Ratingen-West
Ratingen-West is a district of Ratingen north of Düsseldorf and east of Düsseldorf Airport , which was founded at the end of the 1960s and initially built mainly by Neue Heimat . The large housing estate is developing in a differentiated urban structure: In the south, on Volkardeyer Strasse, there is a single house settlement , partly formed as canal houses, to which the actual center area adjoins to the north. He is three disc skyscrapers -hugging, one the geometric center of the settlement point skyscraper(Weimarer Straße 1), and a serpentine development on the west bypass. A mostly four-storey row development leads the district out to the north. The Sandbach, retained from the time the area was used for agriculture, runs through the district as a scenic element. The district has a Catholic and a Protestant church as well as a market square (Berliner Platz) with a leisure center and restaurants.
history
prehistory
During the Second World War , around a third of the city of Ratingen was destroyed by Allied air raids . This posed a major problem when evacuees, soldiers and refugees returned in the first decades after World War II. For the time being they were housed in camps and barracks settlements, but this did not reduce the housing shortage . Expansion plans for Düsseldorf Airport collided with the desire to develop new residential areas in Tiefenbroich (Heiderhof). As part of the negotiations, the City of Düsseldorf Ratingen offered large plots of land from its property to the City of Ratingen for sale if the City of Ratingen agreed to the expansion of the airport in return. On November 17, 1964, the city council decided to acquire these plots and have them built by the Neue Heimat.
planning
After the “ land comparison ”, which was agreed between the city of Ratingen and Düsseldorf Airport, concrete plans were made for extensive residential construction.
The large housing estate Ratingen-West emerged from the common interests of the cities of Düsseldorf and Ratingen in the course of the city of Düsseldorf's search for new settlement areas and the tertialization of production processes, which led to a "change in Ratingen municipality from an industrial to a service society" . During the period of greater economic prosperity in Ratingen in the 1960s, new businesses were built, and the stream of commuters, especially from Düsseldorf, was to be curbed by the settlement of workers in Ratingen-West. However, the boom in the growth industries in Ratingen was so great that the stream of commuters from Düsseldorf to work in Ratingen soon began.
Until then, agricultural areas (fields) in the west of the old town of Ratingen finally became the planning area between Volkardeyer Straße in the south, Scheifekamp (today's west tangent) in the east, Kaiserswerther Straße in the north and B1 in the west in the mid-1960s. In response to extensive criticism of the planning practice of the Neue Heimat, a nationwide competition was initially launched, which was to be coordinated between Neuer Heimat and the Association of German Architects (BDA). The 132 submitted and in some cases award-winning designs aimed primarily at connecting the old town of Ratingen and the new large housing estate Ratingen-West through a central area between the two areas. However, the roads and sewers were already in place, and it turned out that the construction of the settlement began in the autumn of 1966 and that the first apartments were occupied a year later, in November 1967. The district was not built by the award-winning architects, but by the in-house architects of Neue Heimat. The construction of Ratingen-West was therefore harshly criticized by the German architects, as Neue Heimat bypassed the ambitious results of the architectural competition.
construction
Ratingen-West was realized in four construction phases (BA):
- BA (area north of Volkardeyer Strasse / west bypass on Dresdener and Breslauer Strasse and Berliner Strasse / west bypass on Einstein and Max-Planck-Strasse) 1967–1970
- BA (rest of the city center north of the Sandbach) 1970–1975
- BA (single-family houses south of the Sandbach on Breslauer Straße to the “Grachtensiedlung” on Bendenkamp, i.e. Ratingen-Eckamp) 1975–1980
- BA (Felderhof housing estate in the Volkardey recreation park area), 1980s.
The processes around the preliminary planning, the competition, the realization and the mentioned construction phases have been analyzed in detail in the book "Die Blockstruktur" 2005. The architects are apparently not known by name in detail, with the exception of one published area in the 3rd phase: The single-family residential area in the southwest was built by the architects Jens Peter Volkamer and Franz Wetzel through Deutsche Haus- und Boden GmbH at the end of the 1970s.
