Army and Navy department store

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Officers' association house with
army and navy warehouse
The building in 2011

The building in 2011

Data
place Berlin-Mitte , Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4/5 (main entrance),
Mittelstrasse 26/27 and
Dorotheenstrasse  69
architect from Hude & Hennicke
Construction year 1887-1889
Floor space 1200 m²
Coordinates 52 ° 31 '5.4 "  N , 13 ° 23' 8.6"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '5.4 "  N , 13 ° 23' 8.6"  E
particularities
multiple conversions

The department store for the army and navy was built in 1887/1888 on today's Neustädtischer Kirchplatz in the Berlin district of Mitte, initially as a house for the officers' association . Around 1894, a special department store opened in the building for the needs of the numerous military personnel stationed in Berlin. Between 1935 and 2008 there were always new owners and new uses for the house. The property has belonged to the Federal Republic of Germany and is a listed building since the end of the 20th century .

history

House of the officers' association with military department store

In 1886 there were two residential buildings on the parcels of Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4 (corner building on Mittelstrasse) and 5 (corner building on Dorotheenstrasse 71 [according to house number counting at the time]). House 4 was owned by a baker, House 5 was owned by a bank manager. In 1887 the buildings were still there, only house number 5 had a merchant as the new owner. By the following year, the old houses were torn down and the address book now read "New buildings" and Hennicke (Königgrätzer Straße 131) was named as the owner. The architect Julius Hennicke had acquired the property in order to build a club house with his partner Hermann von der Hude after the residential buildings were demolished . In 1889 it was finished and opened as the headquarters for the German Officers Association. The R. Eisenschmidt bookstore was also on the ground floor. A house inspector and a second lieutenant acted as administrators, for whom apartments were furnished here. This year, the architects acted as a community of owners. The bookstore expanded its range to include maps by 1890 . The architects had sold the property to the officers' association around 1891.

In the 18th and 19th centuries there were numerous military establishments in the Prussian capital. These included, for example, the 1st Guard Infantry Division , the 2nd Guard Infantry Division , the Guard Cavalry Division , the 3rd and 4th Guard Infantry Brigade, the 1st and 3rd Guard Cavalry Brigade, the 2nd Guards Regiment on foot, the 1st and 2nd Guards Dragoons Regiment, the 3rd Squadron of the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps , the Guards Field Artillery Brigade, the Garde Uhlans Regiment and others at least eleven military units. After all, this also included the Invalidenhaus and military arrest in Lindenstrasse, to name just a few in the Berlin area. In addition,  the Prussian Admiralty , the highest command authority of the Navy , was located in the Ministry at Leipziger Platz 12 / 12a . In order to preferentially supply the military with clothing, weapons and also with food, the War Ministry, together with the officers' association, decided to convert the club house into a department store for the military personnel stationed in Berlin.

The officers' association opened the warehouses for the army and navy on its premises around 1893 . Instead of the previous administrators, a director (von Wedel) now lived in the house. The bookstore remained on the ground floor. A few years later a property manager who lived in the neighborhood (Mittelstrasse 25) took over the duties again; there was no longer a director. The bookseller Eisenschmidt added a lottery revenue point to its range.

The situation remained until 1910, except that an "office manager" had moved in here (first mentioned in 1907). The army naval house was introduced around 1910 as a more catchy name for the building . No further changes took place in the following years. It was not until 1923 that the address book indicated Lewinsky, Retzlaff & Co., Bank Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien as a joint user of the Army Marine House . However, that was only for a short time. The owner was still the German Officers' Association.

In 1930 the building was still used by the army navy and owned by the officers' association. The AG Feinmechanik vorm found themselves as new users . Jetter and Scherrer , the Berliner Notruf-AG and another bookstore (C. Bath) .

Office building from 1935 to 1976

The department store in Berlin-Mitte lost its function of supplying military personnel in the 1930s because troop units had been disbanded or relocated outside of Berlin. The officers' association sold the house after 1934 to the German Chamber of Crafts and Commerce and numerous administrations subsequently moved in: the publishing house Das Handwerk , the German Craft Institute , the “ Reichsinnungsverbände ” of the sculptors and stonemasons , the glaziers , the paving and road construction trades and the locksmith trade . In addition, the Reichskartell-Verein des Deutschen Glaserhandwerk (Reich Cartel Association), the Reich Central Office for Craftsman Deliveries, the “Seminar for Crafts Studies at the Berlin School of Commerce ”, the editors of the St. Lucas glass newspaper and a master plumber are listed as users (1936).

