Prussian settlement
The Prussian settlement is a planned settlement in the Berlin district of Altglienicke , which was built from 1910 to 1913 by the architects Max Bel and Franz Clement (first construction phase) and Hermann Muthesius (second construction phase). The building ensemble of 54 small houses is one of the oldest examples of a garden city in Germany designed based on the English model . It has been a listed building as a whole since 1997 . The settlement owes its name to the adjacent Preußenstraße , which was named in December 1911 .
history
First construction phase
At the end of the 19th century, the traffic connection between Altglienicke and neighboring Berlin was decisively improved by the connection to the road and rail network. As a result, wealthy families in particular settled in the area, who appreciated living in the countryside and at the same time being close to the capital. The village of Altglienicke developed into a suburb of Berlin over time. Around 1910, on the initiative of the municipal administration , small house settlements such as the " Tuschkastensiedlung " were built in addition to villas . In the spirit of reform housing construction and the life reform movement , workers and low-income employees also wanted to create affordable living space that corresponded to the hygienic and technical standards of the time and enabled users to at least partially cater for themselves .
In 1910, the construction of the Prussian settlement south-east of the town center of Altglienicke began under the builders of the Landwohnstätten-Gesellschaft . The Landwohnstätten-Gesellschaft was founded on the initiative of the left-liberal politician and then Berlin city councilor Hugo Preuss . The founders also included members of the SPD . The architectural community of Max Bel and Franz Clement built a total of 28 small houses with kitchen gardens , small animal stalls and two access roads by 1911 . The construction company Paul Funck took over the execution. After completion , a contribution appeared in Vorwärts , the party magazine of the SPD, which criticized the houses as too small and the floor plans as non-functional, which was followed by replies and a new reply from the original author. Perhaps this was the reason why the Landwohnstätten-Gesellschaft ended its collaboration with the Bel and Clement architects.
Second construction phase
In 1913, Hermann Muthesius was commissioned to plan the second construction phase with a further 26 row houses . In contrast to his predecessors, Muthesius had experience in building garden cities: from 1909 he was involved in the planning of the Hellerau in Dresden . His scholarly examination of English residential building had already been reflected in the highly acclaimed book Das Englische Haus in 1904 .
Fate of the settlement after 1913
The Prussian settlement remained almost undamaged in World War II . As is often the case with planned historical settlements, the appearance of the entire complex suffered from the non-coordinated renovation measures that the residents carried out on their houses.
Redevelopment
After the political change , the Prussian settlement came into the possession of the Stadt und Land Wohnbauten-Gesellschaft ( City and Land for short ), a subsidiary of the non-profit settlement and housing association of Berlin (GSW) , which was owned by the city at the time . She sold this in 1998 to the “Denkmal” company , which she sold on to Bavaria Objekt- und Baubetreuung GmbH only one year later . This in turn commissioned STERN GmbH as the restructuring officer of the State of Berlin to develop restructuring plans, which were not implemented. In 2005, the settlement was sold to Arthos-Walther GbR from Berlin-Wilmersdorf , which set up two renovated model houses here.
With the exception of four houses, which had already passed into other ownership, the terraplan group from Nuremberg , represented by Managing Director Erik Roßnagel, acquired the estate in 2009, renovated and expanded it with financial support from the Berlin State Monuments Office. The project was carried out by the architects Kubeneck, Berlin. In a third construction phase, the Berlin architect Peter Brenn supplemented the concept of the first construction phase with two semi-detached houses in the contemporary design language of the garden city idea. In order to maintain the sense of community in the settlement, the previous tenants were offered alternative apartments so that they could return to their houses after the renovation was completed. In the year of completion in 2012, terraplan was awarded the Ferdinand von Quast Medal, the monument award of the State of Berlin, for the renovation of the Prussian settlement.
Overall facility and architecture
The Prussian settlement is one of the first garden cities based on the English model to be realized in Germany. The facility was built from 1910 in a largely undeveloped area away from the center of Altglienicke. In contrast to the apartment building projects in the inner cities, where the best possible use was made of the area, the settlement is surrounded and criss-crossed by green spaces. This natural environment should create a hygienic and life-affirming home for the residents .
In addition to the common areas, all houses have a private garden, kitchens, bathrooms and toilets. In times when many apartment buildings only had communal kitchens and shared toilets and bathing was often only possible in a tub or for a fee in a bathing establishment , this was a luxury for the residents of the time.
