Essen Town Hall (1878–1964)

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Essen Town Hall 1905
East wing around 1920

The Essen town hall from 1878 to 1964 in neo -Gothic style was the third town hall in Essen and the seat of the Essen city administration. It was built from 1878 to 1887 in several construction phases based on designs by the architects Peter Zindel and Julius Flügge . In 1964 the building, which had meanwhile been rebuilt and expanded, was demolished and the property was sold to the Wertheim Group . The city then had no town hall building for fifteen years. The current town hall was occupied in 1979 and, unlike all previous buildings, is located in the eastern city center.

Location and surroundings

Like its predecessors, the old town hall was located in the city center on Markt, between Kettwiger Straße and today's Kennedyplatz , on the site of today's Markt 1 commercial building . It was on the south side of the market across from the market church . Up until the 19th century, this was the political and economic center of the city.

history

prehistory

The medieval town hall from the 13th century was a stone building with high stepped gables on the west and east sides. The facade was decorated with the stone figures of the city saints Cosmas and Damian . The stone building was replaced from 1840 to 1842 by a classicist town hall designed by Carl Wilhelm Theodor Freyse, brother of the architect Heinrich Johann Freyse .

This building was demolished in early 1884 when parts of the new neo-Gothic town hall had already been built around it. It no longer met the demands of a city that had become a center of high industrialization in the last third of the 19th century. A considerable expansion of administrative tasks required a larger town hall. The reasons were massive immigration of workers for the mining and steel industries. The largest employer was the rapidly expanding Krupp cast steel factory in the west of the city. From 1852 to 1871 the population quintupled to 51,500. In 1896, Essen became a major city with a population of 100,000.

Development of the neo-Gothic town hall

In August 1874 a competition was announced for a three-story new town hall building with an area of ​​1540 square meters. The decision to build the town hall on the market was passed on October 23, 1874. From April 25 to 27, 1875, a jury decided on the 43 submitted designs. Initially, the Hanoverian architect Christoph Hehl received the first prize with his design “Frei und treu”, but ultimately the second-placed Essen architects Peter Zindel and Julius Flügge were selected with their “Industry” design. In June 1877, both architects were commissioned to revise their design.

On February 1, 1878, the decision was made to start the first construction phase with the south and east wings and the approval of 213,000  marks . Construction began in the spring of 1878, with the south and east wings of the new building being built around the old town hall. The construction of the west wing followed from 1879, on November 14th of that year the further construction of the north and west wing while keeping the old town hall was debated. 50,000 marks were released for the west wing. In 1880 the south and east wings were moved into. After the decision of April 6, 1883 to demolish the old town hall, another followed on April 27 of that year to complete the construction project and to build the north wing, which cost 307,000 marks. In January and February 1884 the old classical building was demolished. On June 5, 1884, the foundation stone was laid for the last phase of construction. In 1885 the north wing was completed. By 1887, the town hall was completed with the completion of the tower and the meeting room.

In August 1910 a competition for an extension was announced. In the jury's decision in March 1911, there was no first place, but two second places from the architects Großkopf / Kunz from Essen and Willy Graf from Stuttgart, none of which were realized. Ultimately, it was built according to plans by the Essen architect Richard Radeboldt. On August 1, 1919, the decision was made to expand the building to the west on the market in three phases, with 900,000 marks earmarked for the first. This was followed on June 30, 1920 by the city council's approval of 2.1 million marks for the second construction phase and on September 8th of that year a further 1.167 million marks for the third phase. Construction began in December 1920 and the first two construction phases were completed in May 1921. Due to the political unrest after the lost First World War and the inflation in the early 1920s, the third construction phase was delayed. It was finally completed in February 1924.

In December 1912 there was also an exhibition of plans by the Alderman for a new town hall on Burgplatz . In April 1924, a jury decided on the 79 submitted designs. Such a building was never realized.

Destroyed in the war in 1943

Bombings during World War II , especially during the air raid on March 5, 1943, destroyed large parts of the facade on the market square and on Kettwiger Strasse. The town hall tower and the telephone exchange burned out. All the meeting rooms became unusable. The expansion building from the 1920s was completely destroyed when the Allies attacked on March 11, 1943.

