Kulturpalast (Dresden)

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Kulturpalast Dresden, view from Altmarkt / Wilsdruffer Straße (2006)

The Kulturpalast Dresden is a modernist GDR building designed by the architect Wolfgang Hänsch . It was opened in 1969 and had the largest multi-purpose hall in the city of Dresden , which was used for concerts, dance and entertainment events as well as conferences and congresses. After several years of renovation, including the installation of a new concert hall, it was reopened in April 2017.

In contrast to the other square development in the unadorned style of international modernism , the cuboid structure with a floor area of ​​around 100 by 70 meters, which appears as a solitaire , completes the Altmarkt on the north side as a partial development on Wilsdruffer Straße . East of Schloßstraße and southwest of nearby Neumarkt , it is located exactly in the center of the historic old town , which was largely destroyed on February 13, 1945 . As a result of the reconstruction of the baroque Neumarkt , which has been ongoing since 2005 , the Kulturpalast will have neighboring buildings on the north side.

history

Foundations of the Palace of Culture (1967)

Planning and construction

Kulturpalast (1985)

The Kulturpalast was originally planned as a socialist-classicist ensemble building. In the further planning one wanted to build a high-rise in the style of the seven Moscow sister high-rise buildings. According to the “ 16 principles of urban development ” and the GDR's development law in 1950, the principles of socialist urban development should now be implemented in the GDR. An important principle was: central square - central high-rise building that characterizes the cityscape and wide main roads. The Kulturpalast was originally supposed to assume this function of dominating the height. However, the project was not implemented in the 1950s.

The Kulturpalast was realized in the 1960s as the cultural center of the city and the Dresden district as a cuboid structure with an eaves of 19.35 m on the basis of the architectural planning by Leopold Wiel . An initially planned third floor and a grandstand for the parades on Ernst-Thälmann-Straße were not implemented.

Fire protection renovation 2007

As a result of improperly carried out renovations in the 1990s, fire protection devices had to be refurbished, which required the Palace of Culture to be closed for five months from March 19, 2007. In the weeks before the renovation began, fire engines were posted right next to the Kulturpalast during the events.

Last years

The Kulturpalast has been a listed building since 2008. The “palace”, also popularly known as Kulti , has an important function in the cultural life of the city, fulfilling the tasks of a town hall. The operator is the municipal concert and congress company Dresden . The main user is the Dresden Philharmonic .

Every year it served as the main venue for the Dixieland Festival . In 2011 it was used as an organization center, main information point and event location at the Evangelical Church Congress .

On July 23, 2012 the last performance before the renovation of the Kulturpalast took place with The Bridge Man Invites - The Little Vampire . Then the house was closed and completely cleared out.

building

To 2012

The multifunctional ballroom with up to 2435 seats (previously 2740) could be transformed into an auditorium completely with fixed rows of seats and canting or into a banquet hall with a level floor in the area of ​​the parquet in front of the stage thanks to the special "tilting parquet".

The room acoustics of the ballroom have been optimized for multifunctionality and can be adapted to use as a concert hall or for electronically amplified music or speech events through changeable absorption or reflection surfaces.

In addition to the large hall, the Kulturpalast had a studio theater with 192 seats, seminar, rehearsal and recording rooms, foyer levels, office wings and a restaurant with conference facilities.

Outwardly, the ballroom is characterized by the roof protruding from the cuboid basic structure with the base of a symmetrical trapezoid.

Mural The Path of the Red Flag
Inscriptions on the mural

Mural

The west side of the building is covered by the 30-meter-by-10.5-meter mural The Path of the Red Flag . It has been designated as a cultural monument since 2001 . In 1968 Gerhard Bondzin was commissioned to develop the drafts. The mural was implemented by a working group of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts until 1969 . The working title was: "1849 - 1969: 120 years of the struggle of the city's revolutionary forces for progress and socialism". In addition to Bondzin (artistic director), the artist collective also included Alfred Hesse (involvement in broadcast work), Gerhard Stengel (artistic technology), Gerhard Präkelt (architect), Emil Spiess (study organization), Martin Hänisch (font design), Wolfgang Richter (specialist instructor) and students of the 3rd and 4th year of study in the field of mural design. It consists of colored glass on concrete slabs that have been electrostatically coated - a technique that was first used on a mural of this size.