In the following years there were no fundamental changes in use, the owner remained the German Chamber of Crafts and Commerce, only the numerous guild associations had merged to form the Reichsgruppe Handwerk and the Reichsstand des Deutschen Handwerks .

The address book from 1943, the last one to be viewed online, still showed the same owner. The names of individual administrations in the house had changed in line with the zeitgeist, in particular a guarantee company for craftsmen settlers and a Handwerksaufbau Ost GmbH appeared .

In the battle for Berlin shortly before the end of the Second World War , the building ensemble suffered numerous damage, which, however, could be repaired after 1945. The GDR Chamber of Crafts, formed in 1953, used the house until 1975.

Embassy building until 2008

American Embassy, ​​2008,
still with a closed thoroughfare in front of the entrance

When, after the Helsinki Conference , the United States (USA), among others, had politically recognized the GDR , the East Berlin administration offered them the building near the border with West Berlin for their diplomatic representation. After a renovation phase in 1977, the USA opened a new representation in the GDR instead of their bombed-out and cleared embassy . This led a publicly accessible library in their house, which could also be visited by GDR citizens without separate registration.

After the multiple terrorist attacks on American embassy buildings in 1998, the area around the embassy was cordoned off with barbed wire and the traffic was largely diverted. In 1991 the Americans were given back their previous property next to the Brandenburg Gate , on which they were planning their new embassy building . The security measures in East Berlin were supposed to end with the move to the new building at the Brandenburg Gate, the completion of which was delayed until July 2008. As a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , the barriers and traffic diversions remained in place (as can be seen in the picture from 2008).

The house on Neustädtischer Kirchplatz fell back into the ownership of the German state and has been empty since the move to the new building in 2008.

Office building complex for the German Bundestag

After some back and forth, for example, the building was a compensatory measure for the in Prague by the Federal Republic used Lobkowicz Palace contemplated other considerations went there, here are the Research Services of the German Bundestag accommodate.

At the beginning of 2013, the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning announced a limited competition for the "renovation of the property Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4/5 for the German Bundestag ", in which 22 architectural offices took part. On August 23, 2013, the Berlin office of Huber Staudt Architects received the first prize together with the Berlin landscape planning office Weidinger.

The neighboring building to the east, originally a purely residential building, will be included in the building complex. It already served as an office building for the American embassy and is connected to the former department store by stairs. Since the house is not listed, it will be replaced by a functional new building.

The total construction costs should not exceed 31.5 million euros . The award-winning designs were exhibited in September / October 2013 at the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning at Straße des 17. Juni 112 and will be implemented accordingly. Pollutant clean-up took place in the same year .

Construction began in October 2017, and until March 2018 the historical foundation was reinforced by means of foundation bodies using the jet grouting method (DSV) because the stability was no longer given. The demolition of the extension for the completely new building at Mittelstrasse 25 began in February 2018. The already increased costs are estimated at 51 million euros, which have not yet been fully incorporated into the federal budget. A completion date has not been mentioned so far (as of January 2019), instead it says "Date in coordination".

architecture

Historical

The six-storey building (half a basement) with a plastered facade in the neo-renaissance style encloses two courtyards of different sizes. Towards Dorotheenstrasse, the area is around 29 meters wide, and around 21 meters towards Mittelstrasse. The area of ​​the building given in the info box is only a rough guide.

The 17-axis main front facing the square is cuboid on the ground and first floors. The second and third floors are combined on the middle risalit and on the corner risalits by colossal pilaster arrangements . The original roof was simply restored during the repair work around 1948/1949. Due to the numerous new uses, changes were made again and again, especially inside, so that on the occasion of the expansion competition it was said: "The current state is only reminiscent of the structure of the building at the time."

The sales floors formed a tour with individual sales rooms that had to be walked through one after the other. There were different stairs in the building for access. The floor slabs with caps made of sheet steel also rested on slim cast-iron supports.

