Munich Trade Union House

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Logo of the Munich trade union building

The Munich Trade Union House is the house where most of Munich's trade unions and the DGB Munich, but also the DGB district Bavaria as well as some state district associations of the Bavarian DGB - trade unions have their headquarters. It is located in the Ludwigsvorstadt district of Munich .

history

The history of the Munich trade union building is closely linked to the economic development of Munich. The 19th century was also a time of economic upheaval for Munich. As a result of increasing industrialization, more and more industrial companies emerged in Munich from the 1870s, which let trade and craft take a back seat. This in turn had an impact on the workforce development in Munich - and the organization of the trade unions.

The beginnings in Munich in the 19th century

In Munich, the increasing demand for labor in industry was met mainly by immigration from rural areas. The difficult working and living conditions also led to the emergence of a large number of workers' associations and unions, which primarily aimed at improving the working and living situation ( social question ). The authorities and companies reacted to the emergence and rapid growth of the labor movement first and foremost with repression. In order to increase political clout and improve coordination between the various unions, the “Munich Trade Union Cartel” was founded in 1893. This Munich trade union association set up a workers' secretariat, whose three secretaries moved into premises on Isartorplatz in 1898.

The union building on Pestalozzistraße

The plan to build a central trade union building in Munich arose in view of the growing membership and activities of the trade unions . In this new house all "free", i.e. H. Social democratically oriented and non-denominational unions should be housed. In 1911 the association “Munich Trade Union House” was founded to ensure the financing and construction. This club was supported u. a. by the trade unions, the consumer association Munich-Sendling, the social democratic association Munich and a printing company related to the association. Through donations, membership fees and campaigns such as B. the sale of postcards it became possible in the same year to acquire the property at Pestalozzistraße 40/42, which was near the central hostel of the trade unions, which had existed since 1906. The union building designed by the Munich architect Max Littmann opened at the end of October 1912 . Due to its location, size and architecture, the new trade union building was a clear symbol of the increased self-confidence and strength of the Munich labor movement. In addition to Paris and Hamburg, the Munich trade union house was one of the first large trade union houses in Europe. It also offered a library, an inn and rooms of various sizes for events.

Right from the start, the new building was more than just an administrative building for the Munich trade unions, it was also an important venue for the Munich labor movement: Political meetings and lectures, educational events, concerts, festivals and film screenings took place here. It remained one of the most important centers of the Munich labor movement even during the Weimar Republic . During this time it was a place of practical help and solidarity. For example, looking after the unemployed in the early 1930s took up a significant portion of the resources of the Munich trade unions. The union library was also an important point of contact for many unemployed. The systematic persecution of the Bavarian labor movement began on March 9, 1933. On the same day, the SA occupied the Munich trade union building. The members of the Reichsbanner and the trade unions, who had been barricaded in the trade union building the day before , decided to hand over the house without a fight in view of the superior power of the SA and the apparent tolerance of this procedure by the police. After the occupation, the SA used the trade union building for a few days as a “wild prison” in which political opponents were interned and tortured. In the spring of 1933 the German Labor Front (DAF) took over the building. From 1936 a police station was temporarily housed in the former trade union building. From 1938 on, the building was used by the municipal health department until it was finally almost completely destroyed by a bombing raid in December 1944.

New beginning after 1945

Portrait stele by Hans Böckler (Karl Trumpf, 1891–1959) in the entrance area of ​​the Munich trade union building. From 1945 Hans Böckler was the first federal chairman of the new DGB unified trade unions .

Immediately after the liberation of Munich by American troops at the end of April 1945, works committees were formed, in which active trade unionists were often significantly involved even before 1933. At the same time, a group around Gustav Schiefer , who was chairman of the Munich ADGB from 1918 to 1933 , began planning to rebuild the unions. Also, Ludwig Koch , 1946 Youth secretary and 1953-1973 district chairman of the DGB Munich, became involved shortly after his release from a subcamp of the concentration camp Flossenburg in this county. The experiences of the Weimar Republic shaped the deliberations of the group: Instead of directional unions , the principle of a politically and religiously unbound union with a strongly centralized structure should take place.

In November 1945, the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Freie Münchner Gewerbe Unions”, in which ten trade unions had come together, began work in the rooms of the city's high-rise on Blumenstrasse. The Munich working group was also instrumental in the preparations for the “1. Ordinary Congress of the State Trade Unions ”, at which the Bavarian Trade Union Federation (BGB) was founded in March 1947 . In the same year, the BGB and its Munich subdivision moved into a building at Landwehrstrasse 7-9, which had last belonged to the German Labor Front. In October 1949, the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) was finally founded in the congress hall of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The membership of the trade unions in the new DGB district in Munich had already risen to 110,000 at this point. In order to meet the increased demand for office space, the house in Landwehrstrasse was extended by an extension in Mathildenstrasse.

