Fichte-Bunker

Last updated
The Fichte-Bunker, on Fichtestrasse in Kreuzberg, Berlin Fichtebunker1 Berlin.JPG
The Fichte-Bunker, on Fichtestraße in Kreuzberg, Berlin

The Fichte-Bunker is a nineteenth-century gasometer in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany that was made into an air-raid shelter in World War II and subsequently was used as a shelter for the homeless and for refugees, in particular for those fleeing East Berlin for the West. It is the last remaining brick gasometer in Berlin.

Contents

The Fichte-Bunker is located between Fichtestraße and Körtestraße in an area of Jugendstil apartment houses, many of which are now under historic protection. The gasometer itself is protected, [1] but in September 2006 the State of Berlin's Real Property Fund sold it to private investors and residences have now been constructed on the roof.

Construction and technical data

Fichte-Bunker elevation, published 1876 Berlin Gasometer Fichtestrasse Ansicht ZfB.jpg
Fichte-Bunker elevation, published 1876
Fichte-Bunker section, published 1876 Berlin Gasometer Fichtestrasse Schnitt ZfB.jpg
Fichte-Bunker section, published 1876

The Fichte-Bunker was constructed in 1874 for the Municipal Gasholder Authority to the design of Johann Wilhelm Schwedler. [1] It was the second of four gasometers he designed for Berlin's street lighting; [2] the first was in Friedrichshain and has since been destroyed. Both were topped with the "Schwedler cupola", an engineering innovation of his that used an unsupported curved steel vault to span diameters of up to 45 metres (148 ft). [3]

The gasometer is a cylinder 56 metres (184 ft) in diameter, 21 metres (69 ft) high exclusive of the cupola [2] and 27 metres (89 ft) high in total. Its form was based on an 1827 design by Karl Friedrich Schinkel for a circular church. [3] [4] The capacity of the telescoping gas container was 30,000 cubic metres. [5]

History

The Kreuzberg gasometer was one of four built to supply gas for street lighting during Berlin's explosive growth in the 1870s.[ citation needed ]

After the introduction of electric street lighting, the gasometer was taken out of service in 1922 and until 1940 stood empty. At the end of 1940, Fritz Todt, Inspector-General of Buildings for the capital, had it converted into a 6-level air-raid shelter, one of three intended primarily for the protection of women and children. (The other two were side by side in Wedding). These were the largest shelters built anywhere in the Reich in the crash programme of shelter construction. [6] The roof, interior walls and floors were constructed of reinforced concrete up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) thick. The contractors, Siemens-Bauunion, used predominantly prisoners-of-war and forced labourers. [7] [8] Originally the shelter was planned for 6,000 people, but during the air raid of 3 February 1945, some 30,000 people took shelter [9] in the approximately 750 individual rooms, which are in many cases only 5 to 7 square meters. [10] In 1944-45, it sheltered Germans expelled from the eastern territories as well as Berliners. [11] Despite heavy bombardment, the bunker survived the war more or less undamaged.[ citation needed ]

After the war, the Fichte-Bunker was initially a much needed place of refuge for the displaced. [12] It was used as a juvenile detention facility [13] and as a home for the elderly. It was also typically the first place where refugees from East Germany stayed. [14] [15] [16] Finally it became a homeless shelter, [17] which rented rooms to the needy for 2.50 DM a night. Conditions were notoriously bad; it was called the Bunker der Hoffnungslosen ("Bunker of the Hopeless") and a reporter who went in incognito found it unbearable. [18]

The facility was closed for health reasons in 1963 and from then until reunification, the city used the building as a storehouse for part of the Senate Reserve, goods and provisions which the Senate of West Berlin was legally required to maintain in case of a second Berlin Blockade. [2]

After 1990, the Fichte-Bunker again stood empty; entrance was only possible on special tours.[ citation needed ]

