Paul Gustavus House
The Paul-Gustavus-Haus is a 1904–1905 building in the East Thuringian skat and residence city of Altenburg , Wallstrasse 29, east of the market. The residential and commercial building on the street, built into a block perimeter, is connected at the rear with an office and factory building in which the malt coffee factory of the client Paul Gustavus was housed. The building has not been used or maintained since 2001, and a development association has been trying to preserve it since 2009 .
Usage history
The building was constructed between 1904 and 1905 by the Altenburg master builder Gustav Frenzel for Paul Gustavus' malt coffee factory. In 1928, two shops on the ground floor of the main building were merged and for a time used as a sales room for the malt coffee that was produced. Over the years it housed drugstores, a bookstore and, until 2001, a wallpaper shop.
The central building housed offices and rooms for the production, storage and packaging of the malt coffee, as evidenced by a machine system on the second floor. The Secret Annex was also used for production purposes. The building complex has been empty since 2001.
architecture
The main building (front building) shows a representative facade on the street side with a bay window and a central gable in yellow clinker bricks with shaped stones and other plastic decorations in plaster or stucco as well as in sgraffito technique. While the basic architectural design comes from the neo-renaissance , the decor shows typical, high-quality Art Nouveau forms, which predominate in the overall impression. A special feature are the original English-style vertical sliding windows that have been preserved , which indicate the builder's enthusiasm for England, Paul Gustavus, and which are now a rare historical building detail.
The building complex has a tall chimney, also made of yellow clinker, and is evidence of a relatively large factory. Cellars are laid out under the entire area. The attic connects the three parts of the building.
Support association
The building, which has not been used since 2001 and is in a poor structural condition, was opened for inspection at the 2009 Heritage Open Day . The interest of the visitors was so great that it was decided to found a support association to keep it.
Through the young development association Zukunftswerkstatt Paul-Gustavus-Haus Altenburg eV , founded in 2009, the renovation is to progress and the building will be put into permanent use. It should be made accessible to the public and available for social projects. There is currently a library on the upper floor, in which donated books can be purchased; the profits are used for the renovation. A reading café also opens every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Web links
- Website of the Friends' Association (under construction), last accessed on February 10, 2013
- Wallstrasse 29 “Paul Gustavus Haus” on denkmalstadt-altenburg.de , last accessed on February 10, 2013
Coordinates: 50 ° 59 ′ 8 ″ N , 12 ° 26 ′ 10 ″ E