First construction phase
The 28 semi-detached and four-family houses of the first construction phase are arranged in seven groups, which are accessible from Preußenstraße via two long, parallel access routes. At the time of construction, the houses had three rooms with an average of 40 m² total living space . As is typical of reform architecture and the Heimat style, Bel and Clement enlivened the facades and roofs of the groups of houses with picturesque elements such as mansard roofs , curved gables and arbors in wooden construction, which are reminiscent of the villa construction around 1910.
Second construction phase
In contrast to the first construction phase, the 26 terraced and semi-detached houses in the second construction phase on Preußenstraße are grouped around a long square. In the manner of a village green , it serves the community of residents as a meeting place, as a garden and children's play area. The facades of the two groups of houses on the narrow sides are designed symmetrically and serve as focal points of the plaza. According to Muthesius, the closedness and row construction had economic advantages for the building owner and residents: They protected the house facades from the weather, saved heating costs and required only short access routes.
When designing the building, Muthesius was guided by the small-scale and function-oriented architecture of English country houses . Instead of the playful arbours and roof shapes of the first construction phase, there were various varieties of pointed gables, hip and saddle roofs and tall and slender chimneys typical of English residential buildings; Arched passages and jumps loosened the facades. Large rectangular windows let a lot of daylight flow into the rooms. With an average of around 50 m², the living space of the houses was somewhat larger than that of the first construction phase.
Redevelopment
The floor plans of the houses in the first construction phase had to be largely changed during the renovation due to the functional deficiencies criticized as early as 1911. Historic design elements such as the chimneys in the English country house style, the beaver tail covering , the coarse-grained broom plaster, front doors and windows with muntin spacing have been restored and supplemented in accordance with listed buildings. In the buildings of the second construction phase, only the kitchen and living room were connected with a breakthrough in order to enable better usability of the room area and light from two directions. Furthermore, were baths built in, but otherwise preserve the historic floor plans.
- The Prussian settlement in transition
1913
2008
2012
2013
literature
- Michael Berning, Michael Braum: Berlin residential areas. A guide to 70 settlements . Reimer, Berlin 2003, p. 102-103 .
- Michael Bienert, Elke Linda Buchholz: Imperial times and modern times. A guide through Berlin . Berlin Story, Berlin 2007, p. 164 .
- Jeanette Kunsmann: Rediscovered garden city . In: Builder . March 2013, p. 48-53 ( wordpress.com ).
- Gerda Gericke: Prussian settlement in new splendor . In: Immobilien Zeitung . March 14, 2013.
- Mathias Grünzig: Give me what remains. Rediscovery of a building jewel: the Berlin Prussian settlement . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . October 27, 2012.
- Hermann Muthesius : Small house and small settlement . F. Bruckmann, Munich 1918.
- Hermann Muthesius: Country houses. Drafts and executed buildings . F. Bruckmann, Munich 1922, p. 153, 158-159 ( uni-duesseldorf.de ).
Web links
- Entry in the Berlin State Monument List
- Video about the renovation of the Prussian settlement by the Altglienicke e. V.
- Michael Zajonz: The dream is over. In: Der Tagesspiegel . December 14, 2012, accessed April 15, 2013 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List. In: stadtentwicklung.berlin.de. Retrieved October 30, 2015 .
- ↑ Preußenstrasse. In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein (near Kaupert )
- ↑ Garden cities - single-family houses . In: Vorwärts , supplement Berliner Volksblatt , issue of August 20 ,
- ↑ Eberstadt, Rudolf: Handbook of Housing and Housing Issues , Jena 1917, online at delibra.bg.polsl.pl (PDF) , p. 258.
- ↑ Garden cities - single-family houses . In: Vorwärts , supplement Berliner Volksblatt , edition of August 5, 1911, reply in the August 20, 1911 edition, another reply and another letter to the editor in the August 25, 1911 edition. The fundamental question of whether Single-family houses in garden cities could be an affordable and at the same time spatially and functionally sufficient alternative to the classic rental house for workers.
- ↑ Current information on the Prussian settlement. At: altglienicke24.de
- ^ The Preussensiedlung Terraplan Immobilien- und Treuhandgesellschaft mbH
- ↑ a b Prussia settlement Muthesius Kubeneck architects
- ↑ Kubeneck architects
- ↑ Berlin Monument Preservation Prize (Quast Medal) / Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment - Berlin. In: stadtentwicklung.berlin.de. Retrieved July 28, 2020 .
- ^ Hermann Muthesius: Small house and small settlement . F. Bruckmann, Munich 1920, p. 181-184 .
- ↑ Kunsmann: Garden City .
- ^ Gericke: Prussian settlement .
Coordinates: 52 ° 24 ′ 46.6 ″ N , 13 ° 33 ′ 20.6 ″ E