Luxury housing

In September 2006, the State of Berlin's Real Property Fund sold the building and approximately 8,000m2 of land to the newly formed development company SpeicherWerk Wohnbau GmbH. The investors planned to construct luxury 2-storey condominiums on top of the former gasometer and build townhouses and a five-storey apartment building on the land around the building. [2] [19] [20] Despite objections from neighbours to the density of the development, planning permission was granted and work began in December 2007; the freestanding residences were completed in 2009. [7] [21] In spring 2008, there was concern about possible violation of the historic building code, [22] and in summer 2009 the scaffolding around the gasometer was set on fire as part of Action Weeks by squatters and opponents of demolition of housing to build for the rich. [23] In spring 2010, completion of the "Circlehouse" of 13 condominiums on top of the bunker was announced. Designed by architect Paul Ingenbleek and engineer Michael Ernst, they have rooftop gardens in front of the lower storey and front walls of steel and glass and are reached by means of a bridge from a tower which contains a lift and stairs. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin Brandenburg Airport</span> International airport serving Berlin, Germany

Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the German capital and state of Berlin, in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the former West Berlin mayor and West German chancellor Willy Brandt, it is located 18 kilometres (11 mi) south-east of the city centre and serves as a base for Eurowings, easyJet and Ryanair. It mostly has flights to European metropolitan and leisure destinations as well as a number of intercontinental services.

<i>Der Tagesspiegel</i> German newspaper

Der Tagesspiegel is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunification. Der Tagesspiegel is a liberal newspaper that is classified as centrist media in the context of German politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viktoriapark</span> Park in Berlin

The Viktoriapark is an urban park in the locality of Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany. It opened in 1894.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berliner FC Dynamo</span> German association football club

Berliner Fussball Club Dynamo e. V., commonly abbreviated to BFC Dynamo or BFC, alternatively sometimes called Dynamo Berlin, is a German football club based in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin Ostkreuz station</span> Train station in Berlin

Berlin Ostkreuz station is a station on the Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway and the busiest interchange station in Berlin. It is in the former East Berlin district of Friedrichshain, now part of the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. A smaller part of the station is in Rummelsburg, part of the borough of Lichtenberg. The station is a Turmbahnhof with the Berlin–Frankfurt (Oder) railway and the Prussian Eastern Railway on the lower level and the Berlin Ringbahn on the upper level. It is used by a total of around 235,000 passengers every day on eight lines, entering or leaving.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sportforum Hohenschönhausen</span> German multi-purpose sports complex

Sportforum Hohenschönhausen, officially named Sportforum Berlin, is a multi-purpose sports complex in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. The Sportforum was named Dynamo-Sportforum during the East German era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark</span> Multipurpose sports complex in Berlin, Germany

The Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the western part of the locality of Prenzlauer Berg in the borough of Pankow in Berlin. The sports complex covers an area of approximately 22 hectares and comprises several facilities. The main building is the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Stadion. The stadium is the third-largest stadium in Berlin, after the Olympiastadion and the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, with a capacity of approximately 20,000 seats, of which 15,000 are covered. Currently, the main tenants of the stadium are VSG Altglienicke and Berlin Thunder. Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark was the venue for the 2018 World Para Athletics European Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archduke Leopold Ferdinand of Austria</span> Austrian archduke (1868–1935)

Archduke Leopold Ferdinand of Austria was the eldest son of Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Alice of Bourbon-Parma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerusalem Church (Berlin)</span> Protestant church in Friedrichstadt, Berlin, Germany

Jerusalem Church is one of the churches of the Evangelical Congregation in the Friedrichstadt, a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia. The present church building is located in Berlin, borough Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, in the quarter of Friedrichstadt. Jerusalem Church is fourth in rank of the oldest oratories in the town proper.

The Senate Reserve was a stockpile of food and other necessities which the Senate of West Berlin was required to maintain in case of another Berlin Blockade. It was dissolved after German reunification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars</span> Monument in Berlin

The Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars is a war memorial in Berlin, Germany, dedicated in 1821. Built by the Prussian king during the sectionalism before the Unification of Germany it is the principal German monument to the Prussian soldiers and other citizens who died in or else dedicated their health and wealth for the Liberation Wars (Befreiungskriege) fought at the end of the Wars of the Sixth and in that of the Seventh Coalition against France in the course of the Napoleonic Wars. Frederick William III of Prussia initiated its construction and commissioned the Prussian Karl Friedrich Schinkel who made it an important piece of art in cast iron, his last piece of Romantic Neo-Gothic architecture and an expression of the post-Napoleonic poverty and material sobriety in the liberated countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kreuzberg (Tempelhofer Berge)</span> Hill in Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany

