Ox pen bunker

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Ox pen bunker - Marchivum, front with entrance area
North-west side, 2014

The Ochsenpferchbunker is the largest raised bunker in Mannheim and dates from the Second World War . The listed building is on the northern bank of the Neckar , at the driveway of the Jungbuschbrücke in the Neckarstadt-West district . The naming of the bunker stems from Won her "Ochsenpferch", in which it was established. Alternatively, the terms "Bunker at the Hindenburg Bridge" or "Bunker Bürgermeister-Fuchs-Straße" were used earlier.

building

The building envelope comprises 29,310 cubic meters with a floor area of ​​6100 square meters. There are four floors above a basement and the ground floor. The wall thickness is 1.10 m, the ceiling thickness 1.40 m. The capacity (with around 1000 berths and 2000 seats) was designed for a scheduled occupancy of 3412 people. After excavation at the end of 1940, the shell was erected from April 1941 to January 1943 and more than 10,000 cubic meters of reinforced concrete were used.

Use in World War II

During the first air raids on the Neckar city on 9/10. May 1941 the bunker was still under construction. After completion, it offered protection to 7,500 people with maximum occupancy. The building was hit several times and stopped on the night of 23/24. September 1943 when a 10-hundredweight mine bomb hit the eastern stair tower. Further air raids, including on August 26, 1944, did not result in serious damage.

Use after the war

After the end of the war, the bunker was first used by the American armed forces as a prison camp and then as accommodation for their servants, for those returning from the war and for returnees from evacuation. It then served as emergency living space under municipal administration and by autumn 1949 had 236 residents. From the end of 1954 the residents were moved back to their apartments. The bunker was not free until 1966.

After appropriate renovation, it served as a nuclear shelter for civil defense during the Cold War and would have provided space for around 5,400 people in an emergency. In 2010/2011 the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) declassified it. The federal government gave it to the city of Mannheim.

Use by the Mannheim City Archives (Marchivum)

Ochsenpferchbunker - Marchivum, view over the Jungbuschbrücke

Since 2008 the bunker has served as an external depot for the Mannheim City Archives, especially for holdings that have already been digitized. The city archive was previously located in the Collini Center . Because the office tower of the Technical City Hall is in need of renovation, a new quarter was sought in the city and the ox pen bunker was preferred. In 2014, the city council decided unanimously to rebuild the ox pen bunker for 17 million euros. The monument protection authority at the Karlsruhe regional council approved the plans. The construction work under the new name "Marchivum - Mannheims House of City History and Remembrance" began in February 2016. Two modern floors were added to the bunker for offices, reading room and event rooms of the city archive. Exhibition space for a local NS documentation center is also included. After construction was completed, the move took place in the winter half-year 2017/2018 with the opening in March 2018. On March 1, 2018, the name of the city archive was changed to Marchivum .

literature

  • Andreas Schenk, Mannheim and his buildings 1907–2007, Volume 4, Mannheim 2004, p. 124 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mannheimer Morgen , "Bombensicheres Stadtarchiv", Institute for City History: Ochsenpferchbunker in Neckarstadt-West to become a memory store, issue of June 5, 2014, page 17.
  2. ^ City of Mannheim , City Council gives the green light for Ochsenpferchbunker , July 11, 2014, accessed December 14, 2017
  3. ↑ Mannheimer Morgen, local council says yes , edition of July 12, 2014, page 19, ( online )
  4. ↑ Mannheimer Morgen, A Bunker as a Meeting Place , edition of March 7, 2016, page 17.
  5. ↑ Mannheimer Morgen, Stadtgeschichte: New Marchivum opened in the converted ox pen bunker in Neckarstadt , edition of March 19, 2014, page 13
  6. ↑ Marchivum. Information, about us. Accessed March 31, 2018 .

Web links

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

Coordinates: 49 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  N , 8 ° 27 ′ 41 ″  E