Lime Kiln (Kaiserslautern)

Lime kiln City of Kaiserslautern Coordinates: 49 ° 27 '12 " N , 7 ° 47' 37" E
Area code :	0631
Location of Kalkofen in Rhineland-Palatinate

Kalkofen is the name of a district of the city of Kaiserslautern .

location

The district is located in the northeast of the city of Kaiserslautern. It essentially consists of the streets Geranienweg , Veilchenweg and Asternweg . The quarter is bordered by Mainzer Straße, Nordbahnstraße, Friedenstraße and Gärtnereistraße.

history

The area of today's lime kiln was settled early on. Relics from the Neolithic ceramic culture were found there (approx. 4500–1800 BC), which indicate a developed peasantry with arable and horticultural cultivation, plant use and livestock farming. There are also several Celtic burial mounds from the Hallstatt period (since the 8th century BC) on the area in question .

Shortly after the First World War , an illegally built barracks settlement was built there, which was demolished in the 1950s. The city of Kaiserslautern then built several blocks of flats with so-called simple apartments , which, among other things, should serve as emergency shelters for the homeless.

In 2000, the main axis of the district from Am Kalkofen was renamed Geranienweg , Asternweg and Veilchenweg . The reason for this renaming was, on the one hand, the desire not to stigmatize the residents of the social hotspot, not just by naming the relevant, well-known street name, and on the other hand, the demand from residents of the "better" parts of the quarter, not under the bad reputation to suffer the "worse".

Todays situation

The core area of the lime kiln on Geranienweg and Asternweg is still characterized today by the simple apartment blocks built in the 1950s and owned by the city. Several of these apartment blocks are still in the structural condition from the years of construction. These unrenovated apartments have neither bathrooms nor hot water connections or heating. Heating can only take place via ovens, if available. There are also some shared toilets. The city of Kaiserslautern does not charge any rent for these simple apartments, only a so-called usage fee of around EUR 75 per month.

The residents of the quarter belong primarily to the poorly educated , socially disadvantaged class. The unemployment rate in the lime kiln is well above the average, as is the rate of Hartz IV or basic security recipients . The area is considered a social hotspot .

Media reception

The lime kiln became known nationwide on April 4, 2015 through the TV documentary "Asternweg - A street with no way out", which was shown on the TV broadcaster VOX . This program, produced by the production company 99pro media , portrayed the lives of some residents of the district over a period of more than half a year, which was followed by around 1.4 million viewers when it was first broadcast. On April 2, 2016 a sequel was broadcast under the title "Asternweg - One year later".

Web links

Individual evidence

[1] The big Saturday documentation "Asternweg - A road without a way out" on Vox.de, accessed on April 13, 2015

[2] Great interest in the VOX documentary “Asternweg” on quotenmeter.de, accessed on April 13, 2015