Office building

The first office building in Hamburg: the Dovenhof

An office building is a type of building that was designed and built in the period from 1886 to around 1938 based on the North American model for the exclusive accommodation of office space for (trading) companies . The main focus of the spread is in the northern German port cities. The type is characterized by a design-related flexibility in the room layout.

history

The office building type was already known in the United States of America in the middle of the 19th century, but by the end of the 19th century it was no longer practical, as office buildings were initially in Chicago because of the scarce and expensive properties , and later also in New York in the height were built. Typically, the office buildings were not designed for use by a single company or the management of a group, but were to be rented out to numerous tenants from the outset. The construction was usually carried out as an investment property.

In Germany , the first office building was built in Hamburg in 1886 . The Dovenhof was the prototype of this type of building. Although office buildings were also built elsewhere, Hamburg was to become and remain the German center of this distinctive building type. Kontorhäuser soon established itself as a successful architectural model , of which hundreds were built in quick succession.

Clerks at work

The Kontorhaus is purely an office building, with which working can be separated from living or storing goods. This development of the separation of stored goods was favored in Hamburg by the emergence of the Speicherstadt near the center , which held large storage areas available. The clerks working in the office, i.e. clerks or clerks, had a twelve-hour day after their apprenticeship and had to write by hand, because the typewriters , which were already manufactured in the factory in 1873/1874 , did not move into the office buildings until 1894.

In Hamburg, the office buildings soon dominated the city center as the city was being converted into a modern commercial and business center . In 1910 the building type was fully developed. Most of the office buildings were therefore built in the 1920s, and a unique office building district was even created . One of the last office buildings to be built was the press building at Speersort in 1938 . Around 250 buildings of this type remained undamaged in the Hanseatic city, which was badly damaged in areas during the Second World War .

Construction

The Chilehaus has the typical construction

Outwardly, an office building is essentially characterized by a regular floor plan and mostly around five to seven floors . The upper storeys often do not end with the rest of the facade of the lower storeys, but are set back in the form of a staircase. In this way, an upward optical widening is achieved, especially on narrow streets.

The structure of the facade is functionally determined: steel and concrete structures allow the construction of load-bearing outer walls as a pillar system , which guarantees optimal room variation and lighting. The outer walls are also evenly divided into window areas and mostly clinkered . By dispensing with load-bearing walls inside, the renting companies can freely subdivide the floors depending on the number and needs, without being tied to certain room sizes and shapes.

The connection between the floors was mostly provided by paternosters , which were used in Hamburg for the first time on the European continent . Also courtyards are - with correspondingly massive building structures - often a typical feature. Other innovations in the office buildings were central heating , internal mail systems and centralized sanitary areas. The facades and foyers are decorated as building decorations, depending on the taste of the time, mostly in the style of Neo-Renaissance , Art Nouveau , Expressionism or Reform architecture .

literature

Ralf Lange : The Hamburg office building. Architecture - history - monument. Dölling and Galitz, Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-86218-067-7 .

Web links

Welt Online, article Model New York: The office buildings from August 25, 2002

Individual evidence

↑ Christoph Wetzel, Heidi Wetzel u. a .: Seemann's large lexicon of world architecture , Seemann Verlag, Leipzig, 2010 ISBN 978-3-534-23890-3 , p. 262.
^ Daniel Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg from Altona to Zollenspieker. The Haspa manual for all districts of the Hanseatic city. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-455-11333-8 , p. 423.
↑ Ernst Christian Schütt u. a .: Chronicle of Hamburg. 2nd updated edition. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh / Munich 1997, ISBN 3-577-14443-2 , p. 300.
^ Franklin Kopitzsch , Daniel Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg Lexikon. 2nd, revised edition. Zeiseverlag, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-9805687-9-2 , p. 284.
^ Daniel Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg from Altona to Zollenspieker. The Haspa manual for all districts of the Hanseatic city. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-455-11333-8 , p. 423.
^ Franklin Kopitzsch, Daniel Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg Lexikon. 2nd, revised edition. Zeiseverlag, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-9805687-9-2 , p. 283.

[1] Christoph Wetzel, Heidi Wetzel u. a .: Seemann's large lexicon of world architecture , Seemann Verlag, Leipzig, 2010 ISBN 978-3-534-23890-3 , p. 262.

[2] Daniel Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg from Altona to Zollenspieker. The Haspa manual for all districts of the Hanseatic city. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-455-11333-8 , p. 423.

[3] Ernst Christian Schütt u. a .: Chronicle of Hamburg. 2nd updated edition. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh / Munich 1997, ISBN 3-577-14443-2 , p. 300.

[4] Franklin Kopitzsch , Daniel Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg Lexikon. 2nd, revised edition. Zeiseverlag, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-9805687-9-2 , p. 284.

[5] Daniel Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg from Altona to Zollenspieker. The Haspa manual for all districts of the Hanseatic city. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-455-11333-8 , p. 423.

[6] Franklin Kopitzsch, Daniel Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg Lexikon. 2nd, revised edition. Zeiseverlag, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-9805687-9-2 , p. 283.