The text inscription in the mural reads: “The liberation of the working class can only be the work of the working class itself. Life becomes our program. In spite of all this, we are the winner of history! Dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the GDR. Developed in socialist joint work by the Dresden University of Fine Arts "

The wall frieze Our Socialist Life by Heinz Drache and Walter Rehn in the dimensions 45 m × 1.90 m on the first floor was preserved during the renovation.

Doors

Kulturpalast Dresden: entrance door after renovation

The five bronze main entrance doors were created by Gerd Jaeger in 1969, they represent the development of Dresden from a fishing village to a big city. The doors were cast in bronze by the Pirner & Franz foundry in Dresden.

Fountain

In 1969, three fountains were laid out in front of the building on Wilsdruffer Strasse . The fountains were removed as part of the construction work for the underground car park on the Altmarkt. These were terrazzo basins measuring 7.90 by 8.55 meters. In each of the pools there was a jet fountain on an area of ​​3 by 3 meters, and 24 small heap fountains were installed at the edge of the pool.

Views

and display information about the image
Panorama of the Kulturpalast from the Altmarkt (February 2017)

  • View over the Altmarkt to the Kulturpalast, behind the Frauenkirche , which was rebuilt by 2005

  • Close-up view of the Frauenkirche and the row building on Wilsdruffer Straße, 2009

  • View from the Frauenkirche over the re-emerging Neumarkt, Kulturpalast and Altmarkt, 2012

  • Foyer of the Kulturpalast

  • First floor with the wall frieze Our socialist life

  • Central library of the municipal libraries

modification

Reconstruction planning

In October 2013, the renovation work on the Kulturpalast began. The ballroom was to be converted into a pure concert hall with a reduced capacity as a venue for the Dresden Philharmonic. The studio stage, seminar rooms and other used areas of the Kulturpalast were to be redesigned as a venue for the Hercules Club and for the library operations of the municipal library in order to be able to give up the old locations. In addition to cost savings, the building should be opened and used all day and used by different age and interest groups.

Architecture competition

To this end, the state capital launched an architecture competition in which the office of von Gerkan, Marg and Partners unanimously and with recommendation won first prize. The design envisaged a pure concert hall in the form of a vineyard (similar to the hall of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig), which should offer good conditions for the Dresden Philharmonic.

The Kulturpalast was awarded the DAM Prize for Architecture in Germany 2019.

Criticism of the renovation

Critics of the renovation, such as the concert organizer Bernd Aust, pointed out that a renovation into a pure concert hall with only two thirds of the original number of seats would make a large part of the entertainment events impossible or uneconomical. At the same time, several parliamentary groups in Dresden's city council initially rejected the renovation, as a functioning, economically viable building would be destroyed and the loss of substance as well as the renovation costs would represent a greater effort than building a new concert hall. It is unclear why the city council resolution of 2004, which commissioned the renovation and acoustic retrofitting of the ballroom, was not implemented and was repealed by a new majority city council resolution in 2008.

This renovation cost the city of Dresden more than 101 million euros in tax money, although there was a plan for a private renovation and expansion of the Kulturpalast in the 2000s, which would not have cost any tax money. This plan went to the building association "Our Beautiful Dresden", the Sachsenbau Chemnitz under Dr. Dieter Füsslein and the architect Hans Kollhoff back.

The new concert hall

Reopening in 2017

The Dresden Philharmonic and the organ in the renovated Kulturpalast

After renovation and reconstruction, the Kulturpalast was reopened on April 28, 2017 with a gala concert by the Dresden Philharmonic. The old ballroom was converted into a new concert hall with a reduced capacity of up to 1,800 seats. This means that the Dresden Philharmonic has got its traditional venue back. The new concert hall is also used for concerts by international orchestras. Its acoustics have been praised by musicians, audiences and press alike.

In addition, the Dresden City Libraries (central library) and the Dresden cabaret “ Die Herkuleskeule ” have now found their new domicile here. This enabled the building to be opened and used all day.

The problem of an adequate multifunctional hall was not dealt with or solved in this context, but remains open (status: 2017).

Organs

Jehmlich organ from 1970

In 1970, the Jehmlich company installed an organ in the Great Hall as Opus 905. A pipe organ in a large state cultural institution was still something special at the time when socialist cultural policy was only slowly opening up to music with an organ part.