The trade union building in Schwanthalerstraße

The history of the union building also reflected the development of the DGB and its member unions. The changing economic and political conditions led to changes in the structures of the trade unions and a change in trade union work, which was also reflected in the use of the trade union building. However, all member unions of the DGB were never represented in the union building on Schwanthalerstraße : The police union (GdP) and the art union in the DGB, for example, never had offices there.

At the end of 2018, around 300 employees were working in the building. There are plans to demolish the building due to ailing structure and to build a new office and administration building at the same address.

  • View of the facade from Schwanthalerstraße

  • View of the east facade of House B, House A, the parking deck and the Ludwig-Koch-Saal

  • View of the west facade of House B, House A and the inner courtyard

  • Reception in the Munich trade union building

architecture

The union building in Schwanthalerstrasse initially comprised only two buildings (today buildings A and B), which in addition to the offices of the DGB member unions also housed many union-related facilities. So were z. B. on the ground floor directly on Schwanthalerstraße are the shops of the Gutenberg Book Guild and the union's own Bund-Verlag. In the decades that followed, the union building was subject to repeated structural changes. So was z. B. in the 1970s, today's house C was increased from four to five floors. After the public services, transport and traffic union (ÖTV) relocated its district office to Bayerstraße, a passage from the union building to this building was created in the 1980s. Despite the "modernization" in the 1990s, the graying charm of the 1960s persisted. The discussion, which has always been carried out by the trade unions, about a necessary modernization of the Schwanthalerstraße building did not make any noticeable progress for a long time, which is why some DGB trade unions left the building. That is why the Munich trade union building was about to give up after the turn of the millennium. The small initiative “Save the Trade Union House” tried on the one hand to persuade the unions to stay and on the other hand to convince the property management of the necessity of the renovation . A comprehensive renovation and modernization was finally agreed on the condition of finding suitable tenants. Some rooms were renovated between 2004 and 2009, but not all deficiencies were eliminated. As of 2019, some offices were no longer usable due to water damage from a leaky roof. In October 2019, IG Metall moved to Giesing.

The conference wing

As part of a cooperation project, the exhibition "Endstation Vernichtung." Was opened in 2009 in the conference wing of the Munich trade union building. Diligence and fulfillment of duty at the Reichsbahn in Munich 1933–1945 ”. Accompanied by a variety of events such as lectures and tours.

In the basement between houses A and B are the meeting and party rooms of the DGB youth. The majority of the hotel's event rooms and the Ludwig-Koch-Saal are located above this. The conference wing takes into account the fact that there are a large number of meetings and events held by the individual unions. But also that the Munich program of the DGB Bildungswerk München enables a significant proportion of in-house educational opportunities. Basically, the house is open to the citizens of Munich. The rooms themselves can be booked and occupied for external events. Most of the event rooms were named after important personalities of the labor movement (see below ).

In wage disputes or at politically important rallies, the Ludwig Koch Hall and the inner courtyard are the main rallies. But also as a strike bar, which also applies to the other rooms and the canteen opposite (Salettl). Otherwise, as part of the renovation, the conference wing was designed so that public exhibitions can also be shown in it.

The former library

The building of the former library and current canteen

There is a pavilion in the courtyard opposite the conference wing. This originally housed a library in the basement with a well-stocked collection of union and workers' literature. It was also a meeting point for many active people who also wanted to find out more about the history of the trade unions. The library thus also fulfilled its function of a place of active exchange. Due to austerity measures in the 1980s, it was no longer possible to maintain this library. In contrast to the preservation of the union building, an association to preserve the library was not successful. So it was finally dissolved. The entire inventory was transferred to the library on Gasteig. The office of the " Freie Volksbühne " was located above the library . This was also dissolved in the 1980s.

Since then, the house itself has become the canteen (Salettl), which is also open and can serve as a meeting place.

Art in the union building

Fritz Koelles (1895–1953) Crouching miner in front of the former library
Karl Röhrigs (1886–1972) manual labor in the Munich trade union building

The restaurants of those incorporated districts in which there were a particularly large number of workers 'quarters (e.g. Giesing , Au , Haidhausen , Westend ) served as centers of a gradually developing workers' culture , the political parties and unions as well as music and sports clubs , savings associations and Relief funds, consumer associations , housing associations and many other organizations. In addition, Munich was an important place for unionized artists , as the art pavilion in the old Botanical Garden , whose history is closely linked to that of the union- affiliated Association of Visual Artists (SBK), is evidence of this. Some of the artists had the opportunity to install their work in the Munich trade union building.

