Sparkasse am Fischmarkt (Erfurt)
The savings bank building on Fischmarkt in Erfurt with the town hall extension was built in 1934/1935 in the New Objectivity style based on a design by Johannes Klass . Well-known artists designed the facade facing the fish market .
Building history
The previous building on the same place at the fish market was the district court building. The city wanted to eliminate this while at the same time gaining space for its administration in the town hall on several floors of a new savings bank building. In December 1933, 28 drafts for the new building were exhibited in the town hall festival hall for the interested population of Erfurt. Based on a design by the City Administrative Councilor Johannes Klaßthe architects Gustav Schweizer and Karl Heinrich Müller carried out the construction. Construction began in the spring of 1934, and 130 craftsmen and workers were employed. The requirement was the use of local materials by local companies. The costs - including the demolition of the previous building - amounted to 820,000 Reichsmarks. After 15 months of construction, the building was handed over to its intended use in October 1935. The architectural style corresponded to the New Objectivity . The connection to the neighboring town hall was made by an intermediate building at the fish market.
The savings bank building comprised the ground floor above the basement, a mezzanine, and above that three more floors and the attic. The outer fronts of the ground floor and mezzanine were faced with slabs of shell limestone and artificial stone. The upper floors cantilevered 1.5 meters over these two floors. Prof. Carl Heines designed nine meter high colored glass windows with scenes of local handicrafts. The hipped roof in "old German form" was covered with Thuringian slate. There was also a striking stair tower with a conical roof. Franconian marble was used inside the building. The functional checkout hall on the ground floor was flooded with light through double rows of windows on both sides. The staircase with the banisters was also designed in a bright and appealing way. The four upper floors were rented to the city administration. In the basement, the city built a simple hall of honor for the 3579 Erfurters who fell in World War I, which was inaugurated in 1936.
architectural art
Since 1934, “building-related works of art” were mandatory on new public buildings throughout the Reich, including the new Sparkasse building. The Erfurt sculptor Hans Walther designed the front facing the fish market. Under the protruding gable wall he placed six figures that were supposed to represent the following vices: gluttony, vanity, laziness, stupidity, envy and avarice. To the right of these figures you can see a high relief, which is supposed to symbolize charitable status, social helpfulness and security (echoing the winter relief organization ). There was also a text: “Common good comes before self-interest”. The 12 signs of the zodiac were to be found in the window fillets. The Munich painter Luise Klempt designed the facade with colored frescoes in 1935 . These symbolized hard work in horticulture, handcraft and industry, affirmation of life, attachment to home and tradition, settlement construction and a large number of children. An interior mural by Franz Markau in 1935 in the counter hall showed young parents with their children and grandparents.
Time since 1945
The US artillery fire in April 1945 caused damage to the building that was estimated at 100,000 Reichsmarks. The artistic colored glass windows and the colored frescoes on the outside wall of the savings bank were lost. In 1982 the first reconstruction of the Sparkasse took place since 1935 including a modernization of the counter hall. The premises were last redesigned in 2008. The writing “Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz” on the facade is no longer preserved, nor is the large colored mural by Markau depicting the generations in the counter hall.
The Sparkasse am Fischmarkt has been part of the Sparkasse Mittelthüringen since 2003 .
See also
literature
- Ruth and Eberhard Menzel: Sparkasse Erfurt. The story 1823-1998 . Artus-Atelier Erfurt, 1998
- The new objectivity of a bank. Flooded with light: Sparkasse am Fischmarkt started operations 75 years ago . Thüringische Landeszeitung, October 26, 2010 (based on a press release from Sparkasse Mittelthüringen)
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 39 ″ N , 11 ° 1 ′ 46 ″ E