Zonnestraal sanatorium

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One of the pavilions of the sanatorium in 2013

The Zonnestraal sanatorium (in German "Sanatorium Sonnenstrahl") is a former sanatorium in the Dutch municipality of Hilversum . The main building, which opened in 1928, was designed by the architects Johannes Duiker and Bernard Bijvoet and is considered a milestone in modernism . Originally built as a sanatorium with preventive and aftercare facilities for diamond cutters suffering from tuberculosis , most of the original buildings in Zonnestraal were abandoned by the end of the 1960s and extensively restored from 2001 onwards. In the years 2010 to 2018, the former sanatorium was on the Dutch tentative list for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List , but was ultimately not included. Furthermore, the ensemble is now listed as a Rijksmonument under the number 46771.

description

The main building of the Zonnestraal sanatorium in 2007

The grounds of the sanatorium are in a wooded area in the south of Hilversum, which is called Loosdrechtse Bos . When the sanatorium opened, there were two pavilions next to the main building ; the buildings were arranged axially symmetrically to one another . The two-storey main building with a flat roof contained the medical departments and a dining room in the shape of a Greek cross, a kitchen, a pharmacy, a bathhouse and a boiler house . The floors are connected to one another by spiral staircases that extend beyond the building line. There is a striking water tower on the roof, which has been preserved to this day, but no longer fulfills any function. In each of the pavilions there was a central “conversation room” as well as two wards with beds, each designed for 25 patients. A few years later, a group of four machine towers with workstations underneath for the reintegration of patients into the world of work, as well as a building to accommodate the employees, were added. In the 1950s, additional operating theaters were opened, but due to their changed architectural style, they are not protected today. The whole area is surrounded by a wall made of white plastered concrete. In the south there is a “spider web-like” system of paths and paths through the surrounding heather and forest landscape, which the architect intended to give the patient some exercise.

history

Condition of the buildings before the restoration began. One of the spiral staircases built over the building line is clearly visible here.

On the initiative of the union official Jan van Zutphen , the Diamantbewerkers Koperen Stelenfonds foundation bought the area of ​​the later sanatorium from the church council of Naarden in 1919 . At that time there were already some buildings on the site that belonged to a former estate. Shortly after the purchase, plans for the construction of a sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis took shape, after which the architect Johannes Duiker was commissioned to plan the building. Duiker placed his ensemble on the south side of the estate and, in places, orientated itself on existing landmarks. For example, the right wing of the “Dresselhuyspavilion” forms a direct extension of an earth wall from the 18th century. Construction began in 1927, and the main building was opened on June 5 of the following year. However, the Dresselhuy pavilion was not put into operation until 1931. Two other planned pavilions, the placement of which should be based on the symmetry of the existing buildings, were no longer implemented. After the Second World War , the function of Zonnestraal changed due to the increased emergence of penicillin , which could be used to treat tuberculosis. The sanatorium function appeared more and more in favor of a use as a general hospital in the background, which in 1957 also in the renaming to Algemeen Ziekenhuis Zonnestraal reflected ( "General Hospital Sunbeam"). The last sanatorium activities were finally stopped by 1969 at the latest. During this time, a large number of additional buildings were erected on the site that were not based on Duiker's underlying design. The buildings of the original sanatorium were gradually abandoned. In 1988 the newly built psychogeriatric facility "Zonnehoeve" opened in the center of the area and is still in operation today.

restoration

After the servants' building "De Koepel" had already been restored by a group of architecture students from Delft in 1995 , plans intensified to restore the rest of the buildings designed by Duiker and Bijvoet to their original state. The restoration of the main building finally began in 2001 and was completed two years later. The work on the more dilapidated Dresselhuy pavilion, on the other hand, took more time and could only be finished in 2008. In order to partially finance the restoration work, 56 nursing homes were built on the site of the sanatorium's former orchard, designed by the architect Hubert-Jan Henket.

Protection and World Heritage proposal

In 1988, the complex, consisting of the main building, the two oldest pavilions, the servants' building and the buildings with workplaces for patients, were given the status of a Rijksmonument and were accordingly placed under protection. The sanatorium is surrounded by a nature reserve that is part of the Natura 2000 network . Since 1995, several years before the restoration work began, Zonnestraal had been on the list for potential new proposals as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2010 it was included in the Dutch tentative list, based on criteria ii (“Significant intersection of human values ​​in relation to the development of architecture or technology, large-scale sculpture, urban development or landscape design”) and iv (“Excellent example of a type of Buildings, architectural or technological ensembles or landscapes that symbolize one or more significant periods of human history ”).

After eight years on the tentative list, Ingrid van Engelshoven , the Dutch Minister for Education, Culture and Science, and the responsible advisory board finally decided against proposing Zonnestraal to UNESCO as a new world heritage site in 2018. As the reason for this, they cited the stricter requirements of UNESCO for the "exceptional universal value" of new candidates, which the former sanatorium could not do justice to. Today the main building has found a new use as a conference center, the former servants' building has been converted into a visitor center.

literature

  • Ronald Zoetbrood: Jan Duiker en het sanatorium Zonnestraal . Van Gennep, Amsterdam 1982, ISBN 978-90-6012-604-2 .
  • Paul Meurs, Marie-Thérèse van Thoor: Sanatorium Zonnestraal: geschiedenis en restauratie van een modern monument . Nai Uitgevers, Rotterdam 2010, ISBN 978-90-5662-695-2 .

Web links

Commons : Sanatorium Zonnestraal  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sanatorium Zonnestraal in Hilversum. In: rijksmonumenten.nl. Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, October 12, 2014, accessed on July 2, 2019 (Dutch).
  2. ↑ a b c d Peter de Ruyter: Ruimtelijk Plan Landgoed Zonnestraal - Op weg naar Unesco-Werelderfgoed. In: peterderuyterlandschap.nl. Bureau Peter de Ruyter landschapsarchitectuur, November 2014, accessed on July 29, 2019 (Dutch).
  3. ↑ a b Zonnestraal Sanatorium. In: architectuur.org. Retrieved August 1, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Zonnestraal - Tussentijds nomination dossier Unesco Werelderfgoed January 2018. In: zonnestraalhilversum.nl. 2018, accessed August 1, 2019 (Dutch). , (PDF, see in particular chapters 4 and 7 of the document)
  5. ↑ Minister Van Engelshoven says Zonnestraal is not voor as Werelderfgoed. In: zonnestraalhilversum.nl. 2018, accessed August 1, 2019 (Dutch).

Coordinates: 52 ° 12 ′ 2 ″  N , 5 ° 9 ′ 14 ″  E