Pumping station (cultural center)
The pumping station is a former industrial structure and now a cultural center in Wilhelmshaven . The then head of the structural engineering department and current professor for architectural history, Ingo Sommer saved it from demolition in 1975 and had the idea of transforming it into a socio-cultural center. He also developed the concept, designs and renovation plans. It was completed in 1976 and variously expanded according to his plans.
history
The then so-called Pumpwerk-Süd was built between 1903 and 1907 as a sewage pumping station for the newly founded city of Wilhelmshaven based on designs by port construction director Paul Moeller from the construction department of the Imperial Shipyard . The late historical infrastructure building was part of the third port construction phase. The historic industrial building pumped sewage into the North Sea until 1974 . It was opened on August 6, 1976 after only 14 months of planning and renovation as a cultural and event center and is now a listed building.
The pumping station is the oldest socio-cultural center in Lower Saxony and is one of the twelve founding members of the federal association “Sociocultural Centers eV”. In the early 1970s, the pumping station was still shaped by artists of the protest movement, jazz and folklore. A particularly prominent focus was the nationally important program with many stars from the international jazz scene. In addition, the pumping station took on the role of an art house cinema. In the 1980s the artists became increasingly international and the events bigger. In 1991 the pumping station was expanded and expanded. It now offers space for up to 800 people and is now run by Wilhelmshaven Touristik & Freizeit GmbH.
Every year around 160 events with 150,000 guests take place. More than 2.5 million visitors have come to the 5000 events since 1976.
Aerial view using a quadrocopter
Event areas
The pumping station offers the following event areas:
- Jazz: Chet Baker, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Astrud Gilberto, Baden Powell, Jan Garbarek, Peter Herbolzheimer, Till Brönner etc. were guests at the Pumpwerk. Jazz fans from all over northern Germany regularly attended the high-quality jazz program put together and organized by Tasso Olbertz. Unfortunately, it has largely been discontinued.
- Music: An important area in which the pumping station is active and offers a stage for professional, semi-professional and amateur musicians. Many well-known artists have started here, for example Fury in the Slaughterhouse , Heinz Rudolf Kunze , Klaus Lage , New Model Army , BAP , Trio or Max Raabe were on stage here at the beginning of their careers.
- Cabaret: There are a lot of events and artists performing in this area. For example, Tim Fischer or the comedy group “Pigeon Drops” made their first experiences on the stage of the old drainage works.
- Socioculture: The pumping station is heavily involved in the socio-cultural area. Work for and with children is a particular focus, examples of which are the “Working Group on Youth Violence”, “Culture for Kids” or the big children's festival on World Children's Day . It also offers a stage and platform for schools, initiatives, groups and associations that want to present their various productions to a large audience here. They are also committed to people with disabilities by offering the “Treff nach 7” as a meeting point for disabled and non-disabled people from the region for over 20 years.
- Outdoor events: many events also take place in the outdoor areas, such as the concert series “Wednesdays at the Pumpwerk”, the medieval village at the weekend at the Jade or the public viewing at world and European championships.
Events
- Wilhelmshavener Knurrhahn: Since 1986, the City of Wilhelmshaven 's Cabaret Prize Wilhelmshavener Knurrhahn has been awarded to outstanding artists who have performed in the pumping station.
- A cappella festival: series of performances with different a cappella artists
- Festival of Cabaret: series of performances with various cabaret artists
literature
- Ingo Sommer: The pumping station in Wilhelmshaven. New content in old house. In: Bauwelt. 34/1976, ISSN 0005-6855 .
- Ingo Sommer: Communication centers conversion. In: German construction magazine. 02/1985.
- Ingo Sommer: Wilhelmshaven pumping station. In: The building management. 11/1991. ISSN 0005-6847 .
- Ingo Sommer: Reopening of the Pumpwerk cultural center. Reprint Wilhelmshavener Zeitung. May 17, 1991, OCLC 256859398 .
- Ingo Sommer: Pump station: flywheel as a symbol, on standby around the clock. In: Home by the sea. Wilhelmshavener Zeitung. September 30, 2006.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Walter Frank, Heike Coldewey, Theodor Murken, Waldemar Reinhardt, Wolfgang Schrade: Wilhelmshavener Heimatlexikon . Ed .: Werner Brune. Second volume. Brune, Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Wilhelmshaven 1987, p. 544-545 .
- ↑ oV : From the pumping station to the cultural center - the history of the pumping station , as a PDF document ( Memento of the original from April 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from pumpwerk.de , last accessed on April 4, 2017.
Coordinates: 53 ° 30 ′ 50 ″ N , 8 ° 6 ′ 50 ″ E