A look back: Day of the open monument 2021

The Annenschule was built in 1952/53 and is part of the "Reitbahnstraße reconstruction area" residential neighbourhood. It was the first new school to be built in Chemnitz after the Second World War.

The school complex consists of several traditionalist, two to three-storey buildings and is situated in an effective urban location on the western edge of Annenplatz. The high-quality complex was designed by architect Rudolf Weißer.

You can find out more about the history of the school and the Reitbahn district in the detailed, specially compiled chronicle, which the school management provided us with on the occasion of the open monument. This was created as part of a school project.

The Borna primary school, formerly the Borna primary school or Hindenburg School, later the school for the physically disabled, was built around 1929/1930 as a school complex in a pavilion system with a tower and gymnasium, which was originally used as an assembly hall, as one of the most modern schools of the pre-war period in Chemnitz according to the plans of the city planning officer Fred Otto. The school complex was modern not only in terms of its architecture, but also in terms of its reform pedagogical approach. The building and the associated grounds were no longer planned as a pure teaching school, but as a work school, away from dull memorisation and towards visual teaching. It can be assumed that this school was probably one of the first school buildings to be built in the pavilion system in Germany, nestled in a scenic location on a hill in the Borna district.

With the exception of the central tower, the single-storey complex consists of a main corridor with a staff room, former special rooms for specialised subjects, such as a singing hall or the needlework and drawing room. The main corridor also houses the headmaster's office and other function rooms. Four side wings, each with six classrooms, lead off this main wing. These classrooms are approximately 7.5 metres x 7.5 metres in size. Each classroom had access to the school gardens, which were located between the wings of the building, with each classroom having its own small garden. The rooms are lit by ribbon windows in the upper section of the side walls. In addition, they are lit by anterooms that form a single unit with the classroom and were originally intended not only as small winter and cultivation gardens, but also as break rooms. In addition to the anterooms, there were also small preparation rooms for the teachers.

The open spaces outside the school gardens were characterised by regularly arranged rows of trees and hedges, only some of which have been preserved. Around 1980, for example, the school was converted into a school for the physically handicapped and extensions and massive changes were made to the open spaces. When redesigning the open spaces from 2019 of the school complex, which is now used as a primary school, care was taken to restore the old structures in a hint. The building was already renovated in 2016-2017.

Literature and sources:

Fuchs, Cathrin: Listed building consent. Redesign of the outdoor facilities of Borna primary school. 29.01.2019. In: Hand file of the lower monument protection authority of the city administration of Chemnitz.

Kassner, Jens: Chemnitz school buildings between historicism and modernism. In: Announcements of the Chemnitz History Society. 65th yearbook. New instalment IV. Chemnitz 1995.

Germany's first flat school building. The new school plan for Chemnitz-Borna. The city parliament approves the realisation. 28.06.1929. In: Chemnitzer Tageblatt.

The craftsmen's school consists of two school buildings that today form the school complex of the Vocational School Centre for Technology II by means of a connector in modern architectural language. The original craftsmen's school was built in 1910 according to plans by the city architect Richard Möbius on Promenadenstraße in the immediate vicinity of the former Hartmann factory, which speaks for the value of the training offered in terms of the industrial location of Chemnitz, as well as for the importance of education in the early 19th century.

The building was erected as the third advanced training school. It has a four-storey structure in a prominent location on the corner of Hartmannstraße and Promenadenstraße, raised on three sides with curved gables and crowned with a tower structure. The angular entrance porch on Hartmannstraße is emphasised by a semi-circular bay extension. A three-storey section with a mansard roof adjoins this part of the building. From there, one enters the building via the raised, representative main entrance portal.

The school building at Schloßstraße 3 was erected two years later (1912) according to plans by the architect Emil Ebert, who also designed the Georgius Agricola Grammar School in Chemnitz in the style of clinker expressionism. The former reform grammar school was built in the reform style typical of the time and is reminiscent of German Renaissance palace buildings from the right angles. This is particularly recognisable in the courtyard view, with its curved gables and the tower-like staircase, which together with a small porch forms the courtyard entrance. This part of the façade is topped by the tail gable of the head building and its ridge turret.