The Kreuzberg is a hill in the Kreuzberg locality of Berlin, Germany, in former West Berlin. It rises about 66 m (217 ft) above the sea level. It was named by King Frederick William III of Prussia after the Iron Cross which crowns the top of the Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, on its inauguration on 30 March 1821. On 27 September 1921 the borough assembly of the VIth borough of Berlin decided to name the borough after the hill. The borough was subsequently downgraded to a locality in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of France, Berlin</span> Diplomatic mission of France in Germany

The Embassy of France in Berlin is the diplomatic mission of the French Republic in Germany. Designed by Christian de Portzamparc and completed in 2002, it is at the same address, Pariser Platz 5, as the former embassy which was destroyed in World War II. Prior to German reunification, France had an embassy in the German Democratic Republic at a different address in Berlin and an embassy in the Federal Republic in Bonn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Märkisches Museum</span> Museum of the city of Berlin and the region around Berlin in Berlin

The Märkisches Museum is a museum in Mitte, Berlin. Founded in 1874 as the museum of the city of Berlin and its political region, the March of Brandenburg, it occupies a building on the northern edge of Köllnischer Park, facing the Spree, which was designed by Ludwig Hoffmann and completed in 1908. It is now the main facility of the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Landesmuseum für Kultur und Geschichte Berlins, the City of Berlin museum foundation, which also operates four other sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehringdamm</span> Street in southern Kreuzberg, Berlin

The Mehringdamm is a street in southern Kreuzberg, Berlin. In the north it starts at Mehringbrücke and ends - with its southernmost houses already belonging to Tempelhof locality - on Platz der Luftbrücke. It is the historical southbound Berlin-Halle highway, now forming the federal route 96. The main junction of Mehringdamm is with the 19th-century ring road around Berlin's inner city, named Yorckstraße west, and Gneisenaustraße east of Mehringdamm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Görlitzer Park</span> Public park in Berlin, Germany

Görlitzer Park is a major park and recreation area in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin. The 14-hectare park area contains, among other things, a petting zoo, several sports and football fields, and a small lake. At its north-west end is the Görlitzer Bahnhof U-Bahn station.

Über den Tellerrand is a nonprofit organization engaged in the integration of refugees. The headquarters of the organization is in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in April 2014. The main focus of the organization is to have citizens and refugees live and work together side by side with each side learning from the others. In July 2017 the organization was active in 25 cities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Czaja</span> German politician

Mario Czaja is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since the 2021 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehringhof</span> German building complex for alternative activities

Mehringhof is a socialized building complex in Kreuzberg, Berlin, designed as a center for alternative activities. As of 1991, it hosted 38 projects, including a theater, an electronics collective (Wuseltronick), a printing collective, and a school for adults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Klausner</span>

Julius Klausner was the founder of the Leiser shoe company.

