Leipziger Strasse complex

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Leipziger Strasse complex

The complex Leipziger Strasse is a highly visible building complex at the Leipziger Strasse in Berlin district of Mitte . It was built from 1969 to 1982 on both sides of the street between Spittelmarkt and Charlottenstraße .

history

In 1969, construction work began for the urban major project under the guidance of the Collective Joachim Näther ( urban development ) and Werner Meier Street ( building construction ). The draft envisaged a residential development with 2000 apartments and social facilities. For this purpose, the existing old building in this area of ​​Leipziger Strasse was completely demolished.

With the redevelopment of this area, the southern city ​​center of East Berlin should receive a new urban character. In contrast to the capitalist city ​​center, the residential function should be closely intertwined with the social function of the center. It is sometimes rumored that it was also about taking away the dominant urban effect of the Axel Springer high-rise located directly behind the Berlin Wall in West Berlin and the visibility of the neon message on the opposite GSW high-rise and the billboards for Reduce the Springer newspapers Bild , Berliner Morgenpost and BZ .

However, there is no evidence for this view. Joachim Näther, then chief architect of the GDR , denies this. Against the above Version also says that the four residential towers on the south side of Leipziger Straße are at a great distance from one another and the Springer high-rise can be seen clearly from the shopping promenade.

The Spittelkolonnaden destroyed in the Second World War were partially rebuilt. Originally identical colonnades stood on the north and south sides to decorate the bridge over the moat that was filled in in 1833 . The northern colonnades were dismantled and stored in the 1920s so that new commercial buildings could be built on the property. Originally it was intended to re-erect these like the King Colonnades at Kleistpark in a new location. The colonnades on the south side were destroyed in the Second World War. The redevelopment of the area offered the possibility of repositioning the stored parts on the south side.

buildings

Postage stamp of the German Post of the GDR , 1979

Particularly noticeable are the eight pairs of 23- and 25-storey residential high-rises on the south side of the street. These were built using a reinforced concrete skeleton assembly method around inner sliding construction cores, a special form of prefabricated buildings . In the vernacular it is for these very tall buildings, the term "Springer Decker" have given, which related to the above-described background of their planning.

At the base of the high-rise buildings are two-storey low-rise buildings that used to house cultural, supply and commercial facilities. So was at the Spittelmarkt a large Exquisitely -Modegeschäft and between the skyscrapers a large Delikat -Feinkosthaus , both retail outlets of the upscale needs with appropriate price level.

In contrast to this are the elongated 14-storey residential slabs in prefabricated construction on the north side, in whose shiny facades the ensemble is reflected. These houses were the preferred assigned place of residence for Western diplomatic staff and accredited journalists and were under special observation by the GDR security organs. In the houses east of Jerusalemer Straße in particular, there were a number of particularly large apartments that were made available to families with many children.

planning

The plan was to build a large, angular high-rise building on the south side of Leipziger Strasse, at the end of Spittelmarkt . It can be seen on various architectural models for the redesign of the eastern inner city , but was never realized. In the 1990s, the Sparkasse built a building on this site that is roughly the same size and floor plan .

Post-turnaround time

After the political change , the complex began to be extensively refurbished and renovated in the mid-1990s. In the course of this work, some buildings were given new facades (west of Jerusalemer Strasse, owned by the Federal Real Estate Agency ). However, many of the shops and cultural institutions have disappeared. There are concrete plans to reduce the eight lanes wide Leipziger Straße at this point to four and also to build a tram route in the middle between Alexanderplatz and Potsdamer Platz .

In addition, at the end of the 2000s, the former Ebbinghaus building on the periphery of the complex was demolished in order to restore the historic course of the street to Spittelmarkt for Axel-Springer-Strasse as an extension of Lindenstrasse coming from the Landwehr Canal. The extension of Axel-Springer-Strasse and its connection to Leipziger Strasse were opened on May 31, 2012.

Web links

Commons : Complex Leipziger Straße  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Emporis
  2. ↑ Dr. Werner Strassenmeier. In: digiporta.net. Retrieved January 22, 2020 .
  3. ↑ How the Stasi blocked the East Berliners from looking at Springer. In: BZ , October 31, 2009.
  4. ↑ Box seat in contemporary history. Retrieved on February 6, 2017 (German).
  5. ↑ New Axel-Springer-Strasse released. In: Der Tagesspiegel , June 1, 2012.

Coordinates: 52 ° 30 '38 "  N , 13 ° 23' 52"  E