The buildings not only correspond to each other due to their common design language, but the urban planners also took care to embed both buildings in their immediate surroundings. The generously designed outdoor area with its park-like character is immediately adjacent to the castle pond park, which is also a listed building. From here you can reach the Küchwald forest with its numerous leisure facilities via the Schloßberg with its former monastery complex.

Literature and sources:

Streetz, Michael: Statement. Schadt Chemnitz, Berufliches Schulzentrum für Technik II, so-called "Schloßschulen", Schloßstraße 3 / Promenadenstraße 2. 18.10.2002. In hand file of the lower monument protection authority of the city administration of Chemnitz.

Promenadenstraße 2. detailed list of monuments. Cultural monuments in the Free State of Saxony. State Office for the Preservation of Monuments. Free State of Saxony.

Schloßstraße 3. detailed list of monuments. Cultural monuments in the Free State of Saxony. State Office for the Preservation of Monuments. Free State of Saxony.

Historical building file Promenadenstraße 2. technical and further education school. Building file archive of the city administration of Chemnitz.

The Diesterweg School, located in the Gablenz district, is one of the most important buildings of classical modernism in Chemnitz, designed by Friedrich Wagner-Poltrock. The school was built between 1928 and 1930 and its main wing resembles an ocean liner with a steering bridge. The side wing, which houses the gymnasium and the subject cabinets, adjoins at right angles. The school has 24 classrooms in the main wing. The large windows ensure good lighting and their rhythmic organisation makes the sequence of rooms visible. The assembly hall, also known as the hall of fifty windows, is recognisable. Wagner-Poltrock created an open-air classroom on the roof, which no longer exists today. In the courtyard is a discus thrower sculpture designed by Heinrich Brenner. The discus thrower sculpture is modelled on corresponding depictions of athletes from classical antiquity. The installation site at the podium-like raised end point of a natural stone wall accentuates the structuring of the outdoor space, which continues the division of the building masses into cubic individual bodies in the grounds.

Author: Alexa Arlt (Trainee City of Chemnitz)

Sources:

Kassner, Jens, Chemnitz in the "Golden Twenties", Architecture and Urban Development, Chemnitz, 2000

Streetz, Michael Dr., Statement by the State Office for Monument Preservation Saxony, hand file of the lower monument protection authority, Chemnitz City Council, 11 November 2008

The villages of Oberrabenstein and Niederrabenstein, formerly the village of "Steyn", which were still separate in the 19th century, each had their own smaller school. These were merged at the end of the century and required a new joint school. The plans for the new "Centralschule Rabenstein" were drawn up in 1904/1905 by the Chemnitz architect Alfred Kunz.

The municipal administration made a large plot of land available as a building site, which adjoined the Rittergutspark to the south and was still bordered by the old church cemetery to the west at the time. Planning permission was granted in the summer of 1905 and in the autumn of 1905 the first sod was turned for the construction of the school building, which was inaugurated on 12 August 1907.

Our trainees Alina Göpel, Annika Gläser and Miriam Luge from the first year of their apprenticeship as office communication clerks have taken a closer look at the building and created a presentation for you.

Otto-Werner-Garten - Heinrich-Sturm-Weg

The Otto Werner Garden is part of the Chemnitz City Park, which is significant in terms of garden art and the city's history and consists of an older and a newer part. The old part of the city park includes the Clauß Citizens' Garden, Voigt's Park with a small city park pond, the rose garden and the narrow promenade. This part was created between 1885 and 1905.

The area now known as the Otto Werner Garden, together with the large city park pond, the tennis and ball court and the near-natural Markersdorf hillside forest, belongs to the second, newer part of the city park. These areas were completed between 1909 and 1914.