Further development
Neue Heimat financed the majority of the construction of the large estate , but because of various problems in the mid-1980s, it sold its apartments to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia , which now organizes the majority of the housing market in Ratingen-West with LEG Immobilien AG . LEG, which looks after over 9,000 tenants in 2,794 apartments in Ratingen, has renovated a total of 1,700 apartments in the West district for over 40 million euros since 2000. This includes the energetic renovation of around 800 apartments in the three high-rise buildings, which the company is carrying out while they are still in use. It was the largest low-energy house project in North Rhine-Westphalia. The modernization of the first high-rise was completed in 2008. Its redesign cost around eight million euros. LEG now calls its three high-rise buildings “sky houses” because the new white color scheme is reminiscent of clouds. The company is currently modernizing the second and third heavenly houses. LEG will spend 19 million euros of its total investment in Ratingen-West until 2012 to modernize its three heavenly houses.
In the past, poverty, crime , vandalism and alcoholism in Ratingen-West sometimes led to a lack of prospects for individual residents. As a result of media coverage, the Ratingen-West district acquired a negative reputation as a “ social hot spot ” at times around the turn of the millennium . The housing company LEG countered this successfully and sustainably with a mix of district management, cultural funding (e.g. ZeltZeit, the big annual culture and cabaret festival on the Green Lake) as well as structural and security measures. I.a. the INFRA West project (initiatives for Ratingen-West) was born, which leverages local synergies and networks important players. With regard to crime statistics, Bernd Lingott, Head of the Ratingen Commissioner's Office, had already said in 2008: "Sure, spectacular cases are happening in West, and we are concerned about this, but measured by the number of cases we are not above average." In this respect, it can be summarized that the poor reputation of the quarter corresponded and corresponds to the typical prejudice for large housing estates of post-war modernism . Various cultural activities, a music scene as well as a lively, helpful and mindful neighborhood lead to an extremely good climate in the quarter today
topography
Ratingen-West can be divided into four different but homogeneous areas: In the north and east there are office and industrial buildings as well as shopping centers; the southwest is characterized by single and small apartment buildings, mostly with gardens and sometimes even canals ; in the south is the Volkerdeyer Park (Grüner See) (see below); the center is dominated by the skyscrapers of the Neue Heimat.
The so-called Westbahn (freight traffic Duisburg-Düsseldorf) in the east, the Düsseldorf districts Lichtenbroich , Rath and Unterrath or the A 3 / A 52 and A 44 motorways and finally Kaiserswerther Strasse in the north were defined as the boundaries of the new district .
traffic
Street
Ratingen-West can be reached via junction 23 Ratingen on federal motorway 52 . Since the junction is also part of the Düsseldorf-Nord motorway junction , it also provides a connection to the federal motorway 44 . The crosses Breitscheid and Ratingen-Ost can be reached via the two federal autobahns, which connect to the federal autobahn 3 .
Rail transport
The station Ratingen West is located at the Troisdorf-Mülheim-Speldorf railway , which is also called Ratingen West route. This is no longer used for passenger traffic, but it is heavily used in freight traffic.
A reactivation in passenger traffic is associated with problems, but is still being sought by various sides. To reduce costs, a guided tour from Düsseldorf-Rath via Düsseldorf-Rath Mitte to Düsseldorf Hbf is now being considered. Appropriate demonstration drives have already been carried out on the route for this purpose.