Since the meeting room of the town hall was no longer usable after the war, a constituent meeting of the town council was held on February 6, 1946 in the Krayer town hall . This town hall of the former Kray - Leithe mayor's office remained intact during World War II. 6 women and 54 men, who had been appointed by the American occupation forces, gathered. In addition to the Krayer Town Hall, the municipal hall building served as an alternative quarter for council meetings in the post-war period.

Reconstruction from 1946 to 1956

In the post-war period in 1946/47, the building department began restoring the old building and building the shell of the new west wing, which was completed by 1950 in the style of the post-war era. In it was the new town hall foyer with a wall mosaic by Folkwang teacher Hermann Schardt (1956) showing collieries , iron bridges and electricity pylons. The town hall tower was rebuilt in a simplified manner, whereby the former spire was replaced by a flatter roof. The reconstruction of the entire town hall was completed in 1956. No new meeting room was set up, so the city council met in the chamber music hall of the city hall from 1955 until the opening of today's town hall in 1979.

Eviction and demolition in 1964/65

In 1963 the city of Essen reached its highest population with 731,994, so that a new town hall was discussed. But the senior city director Friedrich Wolff was primarily interested in the relocation of industrial and retail companies and thus made every urban property available, including the attractively situated old town hall. On 17 December 1963, decided SPD -guided Essen City Council, City Hall at a cost of 15 million German marks to the former Wertheim Group to sell. The purchase contract was signed on February 14, 1964. The town hall was cleared on October 27th of that year, so that on November 2nd the town hall keys were handed over to the demolition company Bauboag. At that time there was no schedule for a new building or the necessary financial resources.

In November 1964 work began on demolishing the old town hall on Kennedyplatz. The last remains on Kettwiger Strasse had been removed by mid-March 1965, without there having been a new town hall suitable for the city. The recently closed Amerikahaus Ruhr on Kennedyplatz was provisionally taken over on July 1, 1964 as the office of the Lord Mayor and the City Director. The small building was mockingly referred to as the town hall by the citizens of Essen . Today it is a listed building. The Krayer Town Hall and the rebuilt hall were used temporarily for council meetings. The administration was spread over different buildings in the city area.

The Wertheim department store was opened on May 13, 1966 on the site of the old town hall. It was torn down in 1986 and replaced by today's commercial building on Markt 1 , designed by the architects Genheimer & Partner.

Architecture and equipment

Boardroom Oil painting by Friedrich Klein-Chevalier in the meeting room, shows the visit of Wilhelm II and Friedrich Alfred Krupp to the city council meeting on October 28, 1896
Boardroom
Oil painting by Friedrich Klein-Chevalier in the meeting room, shows the visit of Wilhelm II and Friedrich Alfred Krupp to the city council meeting on October 28, 1896

The old town hall building had a council cellar and an originally 54.5 meter high town hall tower, which was adorned with a square spire with four corner turrets that was destroyed in the war. During the reconstruction, the tower was only given a flatter cover.

In the meeting room was the oil painting by Friedrich Klein-Chevalier , which depicted the visit of Emperor Wilhelm II. Together with Friedrich Alfred Krupp to the city council meeting on October 28, 1896. In addition, there were portraits of the three German Emperors Wilhelm I , Friedrich III. and Wilhelm II, the Lord Mayor Gustav Hache , the theologian Peter Beising , the entrepreneurs Alfred and Friedrich Alfred Krupp, the city councilor Heinrich Carl Sölling , the industrialist and Essen councilor Friedrich Hammacher (from Franz von Lenbach ) and a Bismarck bust from Fritz Schaper . The five large windows in the hall were decorated with stained glass depicting local history.

The town hall was decorated with sculptures, paintings and glass paintings, and three wooden figures of Saints Kosmas, Damian and Sebastian from the end of the 15th century, a guard's horn in the shape of a tuba and two steel double-edged swords from the 16th century were exhibited there.