Our trainees Franz Chevalier, Lisa Uhlig and Paul Becht from the 3rd year of their apprenticeship, as well as Anton Schmeißer and Nick Bretschneider from the 2nd year of their gardening and landscaping apprenticeship, took a closer look at the garden monument and produced a video.

The moated castle Klaffenbach was built as a Renaissance castle in the first half of the 16th century, on a square ground plan with a block-like closed exterior. It is still surrounded by farm buildings today.

The castle, originally planned as a moated castle, embodies a significant architectural ensemble with outdoor facilities of supra-regional importance.

Apprentices Anne Bauer, Sarah Neubert, Elias Georgi and Florian Gleisberg from the first year of the gardening and landscaping apprenticeship have analysed the building and created a presentation.

State Centre for the Blind - Flemmingstraße 8

The entire complex of today's State Institute for the Blind, Flemmingstraße 8, originally built as the Royal State Educational Centre for the Blind and Feebleminded, was laid out around 1905 in a so-called pavilion system with houses loosely distributed in a park area designed to be close to nature.

House 40 served as a hospital. It is somewhat isolated at the north-east corner of the entire complex, as the building was partly used to treat infectious diseases. The approx. 62 metre long building has all the architectural features that contribute to the unity of the overall complex: two-storey plaster building with hipped roof, structural elements mostly in porphyry, partly in sandstone, rural ornamental forms, enlivened by risalits, roof houses and ridge turrets.

Source:

Hand file of the lower monument protection authority of the city administration of Chemnitz

The former school complex on Chopinstraße consists of two school buildings from different construction periods. Not only the school buildings, but also the gymnasium, the fencing, the front garden and a memorial stone - which commemorates the resistance fighter Rudolf Harlaß, who rebelled against the Nazi regime in the 1940s - are part of the memorial. The entire site has been renovated by LEWO AG since 2019 and converted for residential purposes.

The school building at Chopinstraße 23 was built around 1890; the architect was city architect Eduard Hechler, who also worked on the Chemnitz market hall, among other things. The building is a four-storey brick building with a central risalit, whose Wilhelminian-style façade is structured by cornices and pilaster strips. Symmetrically arranged segmental arch windows characterise the façade elevations. Also built around 1890 is the single-storey gymnasium made of red clinker bricks with a hipped roof and segmental arch windows.

The school building at Chopinstraße 25, which was built in 1909 as a girls' school according to plans and under the direction of the city planning officer Richard Möbius, who succeeded Eduard Hechler, has an outstanding design. The cubic building has a uniform, restrained façade design. The plaster façade is characterised by symmetrical window arrangements, partially interrupted by plaster mirrors with delicate ornamentation, as well as a narrow cornice above the ground floor. The south side with the main entrance area is emphasised by a stairwell bay window spanning several storeys. Inside, the building is characterised by a spacious staircase with elements of the Reform style.

The memorial stone, which is located on the property, is a simple stone with a bronze plaque dedicated to Rudolf Harlaß. It was erected after the Second World War. Rudolf Harlaß trained as a lathe operator at the Wanderer-Werke Chemnitz and died as a resistance fighter in 1944 in the Kaßberg prison. The primary school in the GDR was named after him.

Literature and sources:

Kassner, Jens: Chemnitz school buildings between historicism and modernism. In: Announcements of the Chemnitz History Society. 65th yearbook. New instalment IV. Chemnitz 1995.

Brandenburg, Michael: The former primary school in Kappel bore the name Rudolf Harlaß until 1991. It should be remembered again. But so far there is no trace. Free Press. 04 June 2020.

Building permit from 01.10.2018. Hand file of the lower monument protection authority city administration Chemnitz.

The building is a four-storey residential and commercial building in a closed Wilhelminian style development, which was built around 1914 as a corner building in the Art Nouveau style. The client was the Chemnitz merchant Alfred Ruttloff, owner of a company for ovens, cookers and wall panels.