The instrument had 24 registers , which were divided into two manuals and pedal . The disposition corresponding to a universal organ was worked out in cooperation with the Dresden organ scientist Prof. Frank-Harald Greß . The organ with the dimensions (W × H × D) 7.4 m × 7.4 m × 1.5 m stood on a mobile steel frame, on which it could be pushed onto the stage on specially laid rails. This required mobility, as well as the shortage of money, however, set clear limits to the size of the organ, which was very modest for a hall with well over 2000 seats at that time. The pipes were on three grinding shop , the tone contracture was mechanical and electro-key action.

In the course of the major renovation of the concert hall, the organ was dismantled in 2012 and, after an overhaul in 2015, rebuilt in the provost and parish church of St. Maria Friedenskönigin in Cottbus .

I main work C – f 3
1. Pommer 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Reed flute 8th'
4th octave 4 ′
5. Flat flute 2 ′
6th Intoxicating fifth II
7th Mixture VI
8th. Solo cymbal II
9. Trumpet 8th'
II Swell C – f 3
10. Black viola 8th'
11. Dumped 8th'
12. Principal 4 ′
13. Coupling flute 4 ′
14th octave 2 ′
15th Sif flute 1'
16. Sesquialtera II
17th Sharp V
18th Rohrschalmei 16 ′
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
19th Sub-bass 16 ′
20th Principal bass 8th'
21st Gemshorn 4 ′
22nd Backset VI
23. trombone 16 ′
24. Clarine 4 ′
  • Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
  • Playing aids : 4 free combinations, tutti, tongues off, single tongue holder

Owl organ from 2017

On September 8, 2017, the new concert organ was inaugurated, which was built by the company Hermann Eule Orgelbau Bautzen . Most of the financing was taken over by the Friends of the Dresden Philharmonic, mainly under its chairman George Gerard Arnhold .

The new instrument has 67 registers (4013 sounding pipes), which are distributed over four manuals and pedal (slider chests). The main part of the instrument measures 14.7 meters in width, 3.3 meters in depth and 8.5 meters in height, and weighs around 20.5 tons. The actions are electric, the console is mobile. A special feature of the instrument is the French Horn register, which is set up in its own sill in Manual II and which can be played as a solo register from Manual IV. The registers of the freely attachable bombing plant are in the sill in III. Manual set up.

I main work C – a 3
1. Principal 16 ′
2. Principal 08th'
3. Large open diapason 08th'
4th Flute major 08th'
5. cello 08th'
6th teller 08th'
7th Octave 04 ′
8th. Hollow flute 04 ′
9. Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
10. Octave 02 ′
11. Mixture IV-V 02 ′
12. Cornet III-V 02 ′
13. Trumpet 08th'
II Swell C – a 3
14th Darling Dumped 16 ′
15th Violin principal 08th'
16. Salicional 08th'
17th Double flute 08th'
18th Reed flute 08th'
19th Violin octave 04 ′
20th flute 04 ′
21st Nasard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
22nd Flautino 02 ′
23. third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′
24. Progressio III-V 02 ′
25th Cor anglais 16 ′
26th Cornopean 08th'
27. Clarinet 08th'
28. French Horn (separately swellable) 08th'
Tremulant
III Récit-Orchestral C – a 3
29 viola 16 ′
30th Principal 08th'
31. Viol d'orchestre 08th'
32. Concert flute 08th'
33. Delicately packed 08th'
34. Aeoline 08th'
35. Vox coelestis (from G) 0 08th'
36. Quintatön 08th'
37. Fugara 04 ′
38. Flute octaviante 04 ′
39. Octavine 02 ′
40. Violet Cornett III 03 1 ⁄ 5  ′
41. Plein jeu V 04 ′
42. Orchestral oboe 08th'
43. Voix Humaine 08th'
Tremulant
IV Solo
open
44. Melody 08th'
45. Tuba sonora 08th'
swellable
46. French Horn (= No. 28) 08th'


