Wokrenterstrasse

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Wokrenterstraße, east side, house no. 27 upwards
Wokrenterstraße, east side, house no. 36-41

Wokrenterstrasse is a historic street in what is now known as the Northern Old Town of the Hanseatic and university city ​​of Rostock . It connects the streets An der Ober Kante in the south and Am Strande in the north and marks the interface between the development in industrial construction and the building fabric that has been renovated using historic gable elements. This makes the Wokrenterstraße in Rostock unique.

story

Wokrenterstraße, first mentioned in 1271, was named after an old Rostock patrician family - in addition to its location, an indication that it was one of the most important streets in Rostock. Origin names were quite common for streets in the northern central and new towns in the Middle Ages . The Wokrents probably came from the Mecklenburg village of the same name, which is now part of the municipality of Jürgenshagen . The typical "de" ("from") in the name of the early family members speaks for the immigration from the immediate vicinity.

The Wokrenterstraße led from the historic Neustadt to the city ​​harbor and ended at one of the 13 beach gates of Rostock's city fortifications : the Wokrentertor , equipped with a merchant's bridge ( Landungsbrücke ) . In the late Hanseatic heyday of Rostock beer brewing , six parallel streets in this area had the highest concentration of breweries , around 20 in Wokrenterstraße alone. Evidence of their early existence is the fieldstone well, which was only discovered in the 20th century and must date from before the mid-15th century, because that was when the first wooden water supply systems were laid in Rostock. A bathhouse can be traced back to 1361. The Wokrenterstraße was inhabited by boatmen and cooperage , among others - and of course the brewers ( brewery owners ) with their families. In accordance with their high reputation, they also provided some councillors . The street barely escaped the Rostock city fire of 1677 . The destruction of the Second World War was followed by decay - until people thought better of it in the 1970s.

East side renovation

Architect and conservationist with the design of the gable fronts (1978)
Construction site Wokrenterstrasse (1980)

Wokrenterstraße initially shared the fate of the entire harbor district . Despite the housing shortage, many houses had to be abandoned due to dilapidation. Demolition from west to east began in the first half of the 1970s with the aim of completely redesigning the area. The GDR monument protection law passed in 1975 helped to end the demolition of the area on the west side of Wokrenterstraße. At the same time, environmental protection was specified for the “ Hausbaumhaus ” and the house with the traditional restaurant “Zur Kogge” .

In 1977, the office for urban planning developed the concept for the reconstruction under the direction of the architects Ingrid Bräuer and Hans-Joachim Lorenzen. It was based on the requirement to modernize the existing building fabric while preserving as much of it as possible. The design envisaged a typical historic streetscape with a row of gabled houses, with the width of the houses and the number of window axes, the height of the building and the original construction period determining the choice of gables . Inspiration was provided by the gable fronts of Langen Straße , which were lost during the Second World War and when it was redesigned as a main road , and which until then had still marked the southern end of Wokrenterstraße.

However, the progressive decay of the buildings as a result of the early release and delayed renovation measures made it necessary in 1979 to demolish the street line except for three buildings (Nos. 27, 39 and 40). The 15 demolished houses were rebuilt from 1980 to 1985 in traditional brick construction. The original building depth of approx. 17 meters was retained and two apartments were set up on each floor. A total of 87 apartments were built. Most of the buildings were equipped with shops, restaurants or workshops for tradespeople and artisans , and five buildings were given terraces. Salvaged historical components, such as front doors, metal grilles and street lamp brackets, could be reinstalled on some buildings. An old well was discovered behind house number 41 and dug to a depth of 13 meters. With the excavated erratic boulders, the ring of fountains above ground could be rebuilt. The cover grille was added.

monument protection

house treehouse
Restaurant "Zur Kogge"

The following two buildings on Wokrenterstraße are included in the current list of monuments in Rostock . The protection of the surrounding area was the reason for the re-establishment of the typical historic streetscape with a row of gabled houses.

Hausbaumhaus, Wokrenterstrasse 40

The merchant's house with a staggered brick gable from 1490 is the only house in Rostock that has been preserved with a house tree as an architectural feature . Its trunk, made of oak, rests on a large boulder in the basement and is almost in the middle of the house. It serves to support the transfer of the loads from the soil used as storage to the foundation stone. Similar buildings can still be found in Greifswald and Stralsund .

Restaurant "Zur Kogge", Wokrenterstrasse 27

Of the numerous pubs and dive bars that typically existed near the port of a Hanseatic city, only very few remain in Rostock. The “Stadt Hamburg” restaurant was located in the corner building at Wokrenterstrasse and Strandstrasse as early as 1856. The multiple change of name was also accompanied by an eventful history. This ranges from a notorious seaman's pub called "Schiffer-Hus" at the beginning of the 20th century to bomb damage in 1942, the reopening as "Zur Kogge" in 1945, the demolition down to the foundation walls and the new construction in the early 1980s to being served again in May 1983. The commissioned builders kept the original guest room and modernized the service rooms. Since then, the restaurant "Zur Kogge" has been a tourist magnet with maritime flair. The relief on the outer wall is reminiscent of the old name.

west side and surroundings

zoom in and view information about the image
The Wokrenterstrasse and its surroundings. Looking north

For financial reasons, the extensive renovation could not be carried out for the entire northern old town. In December 1983, as part of the area redevelopment that had begun a decade earlier, construction began on the area to the west of the renovated row of houses. On the cleared area, only the listed Hornscher Hof (Beim Hornschen Hof 6), Wittespeicher (Schnickmannstraße 14), Auf der Huder (1a/1b) and Badstüberstraße (4a-6) storage facilities and a small heating plant in Aalstecherstraße were left .