References

  1. 1 2 Denkmale in Berlin - 09031136 Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine , Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung Berlin, 25 March 2008 (German - Monuments in Berlin).
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Leben auf dem Denkmal", Berliner Zeitung 1 February 2007 (German - Life on the Monument).
  3. 1 2 3 Umbau Fichtebunker in Berlin Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine , Press Release, Stahl-Informations-Zentrum, 9 March 2010 (German - Conversion, Fichte-Bunker in Berlin).
  4. ↑ Kristin Feireiss and Julius Posener, Berlin - Denkmal oder Denkmodell? : Architektonische Entwürfe für den Aufbruch in das 21. Jahrhundert / Berlin - Monument ou modèle de pensée?: Projets architecturaux pour l'entrée dans de 21ème siècle, Staatliche Kunsthalle Berlin, Berlin: Ernst, 1988, ISBN   3-433-02285-2, p. 252 (German, French).
  5. ↑ Gasbehälter (Gasometer) und Gaswerke in Deutschland Archived 2019-04-21 at the Wayback Machine (German), retrieved 25 June 2010.
  6. ↑ Dietmar Arnold, Reiner Janick, Sirenen und gepackte Koffer: Bunkeralltag in Berlin, Berlin: Links, 2003, ISBN   3-86153-308-1, p. 5 (German).
  7. 1 2 "Kreuzberg: Schöner Wohnen auf dem Fichte-Bunker", Der Tagesspiegel 6 February 2008 (German - Live more beautifully atop the Fichte-Bunker).
  8. ↑ Horst Unsold, "Die Gasstation in der Fichtestraße", Kreuzberger Chronik 95, March 2008 (German - The Gas Depot in Fichtestraße).
  9. ↑ Arnold and Janick, p. 105.
  10. ↑ Karin Schmidl, "Für den Bunker wird ein Investor gesucht", Berliner Zeitung January 3, 1997 (German - Investor Sought for the Bunker).
  11. ↑ Museums Journal 2005, p. 91 (German).
  12. ↑ Arnold and Janick, p. 126: "Der Großbunker in der Fichtestraße bietet täglich rund 1 600 Vertriebenen, Umquartierten und entlassenen Kriegsgefangenen ein Obdach - The huge bunker in Fichtestraße daily offers a refuge to some 1,600 exiles, transients and released prisoners of war".
  13. ↑ Jennifer V. Evans, "Life Among the Ruins: Sex, Space, and Subculture in Zero Hour Berlin", in Berlin Divided City, 1945–1989, ed. Philip Broadbent and Sabine Hake, New York / Oxford: Berghahn, 2010, ISBN   978-1-84545-755-6, pp. 11–22, p. 19.
  14. ↑ Hans Joachim Reichhardt, Joachim Drogmann, Hanns U. Treutler, Berlin: Chronik der Jahre 1951-1954, Landesarchiv Berlin, Berlin: Spitzing, 1968, OCLC 1024670, p. 440: "im Fichtebunker . . . , wo politische Flüchtlinge untergebracht sind - in the Fichte-Bunker . . . , where political refugees are housed".
  15. ↑ Curt Riess, Berlin Berlin 1945-53, 1953, repr. ed. Stefan Damm Berlin: Bostelmann & Siebenhaar, 2002, ISBN   3-934189-81-4, p. 270: "Diese Flüchtlinge, die in des Wortes wahrste Bedeutung die Freiheit gewählt hatten, kamen zuerst einmal im Fichtebunker unweit des Flugplatzes Tempelhof, im amerikanischen Sektor von Berlin, unter - These refugees, who had chosen freedom in the truest sense of the word, were first housed in the Fichte-Bunker, not far from Tempelhof Airport, in the American Sector".
  16. ↑ Frank Roggenbuch, Das Berliner Grenzgängerproblem: Verflechtung und Systemkonkurrenz vor dem Mauerbau, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2008, ISBN   3-11-020344-8, p. 141: "im Kreuzberger so genannten »Fichtebunker« (wo üblicherweise politische Flüchtlinge untergebracht waren) - in the so-called 'Fichte-Bunker' in Kreuzberg (where political refugees were routinely housed)".
  17. ↑ Arnold and Janick, p. 134: "Im September 1956 ziehen die letzten Flüchtlinge aus, einen Tag später belegen Obdachlose die freigewordenen Kammern - In September 1956 the last refugees move out, a day later homeless people occupy the vacated rooms".
  18. ↑ Arnold and Janick, pp. 134-35: "Nach drei Stunden hab' ich den Bunkerkoller. Ich weiß nicht, ob die Sonne scheint, ob es regnet, ob es Nacht ist, ich drehe durch. Wie um alles in der Welt halten die Menschen es hier aus? - After three hours I've got the bunker madness. I don't know if the sun is shining, if it's raining, if it's night, I'm cracking up. For the sake of everything in the world, how do people put up with this place?"
  19. ↑ Thomas Fülling, "Wohnen auf dem Bunkerdach", Berliner Morgenpost 4 June 2008 (German - Living on the roof of the bunker).
  20. ↑ "Der Fichtebunker in Kreuzberg" Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine , News, Beton.org, 23 June 2008.
  21. ↑ "Sportplätze in der Stadt: Ein Grundrecht auf Grölen", Der Tagesspiegel 22 July 2009 (German - Sports grounds in the city: a fundamental right to yell).
  22. ↑ "Illegale Schwarzbauten auf dem Fichtebunker?" Press Release, Initiative Fichtebunker Berlin, 4 May 2008 German - Illegal building on the sly on top of the Fichte-Bunker?).
  23. ↑ "Autonome wollen Räumung verhindern", Der Tagesspiegel 16 June 2009 (German - Activists want to stop clearance).

52°29′25″N13°24′45″E / 52.49028°N 13.41250°E / 52.49028; 13.41250

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.