Stilt house

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Stilt house on the Karl Heine Canal

The stilt house is an industrial monument in Leipzig at a bend in the Karl Heine Canal . The building, built between 1937 and 1939 by the architect Hermann Böttcher for the Grohmann & Frosch corrugated iron factory in Weißenfelser Straße 65 (today house numbers 65a-h) in the Plagwitz district , is one of the most famous industrial buildings in Leipzig from the 1930s.

history

The company Grohmann & Frosch , founded on December 18, 1888 by Wilhelm Frosch and Rudolph Grohmann, built the first smaller production halls for a corrugated iron mill and a galvanizing plant on a small funnel-shaped plot of land directly on the Karl-Heine Canal in 1889 . The property between the Karl-Heine-Kanal, the industrial train station Leipzig-Plagwitz and the factory site of the agricultural machinery factory Rudolph Sack had a private siding, but no connection to the road. In order to enable access from Weißenfelser Straße, Grohmann & Frosch also acquired the remaining property on the embankment of the canal.

Around 1914, almost two thirds of the company premises were built on. In order to gain further building land, the decision was made to purchase the embankment. In order to make optimal use of the space, a structure was built on supports ("stilts") before the Second World War; the building was later named after them.

After 1945, the stilt house was used by the successor to the Rudolph Sack company, the VEB tillage equipment factory. After 1990 it was empty. After extensive restoration, it was able to reopen on May 15, 2003 with studios, apartments and a restaurant.

architecture

Stilt house, seen from the Weißenfelser bridge
In the courtyard of the stilt house

Since the building permit was only granted without the use of an embankment wall on the canal and only upon revocation, the original design by Hermann Böttcher had to be revised. The most important change he made was a platform and structure in the manner of a pile structure on over 100 massive concrete supports arranged in a grid, which protrude high above the rising embankment and partly into the water. Böttcher designed a one and a two-story warehouse. Between the two was a covered track head. In addition, an open platform should serve as a storage area.

Because the Reich Ministry of Transport wanted to keep expansion plans for the Karl-Heine Canal open for shipping in favor of widening the fairway, the port authority, town planning and building police had concerns about the construction. Despite the objections, the mayor at the time, Rudolf Haake, approved the construction in September 1937 because the armaments factory was producing. Grohmann & Frosch and their subsidiary Eisenhochbau Grohmann & Frosch in Lindenau, which was established after 1920, manufactured fuselage sheets for submarine and aircraft construction as well as obstacle posts and corrugated sheets for shelters and barracks as well as ammunition boxes and the like. The management justified the construction in a letter dated April 22, 1938 as follows: “The […] new buildings serve to fulfill the orders already received from the Wehrmacht, resp. carry out the expected mob jobs. "

The striking appearance of the stilt house, which makes it so worth seeing today, results u. a. from the demands of air protection at the time of construction. The enormous cross-sections of the concrete pillars of 1 × 1 meter are based on static calculations, in which 1000 kilograms were included "for possible debris loads". In addition, windowless air raid shelters for 90 people were set up under the floor; they can still be recognized today. The space between the concrete pillars was also used for air protection purposes: "The execution of the plateau above the canal embankment also creates a refuge for those people who are not members of the followers ."

In the construction, brick and concrete were used in a purely functional way, following the classic modern style. The canal facade was designed as a visible side, from which the functions of the building parts can be clearly read. The concrete lintels above the windows are made of iron-saving construction, as required by the implementation regulations for the four-year plan . The large windows in Hall 1 and the top of the track replaced the missing skylight .

restoration

The stilt house restaurant in winter

The Leipzig architecture firm Weis & Volkmann planned the restoration associated with the expansion and conversion of the stilt house . It was realized from 2001 to 2003. During the careful and listed renovation, the original impression of the building was preserved. Externally, the existing structure was preserved, the clinker brick facades and all concrete parts were cleaned and repaired, and the historic roof structure was renovated. The original window layout was retained after the installation of new windows, only the large window areas on the water side were pulled down by a third to allow more light. The formerly open track hall was closed. The old steel structure was visibly incorporated into the interior design.

The architects Weis & Volkmann have set up their office in the building. There are also other studios and four residential units were built in the former Hall 1. Below the ground floor zone of the building, a continuous "glass box" was hung between the stilts, which houses office space. It emphasizes the impression of a floating building. A “glass box” of this type is located below the undeveloped former storage platform. Inside is the stilt house restaurant .

Awards

  • 2003: Architecture Prize of the City of Leipzig (Honorable Mention)
  • 2004: Saxon State Prize for Architecture
  • 2004: Hieronymus Lotter Prize of the City of Leipzig
  • 2004: German Conversion Award (Honorable Recognition)

literature

  • Corrugated sheet factory and galvanizing plant Grohmann & Frosch (Stelzenhaus) Weißenfelser Strasse 65. In: Peter Leonhardt, Volker Rodekamp (ed.): Totalitär, Leipzig 1933–1945. Urban planning and architecture under National Socialism. On the occasion of the exhibition from September 10 to November 9, 2008 (thema.M, Issue 10), Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Leipzig 2008, ISBN 978-3-910034-05-1 , p. 51.
  • Wolfgang Kil: Another lighthouse. The stilt house in Plagwitz. In: Leipziger Blätter. Issue 42, spring 2003, p. 11, ISSN  0232-7244 .
  • Anna Dolezalova: The house on stilts. In: Leipziger Blätter . Special edition Leipzig - show the change. May 2000, p. 46 f., ISSN  0232-7244 .
  • 50 years 1889–1939 Grohmann & Frosch and Eisenhochbau Grohmann & Frosch Leipzig. Festschrift, Leipzig 1939.

Web links

Commons : Stilt House  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b State Archive Leipzig: Holdings 20860 - Grohmann & Frosch, Eisenhochbau, Leipzig. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  2. ↑ Plagwitz. A historical and urban study. Pro Leipzig, Leipzig 2008, p. 34
  3. ^ Klaus Hesse: 1933–1945 armaments industry in Leipzig. Part 1. Im Selbstverlag, Leipzig 2001, p. 135
  4. ^ City of Leipzig, Archives Office for Building Regulations and Monument Preservation: Weißenfelser Straße 65, Vol. IV, Bl. 28 r
  5. ↑ thema.M , issue 10, ISBN 978-3-910034-05-1 , p. 51
  6. ^ City of Leipzig, Archives Office for Building Regulations and Monument Preservation: Weißenfelser Straße 65, Vol. IV, Bl. 29 r

Coordinates: 51 ° 19 ′ 43.9 "  N , 12 ° 19 ′ 51.1"  E