Bus transport
Ratingen-West is very well developed in public transport. The following bus lines run by the Rheinbahn :
| line | course |
|---|---|
| 749 |
D-Kaiserswerth , Klemensplatz  - Kalkum Castle - Ratingen - Tiefenbroich , Kaiserswerther Straße - Ratingen, Phillipstraße - Ratingen Mitte - Ratingen Ost  - Ratingen-Schwarzbach , School Nussbaum - ME-Metzkausen , Kantstraße - Hassel - Florastraße - Mettmann , Jubiläumsplatz - Mettmann Center - Mettmann City Forest
|
| 752 |
Mülheim Hbf - MH-Stadtmitte - Schloß Broich - MH-Saarn , Friedrich-Freye-Straße; - MH-Selbeck , Stooter Straße - Ratingen - Breitscheid , Krummenweg - Lintorf , Friedhof - Am Kämpchen - Rehhecke - Lintorf, Rathaus - Tiefenbroicher Straße - ( Ratingen-Tiefenbroich , Annastraße - Ratingen , Kaiserswerther Straße - Ratingen-West , Dieselstraße - Eckampstraße - Düsseldorf , Neu- Lichtenbroich - ) Mörsenbroich , Heinrichstraße - D-Derendorf - Pempelfort , Münsterstraße / fire station - city center , Jacobistraße ( Pempelforter Straße , 200 m ) - Oststraße - Düsseldorf Hbf 
|
| 754 |
Ratingen - Lintorf , Siemensstraße - Rehhecke - Lintorf, Rathaus - Tiefenbroicher Straße - Ratingen-Tiefenbroich , Annastraße - Kaiserswerther Straße - Ratingen-West , Dieselstraße - Eckampstraße - Düsseldorf , Neu- Lichtenbroich - Mörsenbroich , Heinrichstraße - D-Derendorf - Pempelfort , Münsterstraße / Fire station - city center , Jacobistraße ( Pempelforter Straße , 200 m) - Oststraße - Düsseldorf Hbf
|
|
756 758 |
Ratingen - Tiefenbroich , Friedhof - Düsseldorf , Theodor-Heuss-Brücke Lines 756 and 758 run on different routes at different times. |
| 757 |
D-Unterrath - Rath , DOME / Am Hülserhof - Ratingen - West , Erfurter Straße - Dieselstraße - Tiefenbroich , Kaiserswerther Straße - Annastraße - Gorch-Fock-Straße - Ratingen, Phillipstraße - Ratingen Mitte - Ratingen Ost
|
| 759 |
Düsseldorf , Airport Bf - Ratingen - West , Erfurter Strasse - Dieselstrasse - Eckampstrasse - Ratingen Mitte - Ratingen Ost
|
| 760 |
D- Wittlaer-Bockum , Roßpfad - Wittlaer - Kalkum Castle - Kalkum , Am Flugfeld - Florence Nightingale Hospital - Kaiserswerth , Klemensplatz - Lohausen , Nagelsweg - Stockum , Freiligrathplatz - Line branch 1: Messe Ost / Stockumer Kirchstr. - Nordpark / Aquazoo / Linienast 2: Falkenweg - Airport Terminal A / B / C - Unterrath , Eckenerstraße - Unterrath - Neu-Lichtenbroich - Ratingen - West , Erfurter Straße - Dieselstraße - Ratingen, Phillipstraße - Hauser Ring - Ratingen Ost
|
| DL 1 |
Ratingen-Hösel → Ratingen-Eggerscheidt - Ratingen-Breitscheid , Krummenweg - Ratingen-Lintorf - Ratingen-Tiefenbroich - Ratingen-West - Ratingen center - Ratingen East
|
Tram / light rail
The city of Düsseldorf is planning to expand the tram or light rail network from Düsseldorf-Rath to Ratingen-West and Tiefenbroich.
Arts and Culture
An important project that has its roots in Ratingen-West is the Fresh Familee group , which among other things co-founded German hip-hop in the early 1990s . Political songs and dealing with the poverty of the district shaped the group's lyrics and helped them achieve national success.
Another project is the cabaret group of the Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Gymnasium, which also performs nationally under the name Westhäkchen and has existed since 1989. In their texts, the students deal with current events and acknowledge their part of the city, as the name of the group suggests. Since the end of the 1990s, the tent time at the Green Lake has taken place every year at Whitsun. National pop artists and cabaret artists such as Dieter Nuhr , Herbert Knebel and others perform for a weekend . v. m. in Ratingen-West.
Parks and lakes
The largest park in the city of Ratingen, the Volkardey recreation park , is located in Ratingen-West. It includes two large lakes, the Green Lake and the Silver Lake . The park was created in the early 1990s when gravel mining in this region ended and the area was recultivated . The park covers an area of approx. 110 hectares and is in the catchment area of over 500,000 people, so that up to 25,000 people visit the park on sunny and warm days. After the remains of an Iron Age settlement were found during the construction of the A44 , an Iron Age homestead was reconstructed in the park.
