Levant house
The Levantehaus is an office building in Hamburg ( Hamburg-Altstadt ), Mönckebergstraße 7.
The name Levante (Italian: " towards the sun") either comes from the first major tenant of the business premises, the Deutsche Levante Schifffahrts-Linie , or is generally based on the historical orientation of the house, which was rented by shipping companies and trading with the eastern Mediterranean , the "Orient". A stylized sun symbol (nine yellow rays arranged in a semicircle) is the registered and protected trademark of the current owner, the GbR Levantehaus.
location
The Levantehaus is located in downtown Hamburg , near the main train station . The two buildings parallel to the street are located between the Mönckebergstrasse shopping street and Bugenhagenstrasse (see sketch). The Mönckebergstraße Mitte underground station is a few meters away, bus lines 4, 5 and 6 stop right in front of the Levantehaus, and drivers can head for the nearby parking garages.
History and architecture
As part of the breakthrough in Mönckebergstrasse at the beginning of the 20th century, the Hubertushof was designed as a reinforced concrete skeleton with a brick facade by the Hamburgers Franz Bach (architect, building contractor) and Carl Bensel (architect, decisive in the facade design) and built in 1911/1912. Both parts of the building had a basement, five full and two stacked floors and enclosed two large inner courtyards . There was a central, shared staircase that was decorated for representative purposes. The ground floor on the side facing Mönckebergstrasse had shops, all other rooms were intended for offices.
The building was named Levantehaus by 1925 at the latest.
It was destroyed by bombs in 1943/1944, but was largely rebuilt true to the original by Bach & Wischer from 1948 to 1950.
The broad-based office building (see facade structure) with a symmetrical structure is vertically subdivided by continuous, fluted wall pillars, with three protruding bay windows and the two-storey portal in the middle. The base zone with vertical-format windows is two-storey with a cornice at the end, on the first floor there are rows of wide arched windows , separated by pilaster strips . On Mönckebergstrasse the brick facade is partly clad with shell limestone, parapet elements and bands are decorated with various ornaments, on Bugenhagenstrasse the simple facade is made of clinker bricks.
Until 1995, the Levantehaus was used as an office building with retail on the ground floor; from 1946 to 1971 it was the headquarters of Deutsche Philips . At that time it was also known as the Philips House and a mosaic with the company logo adorned the entrance.
Remodeling and art
From 1995 to 1997 the office building was converted into a shopping mall and a 5-star hotel. The reasons for this were the oversupply of office space in Hamburg's old town, the oversized and therefore difficult to rent rooms in the office building as well as the move out of the administrative professional association, which had occupied most of the office space.
- The listed facade was preserved, the roof, which is also listed, was reconstructed and the interior was first gutted according to the plans of the Berlin architectural office Sidell Gibson Schäfer & Partner and the Hamburg architects Ockelmann, Rottgardt & Partner and then rebuilt in the current layout. The two staggered floors were removed and the building was increased by four normal floors.
- The basement ceiling of the building had to be lowered to street level so that level access was possible. A swimming pool was installed in the basement.
- A shopping arcade was built on the ground floor and first floor with glazed roofs on the sides of the former courtyards. The two wings of the passage are made of brick wall and sandstone pillars, the glass ceilings are supported by arched, filigree steel structures. In the case of the supports, the sequence of main and secondary pillars follows the pattern of the outer wall pillars. In order to decorate the interior, further elements were taken from the original building, for example gallery balustrades, banisters, flooring.
- The hotel extends in the two structures and in the central area of the building (above the passage) from the second to the ninth floors. The central opening in the ceiling creates a connection between the passage floors and the hotel floors:
- For the opening between the ground floor and the first floor, the English sculptor Barry Baldwin created a figure frieze from various endangered animal species.
- In the ceiling of the 7th floor there is an artificially illuminated lead glass window with motifs from Greek mythology, designed by the German painter Ada Isensee .
