Fritz50: Mobility in the Fritz Heckert area
Moving from an old building close to the city to a new-build flat on the outskirts not only changed the way the new tenants lived, but also their transport behaviour. For example, 25 per cent of residents in the old districts still walked to work, compared to 8 per cent in the new-build districts.
At the same time, 11 per cent used their car to get to work in the older districts and 21 per cent in the new-build areas. The reasons for this development were, on the one hand, the longer distances that had to be travelled and, on the other hand, the increasing transition from public transport to private transport from 1975 onwards.
Further information
Note:
The texts were written by author and historian Norbert Engst. The City of Chemnitz would like to thank him for his valuable support and co-operation.
Requirements for the number of parking spaces in new GDR construction areas were repeatedly revised upwards. In 1958, the German building regulations still required 110 to 130 parking spaces per 1,000 inhabitants, but by 1969 this figure had risen to 200, and from 1975 the requirement was one parking space per flat.
This would have meant 32,000 parking spaces in the Fritz Heckert residential area. At the beginning of the 1990s, this requirement resulted in the expert recommendation to create a further 13,000 parking spaces in addition to the 18,000 existing parking spaces in the residential area. Parallel to the planning of the large new housing estates in the GDR, several studies from 1972 onwards investigated the ideal arrangement of large car parks in relation to housing.
On the one hand, the neighbourhoods should be kept free of traffic and quiet; on the other hand, there should be visual connections between the flat and the car and the distance between the car park and the front door should be as short as possible. If this is not guaranteed, vehicle owners may become restless or resort to illegal parking, which in turn will inconvenience those residents who do not own a car.
Car races in the Heckert region were a special kind of motor vehicle event. The repeated kart races on Usti nad Labem and the Wismut Rally, which was held on Wladimir-Sagorski-Strasse between 1984 and 1989, met with great interest. More than 4,000 guests attended the Wismut Rally on 26 October 1987 in the residential area.
When questioned in the most comprehensive social study to date in 1996 about the greatest deficits in the residential area, the interviewees referred in the first place to a lack of parking spaces. Only in second place did they refer to the condition of the green spaces. There was therefore a close link between living and driving from the outset.
The special affinity between Heckert residents and cars is also evident in the 1992 crime statistics. While eight young drivers were found without a driving licence in Bernsdorf within a year, there were seven each on Sonnenberg and in Kappel, and eleven in Markersdorf. After reunification, this type of leisure activity was also supported by abandoned and derelict cars.
However, when the city of Chemnitz, together with the major landlords, had several rental car parks and parking spaces built on the edge of the neighbourhoods from 1996, there was no demand from the residents. On the one hand, people were happy to continue parking for free, as they were used to it. On the other hand, car owners wanted to park their vehicles close to their homes and within sight of their flats and have a direct line of sight.
It can be assumed that the residents of the Fritz Heckert area have just as many stories and memories of their own vehicles as they do of their homes.
On 17 and 18 August 2024, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the residential area, there will be an opportunity to revive these memories. Anyone interested in taking part in the "Pappe trifft Platte" vehicle show with their GDR vehicle on 17 August can register at www.fritz-50.de or fritz_50(at)email.de.