Neuffer (shoe factory)
| Neuffer | |
|---|---|
 renovated facade of the Neuffer building facing Neufferstrasse |
|
| Data | |
| place | Pirmasens |
| builder | Emil Paqué |
| Architectural style | Reform architecture |
| Construction year | at the end of the 19th century |
The Neuffer company was one of the largest shoe factories in the Palatinate town of Pirmasens in the 20th century, at times producing 5,000 pairs of shoes a day. The historic building was completely renovated in 1990 and has since served as a business park, office complex, restaurant and cultural and service center under the name Neuffer am Park .
history
In 1894, the manufacturer Emil Paqué from St. Wendel applied for a building permit for a new factory building with a residential building outside the city limits at that time. Soon took the shoe production with initially 150 employees and a 22 hp - steam engine to operate on. To connect the new buildings, a new street was built and named after Emil Paqué Louise's wife .
In 1926 the Pirmasens factory owner Emil Neuffer bought the building, increased production and soon achieved a daily production of 5,000 pairs of shoes with this and two other factories. During the Second World War , the facility and its materials were confiscated and used to manufacture and repair uniforms and military boots.
Shortly after the surrender in 1945, the Neuffer shoe factory reopened its doors to production and on December 10, 1949, the 40th anniversary was celebrated. After Emil Neuffer's death in 1953, his heirs continued to run the business until 1962; then production was stopped and the company was liquidated.
The rooms were further sublet as warehouses and production rooms for smaller companies. However, as insufficient investment was made in the maintenance of the building, its condition continued to deteriorate.
In 1990 the entrepreneur Bernd Hummel bought the building complex, submitted an application for monument protection and renamed the facility Neuffer am Park . After the buildings were completely renovated from the outside and completely redistributed inside, they have since served as domicile for various companies and institutions, including Hummel's company KangaRoos , Rockland Radio , various doctors, restaurants, the art and cultural center "Forum Neufferanum" and others.
architecture
The plans for a magnificent facade on Neufferstrasse were drawn up in 1919 by the architect Josef Uhl (1887–1961). The Berlin City Palace may have served him as inspiration: two courtyards one behind the other and a west facade with a central portal raised by a dome with a passage. It was only after the takeover by Emil Neuffer in 1926 that work began, combining a wide variety of stylistic elements into a castle-like entrance with columns on which four figures stand:
- a male shoemaker with a shoemaker's hammer and shoe soles in his hands
- the goddess Demeter with a cornucopia as a symbol of wealth
- the goddess Aphrodite with a mirror in her hand as a symbol of beauty
- the god Hermes as the protector of the merchants.
Importance and outlook
The redesign of the Neuffer shoe factory marked the beginning of the conversion of unused facilities and areas into business parks in the former shoe metropolis of Pirmasens . The Husterhöh-Kaserne (1997) and, from 2007, Rheinberger projects followed .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Neuffer am Park: History ( Memento from August 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ LRP.DE: ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Catch the future on quiet feet , Lively Rhineland-Palatinate (PDF) ), Issue III-IV, 2004, ISSN 0934-9294
- ^ Neuffer am Park: Architecture ( Memento from April 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 49 ° 12 '14.3 " N , 7 ° 36' 44" E