Town house (Mannheim)

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The town house as seen from Paradeplatz

The town house is a multi-purpose building in Mannheim . It is located in square N 1 on the central Paradeplatz in downtown Mannheim. The modern building with the Mannheim symmetry typical of this city (building with a so-called central tower facade) was built in 1991 in place of the old department store that was destroyed in the Second World War .

history

old department store on Paradeplatz

Today's town house is located on the site of the former old department store on Paradeplatz , which was completed in 1745 . The "Old Department Store" was a magnificent baroque building that also had a central tower facade and was partially destroyed in the Second World War.

Contrary to its name, the building was only used briefly as a department store. State authorities have been based here since the 18th century. From 1903 it was owned by the city of Mannheim, which used it as a town hall after a renovation by Richard Perrey .

Three architectural competitions

Three competitions were held before the construction of the townhouse:

  1. Roland Ostertag from Leonberg won the first competition in 1960 . Ostertag proposed a 14-storey high-rise building 60 meters high with flat cubes in front. As a result of the competition, the tower and the remains of the baroque substance were demolished. But in 1967 financial difficulties led to the cessation of construction work. Ostertag's design was later implemented as the town hall in Kaiserslautern .
  2. The second competition in 1978 was won by the Cologne architect couple Jan and Maria Matyas. A block development was planned with a funnel-shaped incision in the longitudinal axis at the point where the tower previously stood. But this design was not implemented either.
  3. Mannheim architects Carlfried Mutschler , Joachim Langner , Christine Maurer and Ludwig Schwöbel won the third competition in 1986 . They designed a postmodern building that refers to the previous Baroque building .

Referendum

Unmistakable protests from the citizens of Mannheim led to a referendum in November 1986 , which, with 83 percent, was clearly in favor of reconstruction according to historical plans and thus against Mutschler's draft. However, since the required 30 percent quorum was missed by 3.8 percentage points, Lord Mayor Widder disregarded the opinion and approved the realization of the post-modern Mutschler building.

Establishment

The town house was inaugurated on April 13, 1991 .

modification

By May 2008 the ground floor with a usable area of ​​4,000 m² was converted and renovated. The staircase in the center was removed and the main entrance was given a large glass prism, which provides more daylight inside. The materials used, like the energy supply, are ecologically oriented. Further renovations followed, including the Citizens' Hall in 2014.

architecture

The dominant motif of the town house is the central tower with an open steel construction and a glass elevator shaft that led to a café on the top floor of the tower. The tower is closed for fire protection reasons.

use

Entrance to the city library

The city library is housed in the town hall. In addition, there is the council chamber of the Mannheim municipal council as well as a citizen's hall, which is available for events.

The tower café Cocktailbar Stars had been located in the glass tower of the town house since 1994, and could be reached with a glass elevator via the podium level of the town house. The tower café was closed at the end of August 2016 due to the risk of fire.

From 2008 to 2010 there was an organic center on the ground floor with an organic supermarket and the areas of Beauty & Health and an organic restaurant. Instead of the organic supermarket, a REWE -City branch opened.

The Panoptikum Mannheim opened its doors on the 3rd floor from May 11, 2013 to May 31, 2014 . Germany's largest wax museum with over 350 partly historical exhibits was built on over 1200 m².

Since May 16, 2014, the venue of the Oststadt Theater has been located in the converted Citizens' Hall on the 1st floor.

In October or November, two halls of the town hall serve as a venue for the international newcomer films for the annual Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival .

Overall, no usage concept has yet been found for the townhouse that is permanently successful, especially in the commercially used area.

literature

  • Monika Ryll: Department store, town hall, town house in Mannheim. Buildings in contradiction between government and citizenship. Publishing office v. Brandt, Mannheim 1991, ISBN 3926260130 .

Individual evidence

  1. https://www.mannheim.de/de/tourismus-entsehen/stadtgeschichte/stadtpunkte/demokratie-arbeiterbewichtung- Resistance/kaufhaus-rathaus- stadthaus
  2. "Acute danger to life and limb"! City closes tower café. In: mannheim24.de. August 30, 2016, accessed April 2, 2018 .
  3. Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung of August 31, 2016, page 8 (Mannheim)
  4. ^ Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg. History. Retrieved October 9, 2017 .

Web links

Commons : Townhouse  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 29 ′ 10.7 ″  N , 8 ° 27 ′ 56.1 ″  E