Changes as part of the renovation from 2014

The winning design describes the expected changes as follows:

“Two well-proportioned inner courtyards open up the deep building volume made up of old and new buildings, offer orientation and relaxation for employees and visitors, and enable natural lighting and ventilation in all common areas. In order to achieve the desired generosity of the inner courtyards, the components on the neighboring properties at Mittelstrasse 25 and Dorotheenstrasse 67 are consistently incorporated into the sequence of rooms in the historic building on Neustadtischer Kirchplatz. […] All entrances, main and side entrances to the old building will be retained. The new building on Mittelstrasse will have an additional barrier-free entrance. From here, the desired separate usage unit for the public relations work of the Bundestag and a generous bicycle storage room can be reached. "The historic department store is being given a new roof with large dormers , which" make the roof tangible in terms of urban planning and provide good exposure to the usable spaces behind it "

To the inside it says:

“The original halls of the department store should remain legible. New elements, such as the central staircase, naturally fit into the room plan. [...] The newly designed entrance hall with porter's lodge and security check is completely barrier-free and accessible on street level. The new central staircase mediates between street level and the higher ground floor and also connects all other levels of the building with one another. A lifting platform at the porter's lodge connects the ground floor for wheelchair users to the entrance hall. The new staircase in the center of the building opens equally to both courtyards. Corridors leading past the stairs on both sides with the two elevators at the end form the central access point of the building. This is where the two 'circular routes' around the courtyards meet, which open up all areas of the administration building. "

In the neighborhood

Dorotheenstadt Church

Until the end of the Second World War, this church stood exactly opposite the department store described here. Since the church building was badly damaged in 1945, it remained in ruins until 1965 . Then it was completely removed and the area leveled. It was tolerated as a parking lot. It was not until the 21st century that the district administration began to create a jewelry square at this point, which has been called Neustadtischer Kirchplatz since 2011.

Official warehouse and hotel

In the immediate vicinity of the military department store there was the department store for German civil servants and the hotel for the German Officers' Association (Dorotheenstrasse 33/34 at the corner of Bunsenstrasse). The Berlin hotel company was located at Neustadtische Kirchstrasse 6/7, i.e. on the north corner of Dorotheenstrasse their headquarters, where various directors of renowned hotels such as the Continental or Adlon lodged one after the other (year 1894, year 1899). Other houses around the (today's) Neustädtischer Kirchplatz belonged to hotel or factory owners, doctors, architects and merchants.

From the country house to the Masonic lodge

Prussian lodge house in the 19th century

At the southern corner of Neustädtische Kirchstrasse and Dorotheenstrasse , the country house built by the architect Andreas Schlueter for the Minister Ernst Bogislav von Kameke had stood since 1712 . In 1780 the building, named after its first owner, Villa Kamecke , came to the Prussian Freemason "Grand Lodge Royal York for Friendship" . The building was totally destroyed and cleared during World War II.

Maison d'Orange

In the 19th century, the Maison d'Orange was located at Dorotheenstrasse 26 .

literature

  • Institute for Monument Preservation (Ed.): The architectural and art monuments of the GDR. Capital Berlin-I . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1984, p. 197 ff .

Web links

Commons : Warehouse for Army and Navy (Berlin)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4, 5 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1886, Part II, p. 304.
  2. ↑ Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4, 5 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1888, Part II, p. 317.
  3. ↑ Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4, 5 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1874, Part II, p. 264.
  4. ↑ Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1891, part 2, p. 360. "E [= owner] German officers' association".
  5. ^ Prussian state authorities, troops . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1876, part 4, p. 52.
  6. ↑ III. Admiralty . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1876, Part IV, p. 24.
  7. ↑ a b Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4, 5 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1894, Part II., P. 391.
  8. ↑ Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4, 5 . In: Address book for Berlin and its suburbs , 1899, Part III., P. 426.
  9. ↑ Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4, 5 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1923, Part IV., P. 671.
  10. ↑ Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4, 5 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1930, Part IV., P. 717.
  11. ↑ Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4, 5 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1936, Part IV., P. 601.
  12. ^ A b c Institute for the Preservation of Monuments (ed.): The architectural and art monuments of the GDR. Capital Berlin-I . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1984, p. 203 .
  13. ↑ a b Presentation of the competition and presentation of the submitted designs on competition.com; accessed on March 6, 2014
  14. ↑ a b Detailed description with view simulation for the conversion of the former army naval house; accessed on March 6, 2014
  15. ^ Construction project Neustädtische Kirchstrasse 4/6 . Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  16. ↑ The dimensions of the floor plan were roughly measured using google earth and are therefore not secured.
  17. ↑ a b Dorotheenstrasse . In: Address book for Berlin and its suburbs , 1901, Part III., P. 123.
  18. ^ Postcard Dorotheenstrasse 21 , Alt-Berlin
  19. ↑ Architectural and art monuments I, p. 197
  20. ^ Dorotheenstrasse . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1876, Part II., P. 75.