A smaller body of water is the Schwanen-Spiegel in the center of the district. It is often used as a meeting place for seniors and families. By disregarding the feeding ban, the city is forced to clear the pond of algae every year in order to maintain the ecological balance. The specialty of the Schwanen-Spiegel lies in the fact that it lies in the middle of the barren concrete landscape and can therefore be described as a “green splash of color in the concrete”.
Population development of the district
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18,295 | 18,075 | 18,285 | 18,147 | 18,065 | 18,040 | 18,026 | 18,024 | 18.094 | 18,019 | 17,814 | 17,687 | 17,546 | 17,471 | 17,492 | 17,453 | 17,536 | 17,910 |
Source: Office for Urban Planning, Surveying and Building Regulations Statistics Office of the City of Ratingen; Data from 2006: Homepage of the City of Ratingen, status: December 31, 2016
schools
In Ratingen-West there is
- three primary schools :
- Astrid Lindgren Elementary School
- Erich Kästner Primary School
- Karl Arnold elementary school
- an integrated comprehensive school
- Martin Luther King Comprehensive School
- a secondary school
- Käthe-Kollwitz- Realschule
- a high school
- Dietrich-Bonhoeffer -Gymnasium and
- a school for the mentally handicapped
- Helen Keller Special School
Churches
- Catholic parishes:
- Filial church St. Josef
- Holy Spirit
- Evangelical parish (Parish V)
- Church of Reconciliation
Social facilities
The Freizeithaus Ratingen-West, the local adventure playground and the Lichtblick youth café play a role in local youth work .
societies
- General Sports Club of Ratingen-West 1973 e. V.
- Citizens' Association Ratingen-West e. V.
- KG Anger Garde Ratingen e. V.
- Watersports Club Volkardey e. V.
- Intercultural Center "Contact" e. V.
- Culture and Sport "Azerbaijan" eV
See also
literature
Oliver Schöller, The Block Structure. A qualitative study of the political economy of large housing developments in West Germany, Berlin 2005
Web links
- Ratingen-West in "Social City NRW"
- Heimat Ratingen-West - Documentary film about life in Ratingen-West
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joachim Preuss: The West district is 50 years old. In: Rheinische Post Online. November 15, 2014, accessed November 14, 2018 .
- ↑ Oliver Schöller, The Block Structure. A qualitative study on the political economy of large housing developments in West Germany, Berlin 2005, p. 85
- ↑ Ibid., P. 91
- ↑ Ibid.
- ^ Bauwelt, 57th year 1966, p. 228 (official tender) and p. 231 (article on tender).
- ^ Bauwelt, 57th year 1966, issue 42, pp. 1176–1177
- ↑ All evidence and some of the competition photos compiled on the architecture database of the University of Dortmund [1]
- ↑ Heinz Krehl, Is urban development dying at the "Neue Heimat"? The Ratingen scandal, in: The time of November 10, 1967 [2]
- ↑ Bauwelt, 67th year 1976, issue 19/20, pp. 606–607
- ^ Jörg Isringhaus, Ratingen-West - the problem district, RP Online, May 5, 2008 [3]
- ^ Jörg Isringhaus, Ratingen-West - the problem district, RP Online, May 5, 2008 [4]
- ↑ InWIS Research & Consulting GmbH (eds.), Regina Höbel, Janine Constant and Lisa Reinecke (authors), final report on the Ratingen-West district analysis, Bochum 2010 [5]
- ↑ School project "Heimat Ratingen West" [6]
- ↑ Reactivation of the Ratinger western route very unlikely Eisenbahnjournal Zughalt.de on June 13, 2010
- ^ History of the Ratingen West train station
- ↑ WAZ, November 29, 2016: Ratinger western route for commuter traffic
- ↑ RP Online, January 13, 2018: Westbahn is to start in 2019
- ↑ Press release City of Ratingen, September 29, 2017: Westbahn demonstration run a complete success
- ^ Düsseldorf local transport plan 2010–2015
- ↑ Update of the NVP
- ↑ Flyer Ökopfad Vokardey of the city of Ratingen.
- ↑ Homepage of the city of Ratingen: Population and population development
Center | Breitscheid | Eggerscheidt | Homberg | Hösel | Lintorf | East | Schwarzbach | Tiefenbroich | west
Coordinates: 51 ° 18 ' N , 6 ° 49' E