Volkspark (hall)
The Volkspark is an event building in Halle (Saale) . It was built in 1906 by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) as a club house and inaugurated on July 13, 1907. The building is one of the largest and most prominent people's houses that were built in central Germany by 1914.
Location and importance
The Volkspark stands on a hill on Burgstrasse above the Saale river promenade named after Richard Robert Rive . Due to its elevated position, the building is visible from afar and has the character of a building that crowns the city. The entrance with the address Schleifweg 8a (formerly Burgstrasse 27) is on the Schleifweg above Burgstrasse.
Due to its location and architecture, the building also had a political-programmatic aspect, as it was erected in one of the upper middle-class residential areas of the city directly opposite the monumental-looking villa of the Halle banker Heinrich Franz Lehmann (II.) Built between 1890 and 1892 . The SPD called the Volkspark, which became the sociable, cultural and political center of the Halle workers' movement, also “protective and stronghold for the Halle proletariat”.
history
.jpg)
Since 1903 there were considerations within the SPD for the growing workforce to found their "own home" because the changing venues were no longer sufficient. Due to the large garden area, the choice fell on the area of the old beer pub "Tinzers Garten"; on January 22, 1906, the property was purchased. On July 13, 1907, the Volkspark was ceremoniously opened for the organized workers who had financed the construction from their own resources. The grounds of the Volkspark comprised 7,800 m² with a concert garden, verandas, colonnades, music pavilion and gym. In terms of size and political importance, Halle's Volkspark was unique among the numerous people's and trade union houses in Germany.
Political rallies, lectures, youth consecration celebrations , theater events, concerts, exhibitions and festivities took place in the rooms . Speakers in the Volkspark hall included Clara Zetkin in 1908 , Karl Liebknecht in 1909 , Rosa Luxemburg in 1911 , and Wilhelm Pieck in 1913 .
During the First World War , the house was used as a hospital. During the November Revolution of 1918 it was the seat of the Workers 'and Soldiers' Council . In October 1920 the decisive party congress of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) took place in the Volkspark , which split off from the SPD majority in 1917 because of its support for war policy. In July 1924, the communist Red Front Fighters Association was founded here.
During the Weimar Republic , there were several violent clashes between police and KPD supporters in and around the Volkspark . At an election rally of the KPD with the Reich President candidate Ernst Thälmann on March 13, 1925, ten people died, including Fritz Weineck .
In 1933 the last public election meetings of the SPD and KPD took place in the Volkspark. At the time of National Socialism , the Volkspark was owned by the concentration AG, administered by the State of Prussia and renamed "Reichshof". In addition to the use of the restaurants, the bowling alleys and a shooting range, major events of the NSDAP and its affiliated organizations took place. However, no concept was found for overall use. During the war , prototypes were carried out here and rooms were used by the Leuna works to accommodate forced laborers .
In the GDR , the Volkspark was used for political rallies, but also for cultural events such as the workers' festival in the GDR , workshop weeks and so-called combat meetings of the FDJ singing clubs as well as for youth consecration celebrations. There were room rentals for entertainment concerts, stage programs, company parties, dance tournaments and TV recordings, for example with Frank Schöbel . Various circles and working groups had their domicile here. The dance and entertainment evening “For two in the clubhouse” was held for almost ten years. In the summer family dance took place in the garden of the Volkspark.
At the time of the turnaround, some citizens' meetings took place in the Volkspark. Since 1991, independent theater groups and rock bands have also used the Volkspark. After the end of a long legal dispute, the property was transferred back to the SPD (concentration GmbH) in 1998.
After that it became quieter around the building and the slow decline began. The Volkspark Halle eV association was founded in 2004 and the association that has been gradually renovating the Volkspark has owned the Volkspark since 2010. The Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle is active in the association and is currently the most important user with the “Burg Galerie im Volkspark”, which presents the artistic and design achievements of the art students on the ground floor. In addition, the premises serve as a conference and event location. Since October 2018, the rental of rooms and catering for events that are not carried out directly by Volkspark Halle eV has been offered by Volkspark Eventgastronomie UG. There is a beer garden on the outside area and music, theater and dance events take place regularly both inside and outside.
Building and architecture
The architects of the Volkspark were the brothers Albert Giese and Ernst Heinrich Giese . The building has a hall for 3,000 visitors, a gym, a restaurant with a terrace and other event rooms. The hall building - at that time the largest and most modern in the city - with the prestigious front facing the garden, is characterized by a huge tail gable and large arched windows. The corners of the building form four sturdy towers with tail hoods , which give the building its festive and urban appearance. The Volkspark is one of the very few buildings in Halle where Art Nouveau not only influenced the facade decoration, but also shaped the silhouette and the structure of the building. The facade is adorned with light Art Nouveau decor.
After a renovation in 1954/55, nothing of the original interior has been preserved.
In 2011 the building was partially refurbished with regard to fire protection in a first construction phase. In the course of this renovation, new windows with high sound insulation values based on the existing building were installed in the Great Hall.
The Volkspark is listed in the monument register of the city of Halle under registration number 094 04604.
literature
- Holger Brülls, Thomas Dietsch: Architectural Guide Halle on the Saale . Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin, 2000, ISBN 3496012021 . Page 122.
- Tobias Kügler: The Volkspark - culture, sociability, politics . In: Werner Freitag, Katrin Minner, Andreas Ranft (eds.): History of the city of Halle , Vol. 2: Halle in the 19th and 20th centuries . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2006, ISBN 3-89812-383-9 , pp. 224-234.
- Simone Trieder : A palace for workers. 100 years of Volkspark Halle . (= Central German cultural history books , booklet 8.) Hasenverlag, Halle / S. 2007, ISBN 978-3-939468-09-7
- Anselm Weidner: There was always dancing - 100 years of Volkspark Halle an der Saale, Feature, DLF 2007, http://anselm-weidner.de/getanzt-wurde-immer-100-jahre-volkspark-in-halle-an-der- Saale/
- Volkspark Halle eV (Ed.): 100 Years of the Volkspark: Utopias - Legends - Visions ; Accompanying publication to an interdisciplinary project from June 29 to July 15, 2007 (= series of publications by the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle; Volume 18) Burg Giebichenstein, University of Art and Design, Halle 2007.
- SPD gives up the Volkspark . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, Halle (Saale), October 2, 2009
- Annett Krake: Many worlds. The Burgstrasse in Halle (= Central German cultural history books , issue 7.) Hasenverlag, 2nd edition, Halle (Saale) 2018, ISBN 978-3-939468-07-3 , pp. 61–65.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Volkspark Halle: Association
- ↑ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Saxony-Anhalt (ed.): List of monuments in Saxony-Anhalt / City of Halle. Fly Head Publishing, Halle 1996, ISBN 3-910147-62-3 , p. 89.
Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′ 51 ″ N , 11 ° 57 ′ 26 ″ E