The market side of the town hall was adorned with the heads carved in stone of the ten-person municipal building commission who pushed ahead with the construction of the town hall. It was from left to right:

  • Friedrich Wilhelm (Fritz) Waldthausen , dye works owner, city councilor, member of the board of directors of Arenberg'schen Actiengesellschaft für Bergbau und Metallbetrieb
  • Arnold Christopher Steingröver, mine director, city councilor
  • Johann Wilhelm Schürenberg , entrepreneur and city councilor, co-founder of the construction company Funke & Schürenberg
  • Carl Franconia
  • Richard Bömke , businessman, chairman of the supervisory board of the Friedrich der Große colliery and the Essener Credit-Anstalt , councilor and city councilor
  • Gustav Schmemann
  • Hermann Elting , building contractor, master carpenter, sawmill owner, city councilor
  • Karl König, First Deputy
  • Johann Neckes, sculptor
  • Peter Zindel , architect of the town hall

Some of these busts were initially stored in today's town hall cellar and are now in the Ruhr Museum, along with the twenty stone coats of arms of the German states that adorned the brick facade . It is partly unclear today which people show the remaining busts.

Reconstruction plans

The Essen architect Axel Koschany had plans in 2013 to reconstruct the old town hall.

literature

  • Tourist association for the city and district of Essen eV (Hrsg.): Essen. Ready to work! Happy to rest! Dedicated to visitors to the city by the tourist association for the city and district of Essen. HL Geck, Essen 1913.
  • Paul Clemen : The art monuments of the city and the district of Essen. (= Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz , Volume 2, 3.) L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1893, p. 58. ( digitized version ).
  • Holger Krüssmann: Architecture in Essen 1900–1960. (edited by Berger Bergmann and Peter Brdenk) Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2012, ISBN 978-3-8375-0246-6 , p. 47 f.
  • Till Schraven: (Social) democracy as a client. City hall building in the 1960s and 1970s in the FRG and Essen , Klartext Verlag, Essen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8375-0235-0

Web links

Commons : Altes Rathaus Essen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Paul Clemen: The art monuments of the city and the district of Essen. P. 58: "magnificent gothic building".
  2. ↑ Tourist office, p. 16: “Das TATHAUS. An outstanding monumental building [...], which was built according to plans by the architect Zindel in the Gothic style from 1878 to 1887 [...] "
  3. ↑ German Architecture Forum> Architecture, urban development and construction: regional topics> Essen: then and now : "The 'Old Town Hall' (Peter Zindel) from 1885"
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Historical exhibition in today's town hall on its 40th anniversary on November 9, 2019
  5. ↑ Holger Krüssmann: Architecture in Essen 1900–1960. P. 47 f.
  6. ↑ Klaus Wisotzky: From the imperial visit to the euro summit. 100 years of Essen history at a glance. Klartext, Essen 1996, ISBN 3-88474-497-6 .
  7. ↑ Thomas Dupke: Food. History of a city . Ed .: Ulrich Borsdorf. Peter Pomp Verlag, Bottrop, Essen 2002, ISBN 3-89355-236-7 , p. 520 .
  8. ↑ Amerikahaus in the list of monuments of the city of Essen ; accessed on November 20, 2019
  9. ↑ Historical exhibition in Essen town hall for the 40th anniversary in November 2019
  10. ↑ a b Tourist office: Essen. Ready to work! Happy to rest! Dedicated to visitors to the city by the tourist association for the city and district of Essen. P. 17.
  11. ↑ Heinrich Carl Sölling (June 1, 1813 - August 27, 1902) on essen.de
  12. ↑ Paul Clemen: The art monuments of the city and the district of Essen. P. 58.
  13. ^ Robert Jahn: Essen history: the historical development in the area of ​​the city of Essen . GD Baedeker, Essen 1957, p. 494 .
  14. ↑ Tony Kellen: The industrial city of Essen in words and pictures. History and description of the city of Essen. At the same time a guide through food and the surrounding area. Fredebeul & Koenen, Essen 1902, pp. 85, 86
  15. ↑ Essen.de, press release of November 26, 2015: Historical relics discovered in the town hall cellar ; Retrieved April 5, 2017
  16. ↑ Reconstruction. The old town hall should become a symbol of identification for Essen. In: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung of June 23, 2013 ( online at www.derwesten.de )

Coordinates: 51 ° 27 ′ 24.3 "  N , 7 ° 0 ′ 43.5"  E