- The cabins of the two paternoster lifts , which were no longer approved for passenger transport, have been converted into showcases in which shops and restaurants in the passage can present themselves.
- The paternosters have been replaced by a glass elevator. While driving him through the floors, you can see the mural painting by Mme. Pochie with the title "Evolution of Mankind".
In 2000 the Levantehaus received the “Hamburg's most beautiful facade” award from the Hamburg Monument Protection Office and the LGH.
Todays use
About 40 retail stores, service providers, restaurants and cafes currently use the passage. The range of goods is in the upper price segment and is artisanal and artistic. Widespread chain stores are rather rare. There you will find the world's first Steiff gallery, Märklin Store Levantehaus Hamburg, Birgit and Arne Probst - handicrafts from the Ore Mountains , jewelers and watch dealers, stationery, bespoke tailoring and custom shoemaking, a goldsmith's shop, the sushi factory and other companies in the fields of fashion and beauty , Accessories and lifestyle.
The 5-star Hotel Park Hyatt Hamburg is part of the Levantehaus; it operates the swimming pool area as a spa and fitness club.
In 2007, a photovoltaic system from SunTechnics with a peak output of 14.35 kilowatts was installed on the roof of the building .
Culture and marketing
Around 10 to 20 cultural and marketing events take place in the Levantehaus every year. They are funded by the GbR Levantehaus, the tenants (retailers, hotels, restaurants) and other users of the building. Art is offered in particular - e.g. B. by Caspar David Friedrich , Jan Jastram , Heinz Felbermair , Eberhard Oertel , Jan Siebert or "Strong Women" -, photography - z. B. by Henning von Berg , Klaus Kammerichs , Manfred Vollmer or Angela Roy - and literature - z. B. by Anton Chekhov , Chuck Palahniuk , poetry slamers or the Hamburger Lesetage . There are also presentations of craftsmen and products. Cooperations are maintained with the Deutsches Schauspielhaus , the Hamburg Cultural Office , the Hamburger Kunsthalle , the Literaturhaus Hamburg and other associations and organizations.
The GbR Levantehaus awards a sponsorship award for creative design at irregular intervals (Levantehaus Design Award, awarded in 2000 and 2005).
In 2004 the Levantehaus was awarded the “KulturMerkur” by the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and the Hamburg Cultural Foundation for its cultural commitment .
See also
swell
- ↑ Info from a guided tour through the building
- ↑ http://www.wissen.de/wde/generator/wissen/ressorts/reisen/reisefuehrer/hamburg/index,!!!page=1642174.html ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.architekten-portrait.de/carl_gustav_bensel/index.html
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated September 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Architecture Guide Hamburg, Ralf Lange , Edition Axel Menges, 1995, page 37
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.traegerverbund-innenstadt.de/pdf/tvpi_moenckeb_gestaltungsr.pdf
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2003/11/29/235508.html
- ↑ http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2006/10/16/624958.html
- ↑ http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2007/11/03/812086.html
- ↑ http://www.levantehaus.de/eventarchiv.htm ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.levantehaus.de
- ↑ http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2004/11/23/367357.html
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
literature
- Michael Seufert: Levantehaus - tradition and modernity. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2012
- Hamburg, Mönckebergstrasse. On the preservation of historic buildings by the architect Carl Bensel (1878–1949), thesis of the advanced and master’s degree in monument preservation at the TU Berlin, written by Dipl.-Ing. Jan Lubitz, year MSD 2004-06, for a summary see footnote # 5
- Construction documentation Levantehaus Park Hyatt-Hotel, SUSA-Verlag Hameln, editor Liane Mletzko, photography Jürgen Brinkmann, published 1998, download possible, see footnote # 4
- Hamburg and its buildings 1914. Vol. 1. Ed. Architects and Engineers Association Hamburg. Hamburg 1914.
- Carmen Krause: Franz Bach. Architect and entrepreneur, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-937816-81-4 full text
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 33 ′ 4.3 ″ N , 10 ° 0 ′ 10.5 ″ E