Bombard
47. Bombard 16 ′
48. Trompette harmonique 08th'
49. Clairon harmonique 04 ′
Pedal C – g 1
50. Grand Bourdon 32 ′
51. Open Wood 16 ′
52. Principal (= No. 1) 16 ′
53. Violon 16 ′
54. Subbass (Ext. No. 50) 16 ′
55. Gedacktbass (= No. 14) 16 ′
56. Dulcianabass (= No. 29) 0 16 ′
57. Octavbass 08th'
58. Violoncello (ext. No. 53) 08th'
59. Bass flute (ext. No.50) 08th'
60. Salicetbass (= No. 16) 08th'
61. Bourdonbass (= No. 30) 08th'
62. Octave (Ext. No. 57) 04 ′
63. Bass flute (ext. No.50) 04 ′
64. Contraposaune 32 ′
65. Trombone (ext. No.64) 16 ′
66. Trumpet bass 08th'
67. Clairon (Ext. No. 64) 04 ′
  • Pairing :
    • 10 normal paddocks: IV / I, III / I, II / I, III / II, III / I, II / I, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P
    • 5 normal couplings bomb bard mechanism (to all manual mechanisms and the pedal)
    • 5 sub-octave couplings: III / III, III / I, II / II, II / I, I / I
    • 5 super octave couples: III / III, III / I, II / II, II / I, IV / P
  • Game aids
  • Slider chests , 14 large wind chests, 18 single tone chests
  • 10 magazine bellows, 3 pre-bellows, 2 normal pressure and 1 high pressure fan
  • Electric game and stop action , BUS system, Eule system, MIDI recording function
  • Tuning tone: 443 Hz at 21 ° C, tuning type: equal
  • 4,013 sounding pipes, including 223 pipes from 6 registers in the prospectus (there plus 96 blind pipes).
  • largest pipe: Contraposaune 32 ′, C, 9.23 m, largest prospectus pipe: Principal 16 ′, 6.73 m

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgen Tietz: Dresden's new concert hall - late harmonies. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . May 3, 2017.
  2. ^ Received initiative Kulturpalast Dresden
  3. ↑ Last performance in the Dresden Kulturpalast - protests against renovations continue. In: Dresdner Latest News . July 23, 2012, accessed December 13, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Thomas Brose : The way of the red flag. A mural in the Dresden Kulturpalast tells German history. In: Christ in der Gegenwart , vol. 71 (2019), p. 514.
  5. ↑ SZ-online.de - Nachrichten - The way of the red flag lasts for eternity.
  6. ^ Rudolf Kober: Murals in the German Democratic Republic. 5th edition. Berlin 1987, pp. 24-33, 39.
  7. ↑ The way of the red flag - pictures in the picture archive at Wiki Commons
  8. ↑ The new Kulturpalast (accessed on May 9, 2017)
  9. ↑ a b Art in Public Space. Dresden Cultural Office, Dresden 1996.
  10. ↑ Start of construction in the Dresden Kulturpalast. State capital Dresden, October 11, 2013, accessed on October 15, 2013 (press release).
  11. ^ Jury determined the winning design for the Kulturpalast renovation. In: dresden.de. State capital Dresden, June 23, 2009, accessed on August 16, 2015 (press release).
  12. ↑ The best buildings of the year
  13. ↑ 24 percent increase: Kulturpalast costs more than 101 million euros , dnn.de, September 18, 2018
  14. ^ Kulturpalast Debatte - Chronology , Archive Society Historischer Neumarkt Dresden , accessed on August 18, 2019
  15. ↑ A magical haze. In: FAZ . May 3, 2017, p. 12.
  16. ↑ Evelyn Jehmlich: Cottbus, Catholic Propsteikirche St. Marien, 2 manuals 24 registers, Gebr. Jehmlich 1970, restoration 2015. In: Jehmlich Orgelbau Dresden. Retrieved on February 26, 2020 (German).
  17. ^ Jehmlich organ from 1970 , accessed on February 26, 2020.
  18. ↑ Inauguration of the concert organ. Program booklet. (PDF file, 1.7 MB.) Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  19. ↑ Technical data after: Inauguration of the concert organ. Program booklet. (PDF file, 1.7 MB.), P. 15/16. Retrieved February 25, 2020.

literature

  • Birk Engmann: Building for Eternity: Monumental architecture of the twentieth century and urban planning in Leipzig in the fifties. Sax-Verlag, Beucha 2006, ISBN 3-934544-81-9 .
  • Wolfgang Hänsch: House of Socialist Culture. In: German architecture. No. 4, 1968, pp. 212-671.
  • Meinhard von Gerkan , Stephan Schütz (ed.): Kulturpalast Dresden. Jovis Verlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-86859-484-3 .

Web links

Commons : Kulturpalast (Dresden)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 3.6 ″  N , 13 ° 44 ′ 18.6 ″  E