  • Karl Trumpf (1891–1959) created the portrait stele by Hans Böckler in the entrance area (bronze, date of origin: 1950s). He mainly designed bronze portraits of politicians from the Weimar Republic and of personalities from the history of trade unions. There are several casts of the Böckler portrait, most of which can be found in various institutions of the DGB.
  • Ernst Oberle (1919–1996) designed a fresco that is now hidden under the copper roof of the Ludwig Koch Hall as a “crypto work of art”. He was a founding member of the Association of Visual Artists, from 1973 its chairman and member of the central board of the art union.
  • Guido Zingerl (* 1933) created the cycle The Seven Deadly Sins in 2007 . With pen, brush and paint he exposes the economic and political pullers of yesterday and today. With the cycle The Seven Deadly Sins hanging in Building B, 6th floor of the trade union building , Zingerl implemented the discussion of fundamental questions of ethics in the visual arts.
  • Fritz Koelle (1895–1953) designed the bronze Hockender Bergmann in 1929 , which is placed in the garden in front of the former library. He turned mainly to topics from the world of work and was widely recognized for his large worker sculptures. One of Koelle's most important works after the liberation from fascism was the figure of a concentration camp inmate at the crematorium in the Dachau concentration camp memorial from 1947 .
  • Karl Röhrig's (1886–1972) stone relief work of the hand was created in 1957/1958 and is in the courtyard in front of House B. The work was created as part of a commissioned work for the new trade union building in Munich. It hung there for a long time in the foyer next to its counterpart, the equally large relief Work of the Spirit . The two panels were actually intended to be viewed together and complementarily.
  • Albert Heinzingers (1911–1992) Bild Voran on new tracks is familiar to everyone who goes from the main entrance of house (A) to houses B and C. Together we work on a departure into a new, better time. Heinzinger was also a founding member of the Association of Visual Artists in Munich and one of its most prominent representatives.

People in the Munich trade union building

The Munich trade union building is not just a place for trade union activities and various conferences or educational measures. It was always a place where important personalities of urban society were active. The name of the meeting rooms in the house was therefore based on important personalities of the (Munich) labor movement.

Trade unionists in politics

Named persons of the rooms

  • Adi Maislinger (born December 9, 1903 in Munich; † April 26, 1985 there) was in the resistance against the Nazi dictatorship. After the war he was a member of the ÖTV trade union and was involved in the Dachau concentration camp memorial. He often passed on his experience as a contemporary witness in union bodies.
  • Lotte Branz (1903–1987) was like her husband, Gottlieb Branz , a resistance fighter against the Nazi regime. She was also involved in the SPD.
  • Therese Giehse (born March 6, 1898 in Munich; † March 3, 1975 there) was a well-known Munich actress and interpreter of Bertolt Brecht's play .
  • The Lörcher siblings (Ernst, Albert and Elisabeth) also belonged to the resistance from the labor movement. After the war, Albert Lörcher co-founded the archive of the Munich labor movement.
  • Heinrich Krehle (born January 21, 1892 in Munich; † October 16, 1969 there) took part in the reconstruction of the Bavarian Trade Union Federation (BGB) after the end of the war and was on the city council of Munich from 1945 to 1946.
  • Thomas Wimmer (born January 7, 1887 in Siglfing; † January 18, 1964 in Munich) joined the “ Deutscher Holzarbeiter-Verband ” (DHV) trade union founded in Kassel in 1893 , for which he was elected district delegate in 1912.

See also

literature

  • DGB region Munich and ver.di regional district Bavaria (2011) (Ed.): Topographical traces of the Munich trade unions. From Pestalozzi to Schwanthalerstraße
  • DGB Bildungswerk München (Ed.) (2008): The other Munich. Brochure accompanying the alternative city tour of the DGB Bildungswerk München, Munich, ISBN 978-3-00-024180-2
  • Gerstenberg, G. (1997): A red castle of the proletariat. The old trade union building on Pestalozzistraße. In: DGB Bildungswerk München (Ed.): Munich Sketches, Volume 5
  • Kühn, M. (1997): Münchner Arbeiterekretariat. From the foundation to 1914. In: DGB Bildungswerk München (Hrsg.): Münchnerskzen, Volume 5
  • Schröder, M. (1985): “Our strength must lie in the combined strength”. On the history of the Bavarian Trade Union Federation. Cologne, ISBN 978-3-7663-0875-7

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Kühn 1997
  2. ↑ Bigger, more modern, friendlier: this is how the new DGB building should be. In: www.hallo-muenchen.de. December 15, 2018, accessed January 22, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b Ekaterina Kel: ailing building: unions move. In: www.sueddeutsche.de. February 12, 2020, accessed February 14, 2020 .

Notes and quotes:

  1. ↑ One of the most important tasks of the workers' secretariat was advising and representing union members on legal issues. This was mainly in the area of ​​social law, e.g. B. the newly created accident and health insurance is necessary. See DGB region Munich and ver.di regional district Bavaria 2011
  2. ↑ “In addition to advisory services, the unions organized in cooperation and a. with, among other things, film screenings, cultural events and lunches for the children of unemployed union members with the Arbeiterwohlfahrt ”(DGB region Munich and ver.di regional district Bavaria 2011, p. 11).

Web links

Commons : Munich Trade Union House  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 8 ′ 15.6 ″  N , 11 ° 33 ′ 16.7 ″  E