With the greatest possible retention of the old street structures and street names, a whole quarter was rebuilt in the specified prefab construction. The design should differ from that in the large housing estates . Narrow individual buildings were created in alternation of gables and eaves, which were lined up to suit the slope situation. In the documentary film from 1985, the city archivist unrolls the 400-year-old Vicke-Schorler role and emphasizes its importance as a source of inspiration for the architects using the example of the truncated gables.

The first slab with brick facing was set in 1984 at No. 1 Wokrenterstrasse. The quarter was finished three years later: Since then, around 5,000 people have lived in the 5-storey houses, surrounded by corner buildings with shops and restaurants. The ensemble, loosened up by green areas, attracted a great deal of attention at home and abroad. The highlight of the awards was the "Grand Prix" at the 4th World Biennale of Architecture in Sofia in 1987.

In the area to the west of Wokrenterstraße there are two renovated monuments in the immediate vicinity:

Hornscher Hof before the start of renovation (2006)
Hornscher Hof (south wing) since 2014
Witte storage (2009)

“Hornscher Hof” reservoir, at Hornschen Hof 6

The current ensemble of buildings in a side street branching off from Wokrenterstraße has existed since 1612. It bears the name of Count Friedrich Wilhelm Leopold von Horn , who acquired the then two-wing residential and brewery in 1702 and resided there until his death in 1709. It had previously received its stately furnishings from Johann Stallmeister, the son of the builder. After the Ballhaus am Steintor collapsed in 1760, the Hornsche Hof served as a temporary theater venue (“Comödienbude”). After 1783, the wealthy businessman Wilhelm Prehn had the courtyard converted into a granary and expanded in 1796 by building a new north wing. It is not known exactly when the use, which existed until 1990, "for a wide variety of storage purposes" began. The neglected three-wing building could only be saved from decay by urban development funds - until an investor was found who began the complete renovation in 2011. In 2014, 26 new apartments between 40 and 200 m² could be occupied. The red color for the exterior paint corresponds to the historical model.

Wittespeicher, Schnickmannstrasse 14

The Wittespeicher, also known as the Wittescher Speicher , was preserved on Schnickmannstraße, which ran parallel to Wokrenterstraße . The gable anchors indicate 1795 as the year the original granary was built . However, the cellar with a barrel vault and cobblestone paving is probably older. In 1862, the pharmacist Friedrich Witte acquired the half-timbered building and founded a chemical factory there, the nucleus of Mrs. Witte. Chemical Factories . According to tradition, the building was used to send mail for the preparations produced on the adjacent site, including pepsin , which came onto the market in 1873 and made Witte world market leader. In the 1980s, the Rostock Information was completely renovated and accommodated . At the beginning of the 2000s, the Wittespeicher received its current appearance and has been used by gastronomy ever since .

documentary

literature

web links

Commons : Gaststätte "Zur Kogge"  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Wokrenterstraße  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

itemizations

  1. ^ a b Ernst Münch, Ralf Mulsow: The old Rostock and its streets . Redieck & Schade, Rostock 2010, p. 75(a), 76-77(b) .
  2. ↑ Henning Schleiff: Rostock's path in the GDR. In: 40 out of 800. Rostock in the GDR . Redieck & Schade, Rostock 2017, p. 19–188 , here: p. 79 .
  3. ↑ a b Ingrid Bräuer: The reconstruction of Wokrenter Straße . In: 40 out of 800. Rostock in the GDR . Redieck & Schade, Rostock 2017, p. 300-301 .
  4. ↑ Monika Kadner: More than a corner pub - "Zur Kogge" . In: 40 out of 800. Rostock in the GDR . Redieck & Schade, Rostock 2017, p. 262-263 .
  5. ↑ Michael Bräuer : The "new" Northern Old Town . In: 40 out of 800. Rostock in the GDR . Redieck & Schade, Rostock 2017, p. 189-191 .
  6. ^ a b Reno Stutz, Ulrich Loeper: 77 x Rostock. What not to miss . Hinstorff, Rostock 2016, ISBN 978-3-356-02016-8 , p. 49(a), 50(b) .
  7. ↑ Michael Bräuer: On the history of the Hornsche Hof: The restoration of the monument to the residential building . In: Klaus Armbröster et al. (ed.): 800 years of Rostock . Hinstorff, Rostock 2018, ISBN 978-3-356-02195-0 , p. 57-60 .
  8. ↑ The Wittespeicher. In: Fachwerk7. Retrieved December 14, 2021 .
  9. ↑ Friedrich Martin Sigismund Carl Witte. In: knerger. Retrieved December 14, 2021 .
  10. ↑ DEFA Studio: Original documentation 1985 . In: Rostock: Hanseatic city and gateway to the world . Original DEFA documentaries from 1954 to 1985 about the Hanseatic city of Rostock (DVD), track 6. Icestorm Entertainment , Berlin 2021. & film protocol. In: Film Database of the DEFA Foundation . Retrieved December 14, 2021 .

Coordinates: 54° 5′ 29″  N , 12° 8′ 8″  E