Victoria Quarter

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The Viktoria-Quartier is a residential and commercial district in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg ( Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district ) in the immediate vicinity of Viktoriapark .

Building description

The building ensemble , largely made of clinker bricks , is based on contemporary ideas of medieval castles in terms of the facade design . Numerous turrets decorate the buildings. The windows and doors are usually equipped with round arches . The entire company and leisure area is divided into numerous specifically used buildings, for example forges , workshops, stables, event halls, brewery buildings and cellars. A wall encloses the entire area.

The renovation and conversion from 1999 onwards led to various changes to the building fabric, in particular to the former boiler house . In addition to the construction of new buildings, the boiler house was increased by up to two floors. The facade was largely preserved, although new windows were broken in various places and loggias were installed. Several stairwells, lifts and arcades were built inside . The installation of partition walls and technical equipment was also necessary for the conversion to apartments, in some cases the installation of new floors made of reinforced concrete and the reinforcement of historical pillars with modern materials. The architectural concept envisaged making new installations clearly recognizable as such in order to make a distinction to the historical substance obvious.

history

Smithy
The Sixtus Villa named after Hans Sixtus
Sixtusgarten on the edge of Viktoriapark

In 1829 the Gericke brothers opened a large beer garden with a circular lane on the southern slope of the Kreuzberg , which they named "Tivoli", based on the Parisian model. In 1857 the Berlin brewery company Tivoli was founded , which brewed beer at this location. Between 1862 and 1873 extensive brewery buildings including the Gothic Hall and the large hall building, at that time the largest event space in the Berlin area, were built. The premises were also used for political meetings: in 1877 the SPD celebrated its first electoral success here and in 1892 the German Conservative Party decided on its anti-Semitic program, the so-called "Tivoli Program".

The Schultheiss brewery took over the Tivoli brewery in 1891 and expanded the area. During this time, the bar on Methfesselstrasse and the Sixtus Villa were built. During the Second World War , the facility suffered considerable damage, which was only partially repaired in the following decades.

The Schultheiss brewery gave up the site in 1993 in favor of another location in the eastern part of Berlin . At this point, most of the buildings were in poor condition. In 1994, Deutsche Grundbesitz Management GmbH (subsidiary of Deutsche Bank ) and Viterra acquired the property for the equivalent of around 15.3 million euros. In a subsequent urban development competition, the plan by the Californian architect Frederick Fisher to renovate the 18 remaining buildings, including around 15,000 m² of basement space, and to add new buildings to them, won. The aim was a mixed use with living, culture and business.

On June 24, 1999 the foundation stone for the Viktoria Quarter was laid. The total investment was then estimated at 300 million marks (adjusted for purchasing power in today's currency: around 204.7 million euros). In the years that followed, various units for various uses were created in parts of the historic buildings and in new buildings: apartments, penthouses , lofts , offices and studios. The Schmiedehof quarter was completed in 2001. This essentially involved the conversion of the Schmiedehof building, the construction of three new buildings and an underground car park with 600 parking spaces. In 2001 the second construction phase began, the Park Quartier . In spring 2001 there was a temporary construction stop due to the insolvency of the investors and the tenants moved out (partly forced). The reasons for the insolvency were the unexpectedly large size of the project, unplanned additional costs for the development and problems in collecting the planned sales prices for the real estate. Because of this, but also because of the dampness in the basement rooms intended for this, the settlement of the Berlinische Galerie at this location, which was intended as an anchor user and should be supplemented by several smaller galleries. In 2002 the Berlin branch of the Munich construction company Baywobau acquired the property from the bankruptcy estate. The resumption of construction work did not take place until autumn 2004, as two co-investors who were initially involved had withdrawn their financial commitments and the development was difficult due to construction work that had already taken place and the extensive uncovering of the beer cellars. As part of this construction work, the existing buildings were initially supplemented by the Park Quartier . Town houses and apartments were built around a vineyard .

From mid-2008 to the beginning of 2012, the Brauhofgarten quarter , which borders the Willy-Kressmann-Stadion , was the third construction phase with 145 apartments. In the immediate vicinity of the buildings of the former brewery, condominiums were built according to plans by the Berlin architect Stephan Höhne. The garden landscape architect Regina Poly is responsible for the planning of the outdoor facilities . From 2011, the Tivoli Karree was also built . In addition, extensive renovation work has been carried out on the existing historic buildings since May 2011, which now operate under the names Central Park Living and KesselhausQuartier . Central Park was created in cooperation with GrundStein Bauträgergesellschaft für Altbausanierung mbH , and the Kesselhaus district was created until 2013 with Prinz von Preussen Grundbesitz AG . The construction work was completed in 2016.

Contrary to the original plans, the cultural use was barely implemented and the proportion of apartments that were primarily marketed as condominiums increased significantly . Today, together with smaller commercial and office spaces, they shape the character of the property. A total of 515 apartments were built through conversion and in new buildings. The residential and commercial space is around 5.5 hectares in total  . The total investment over the 15-year construction work is estimated at 140 million euros.

The area is registered in the list of monuments of the State of Berlin and is car-free inside.

literature

  • Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research (Ed.): Conversion of non-residential buildings into residential properties - Documentation of the case studies , 2015, PDF version

Web links

Commons : Viktoria-Quartier  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Hasso Spode: The Schultheiss Brewery on the Kreuzberg , in: Geschistorlandschaft Berlin , Vol. 5, Berlin 1994, pp. 401 ff.
  2. Builder for Berlin: Karl Teichen and the beer villa. In: Berliner Morgenpost , December 10, 2005
  3. Viktoria, the (foundation) stone is here! Start of construction on the Berlin Schultheiss site. In: Baunetz , June 24, 1999
  4. The Neverending Story of the Viktoria Quartier (2). In: Kreuzberger Chronik , November 2001, issue 32; Retrieved June 17, 2010
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  12. Baywobau Berlin starts Tivoli-Karree ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pressehof.de
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Coordinates: 52 ° 29 ′ 11 "  N , 13 ° 22 ′ 53"  E