The façades are divided by projecting risalits, which rise above the eaves in the form of roof houses with curved ends. Other design elements include the plaster decorations typical of the period, curved balconies and the corner rustication on the ground floor made of cast stone.

In addition to the façade design, the interior of the building, which is largely original, is also of high heritage value. In the vestibule and staircase, these include the large entrance doors, the paintings, the stained glass windows and the wall panelling with tiles typical of the period, specially produced by the client's company.

Source:

Hand file of the lower monument protection authority of the city administration of Chemnitz

This is the extensive factory premises of the Hermann Riemann metal goods factory, which has been based at the site since 1894 and has been the world market leader for vehicle lighting of all kinds since the turn of the 20th century.

August Hermann Riemann had already founded a metal goods company in 1866, whose production soon focussed on carbide-powered bicycle lamps. Later, lamps for motorbikes and cars were added. The move to Fürstenstraße was due to the unstoppable growth of the company, whose success was documented by awards at the 1910 and 1911 World's Fairs. The "special factory for vehicle lighting", as it was known in the meantime, eventually became VEB Fahrzeugelektrik, which existed until the fall of communism.

The ensemble of the production site comprised numerous factory buildings from different periods of construction, some of which were grouped around inner courtyards. Due to years of vacancy, repair backlogs and vandalism, the complex was in a structurally desolate state, so that demolition was imminent. Thanks to a private investor, at least some of the buildings along the street can be secured and preserved. These were built to a high representative standard and have variedly structured façades in yellow clinker brickwork with a few accents of plastered mirrored surfaces. A large risalit with an attached decorative gable accentuates the long façades facing both streets.

The location of the factory complex on the summit of Humboldthöhe, visible from afar, was taken into account with the construction of the stair tower at the rear of the Hofer Straße wing. Representative towers of this kind were a popular means of drawing attention to the existence of the company with a landmark until the 1920s.

Built in 1886, the Gründerzeit cultural monument at Karl-Immermann-Straße 30 is a representative "contemporary witness" to Chemnitz's urban and military history. The man who gave the street its name, Karl-Immermann, studied law at the University of Halle Wittenberg from 1813 to 1817 and later went down in German history as a writer and lyricist. As part of the historic barracks complex, the apartment building on the edge of Chemnitz city centre served as accommodation for the officers of the Saxon infantry regiment "Prinz Maximilian" until 1945.

The impressive interior architecture leaves visitors in awe as soon as they enter the property. Such an imposing, spacious staircase with its marbled columns, loving stucco decorations, historic tiling and elaborate wall and ceiling paintings is rarely found in Chemnitz. From the outside, the corner building is a real gem and impresses with its numerous mouldings, ornaments and decorations, giving the observer pause for a moment.

After the building stood empty for a long time in the recent past and was on the verge of demolition, the company ISIHOME from Bebra (with other locations in Chemnitz, Halle and Leipzig) acquired the building and renovated it in 2019 with great attention to detail. Existing historical elements were preserved and restored and lost details were painstakingly restored by experienced master craftsmen.

The property is now home to ten high-quality, modernised flats, each with a balcony or terrace. The maisonette flats on the top floor also offer access to spacious loggias.

Text:

created and provided by the company ISIHOME

Küchwaldpark open-air theatre - Küchwaldring 34

The open-air theatre in Küchwald was built in 1956-63 on the ruins of the war-damaged "Küchwaldschänke" as part of the National Reconstruction Work (NAW) according to plans drawn up by Chemnitz architect Roland Hühnerfürst in 1954. With its ensemble of buildings, striking tower and large flight of steps, it occupies a prominent position on the large festival meadow. The building ensemble is part of the traditional post-war architecture characterised by neoclassicism. The original building ensemble was strictly symmetrical and planned with two towers. The spectator area was designed in the form of an ancient amphitheatre, which had become completely overgrown due to 20 years of neglected maintenance.

