxation gardens, paddling pools, children's playgrounds, Volkswiese, ponds and boathouses or tennis courts - is therefore not accidental, but rather a matter of course.
The city of Cologne was apparently very welcome this exclusive design approach, because already at the aforementioned council meeting on December 9, 1910, it was said: The Blücherpark will "meet all the practical needs of the population in the most concise form, so that you can hardly in any other city in will find a facility of similar generosity nearby ”.
As a recreational area not only for the citizens of Ehrenfeld and Nippes, but also for the residents of the old town and new town, the park was actually a popular and easily accessible recreational area for several decades. The slaughterhouse railway , which ran almost to the entrance of the park, was also seen as a welcome vehicle for transporting park visitors from the old to the new town.
According to Fritz Schumacher's plans , the Blücherpark was to be expanded to include sports facilities and allotments - one of the so-called radial spokes, which should connect the outside with the inner green belt in order to ensure even better greening of the city. This green corridor, known today as the North Green Axis, is only available in fragments; a large part of the planned site will be expanded over the next few years.
New construction of the pond 2019/20
The large pond in the Blücherpark recently suffered serious damage to its enclosure and base plate and therefore lost around 30,000 cubic meters of water every year. The system was also considered muddy, which reduced the water quality. Therefore, the Stadtentwässerungsbetriebe (StEB) will demolish and rebuild the listed facility in the years 2018 to 2020. Parts of the enclosure that have already been renovated will be preserved, as will the boathouse, which, however, cannot be used during the construction period. The animals living in the pond were caught and temporarily relocated. The latter was already necessary in April 2016 when the police had the pond emptied because of a murder investigation. The renewed pond was refilled by the end of 2019 and renatured at the beginning of 2020.
After the new construction, the pond will be more than one meter deeper than before (1.50 meters) with a depth of 2.60 meters.
Trivia
The affiliation of the park to the Bilderstöckchen district is not known everywhere . In 1925, Encke described the Blücherpark as being “located between the districts”. In fact, maps showed the park as belonging to Neuehrenfeld until the construction of Autobahn 57 , and it was not until the area reorganization in 1975 that the situation in the Bilderstöckchen district, Cologne-Nippes district, finally became clear. The park is so directly accessible from the Neuehrenfeld side via three pedestrian bridges spanning the A 57 and via the Gürtelstrasse that for many it “feels” like an Ehrenfeld green area.
literature
- Archive for the history of the district of Cologne-Nippes eV: 100 Years Blücherpark 1913–2013, Cologne, 2013
- René Zey: Parks in Cologne: A guide through the green spaces . Greven, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-7743-0273-1 , pp. 52-58
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ INGO HINZ: Large-scale rescue operation . In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . October 13, 2018.
- ↑ Focus Online: Police are looking for a murder weapon in Blücherpark-Weiher - and find monster catfish Wilfried . In: Focus Online . ( focus.de [accessed on October 13, 2018]).
- ↑ Bes: Kahnweiher is being filled again. November 14, 2019, accessed November 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Quoted from Archive for District History Köln-Nippes eV: 100 Years Blücherpark 1913 - 2013, p. 16 "Who Owns Blücherpark"?
- ^ Archive for the history of the district of Cologne-Nippes eV: 100 years of Blücherpark 1913 - 2013, p. 16 "Who owns the Blücherpark"?
Coordinates: 50 ° 57 ′ 47.5 " N , 6 ° 55 ′ 36.5" E