The Küchwaldbühne e.V. association took care of the building, renovated it in consultation with the lower monument protection authority of the Chemnitz city administration and brought it back into use. For this year's digital Open Monument Day, the association is presenting its cultural monument in a comprehensive video.

RAW - Emilienstraße 45

The former Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk (RAW) - since 1994 Fahrzeugwerk Chemnitz - is embedded in the railway tracks of the Chemnitz-Dresden railway line and the former Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf goods station. The long factory site is only accessible from its end points on Emilienstraße and Frankenberger Straße. The large factory halls are arranged on both sides of a central access axis. Although some of the individual buildings have been remodelled, replaced or added to, the basic structure of the site has remained unchanged. Some of the halls have been remodelled on the outside, but their interiors retain the condition they were in when they were built. The complex brings together a broad spectrum of remarkable hall constructions from a period of over 125 years in a small space. The history of the development of industrial construction is documented here in a unique way. Six particularly valuable buildings have been placed under protection.

The RAW is one of the largest facilities of its kind in Germany. It is a remarkable ensemble of large hall buildings from different eras and construction methods, which are categorised according to their roof construction - e.g. steel truss construction, reinforced concrete trusses with parabolic curved upper chords or various timber truss constructions. The industrial complex is a valuable testimony to the development of industrial construction between 1870 and 1940 with outstanding significance in terms of transport history and the history of technology.

Source:

Detailed list of monuments from the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments

The first buildings of the factory complex were erected around 1870 for the company Gebrüder Unger AG, which manufactured machines for the butcher's trade. During the GDR era, the complex was renamed VEB Spezialmaschinenbau-Fabrik, from which the name SPEMAFA is derived.

Today, the site of the former machine factory comprises a front building with an adjoining side wing and factory buildings at the rear. The front building from 1908 is a three-storey clinker brick building with eight axes, pilaster strips and a central accentuation with a gently curved crown, on whose inscription the Unger brothers are immortalised. To the rear is a three-storey plaster building from the 1870s, which once had 16 axes. Since the 1970s/80s, this has been truncated to the south by a large market hall. To the north is another factory building from the factory extension of 1908. The latter is also a clinker brick building.

The site can currently be described as an industrial wasteland, but the current owner is securing and utilising it over longer periods of time. The site is intended to address economic, environmental, political and social issues of the future, with the aim of maximising the number of people per square metre. In 2017, SPEMAFA was the venue for the "IBUG" artists' festival, where several international artists lent colour to the industrial complex.

Sources:

Detailed list of monuments from the State Office for Monument Preservation.

Marthe, Klaus: Development concept for the railway carriage works - Lerchenstraße. 25.11.2016. In: Hand file of the lower monument protection authority of the city administration of Chemnitz.

Streetz, Michael: Statement on the emergency preservation of the eight-axle clinker brick building on Lerchenstraße. 25.07.2017. In: Hand file of the lower monument protection authority of the city administration of Chemnitz.

In 1909, the Sigmund Goeritz company, an up-and-coming company in the upholstery fabric industry, took over the site to set up production there. In the same year, the yellow clinker brick factory building was erected alongside the road, which was renovated a few years ago after a long period of vacancy and is now in use.

In 1911, a state-of-the-art production building was erected on the site in a second building line parallel to the Kappelbach and at right angles to Ulmenstrasse as a reinforced concrete frame construction. The architect was Oskar Geyer from Zwickau. The building is characterised by its red brick façade with narrow pilaster strips and the high pitched roof. The so-called Poelzig building docked onto it, parallel to Ulmenstraße, was designed by the Berlin architect Hans Poelzig as a production building and erected between 1925 and 1926, but was never actually completed. As a result, it is still visible today as a torso in the cityscape. The building has a monumental appearance with its staggered storeys, slate cladding and porphyry base cornice. It is an important work from the 1920s in Chemnitz and is of supra-regional significance.

These two buildings are currently being renovated by a private investor in line with the requirements for listed buildings and are being converted for residential use. A new building rounds off the Poelzig torso in terms of urban development.