Hackesche Höfe

The Hackescher Markt are the Spandau suburb in the district of Mitte ( Mitte district ) of Berlin, close to the so-called barn area. You are under monument protection since 1972.

Historic environment

1672 was north of the River Spree created a Jewish cemetery in front of the gate of Spandau. In the same year the Elector ordered a decree to transfer all barns for hay and straw before the Berlin city walls in order to reduce the fire risk in the urban area. Both measures changes in the farming area just before the Berlin fortifications. Gradually developed a new district, the later suburb of Spandau. The term barn area for a portion of the area has been preserved to the present day.

Frederick the Great commissioned in 1750 its garrison commander Hans Christoph Graf von Hacke to leave till some open spaces of the semi-developed district. Here, a marketplace, which was named after the Earl, today's Hackescher Markt was created. In the 19th century the overcrowded barn area to the social problem case was the poorhouse in Berlin. In other parts of the Spandau suburb, a middle-class, predominantly Jewish milieu had developed. Center of the Berlin Jewish community was the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse, which was inaugurated in 1866.

The economic development of the Spandau suburb was under the influence of the clothing industry. Already in the 18th century, textile factories had settled here. In the late 19th century were made in many factory floors or in homework ready-made clothing and accessories. In 1906, when the Hackescher Markt emerged, Berlin was a city of the garment.

Construction of the Hackescher Markt

The courts vis -à-vis the Hackescher Markt opened on 23 September 1906. The eight yards between Rosenthalerstraße and Sophie street now offer 27,000 square meters of space for 40 commercial companies, to cultural institutions and homes.

Merging the different plots between Rosenthalerstraße and Sophie street gave out a usable as building land area of ​​9200 m², with entrances from two streets. 1905 made ​​the then owner, the heirs Quilitz'schen, demolish the existing buildings and build in the years 1906/ 07 by the architect and contractor Kurt Berndt 's largest residential and commercial complex system of Germany in the tradition of the life reform movement. The main entrance was through an office and retail building at the Rosenthalerstraße 38 A cross- building in the first courtyard was designed as a ballroom wing, the second and third courtyard buildings were with factory floors, in the green block interior areas, the apartments were mostly arranged with balconies. All buildings together formed eight yards. The integration of the various functions in this form at the time was unique. Shortly before Kurt Berndt had a similar project being built in the traditional arrangement: on the street a block of flats, then a residential courtyard, only pure commercial courtyards.

Unusual and new at that time was the concept of culture to use the first courtyard and make elaborate and expensive. This, too, showed the influence of the propagated around 1900 life reform movement. In 1905, Berlin had two million inhabitants, and was regarded as the largest tenement world that tuberculosis as the "Berlin disease". Owner and architect of the Hackescher Markt wanted with their investment create an exemplary environment for modern, healthier living and working. The courtyards were far from the noise inside the block and were designed as far as possible, that they of adjacent green areas - could get sunlight and oxygen - the old Jewish cemetery in 1672 and the cemetery of the Protestant Sophie community. The equipment of the farms were green plants, a large sandbox, several wells. The 80 apartments have balconies and many consistently bathrooms, indoor toilets and central heating.

Baukünstlerische design

The Berlin-based architect and designer August Endell was commissioned to design the courtyard facades and the wine bar belonging Neumann ballrooms in the first courtyard. His previous works were the Art Nouveau assigned (though he intended otherwise). He probably should not also design the facade therefore - youth style did not suit the prevailing taste in Berlin, which was influenced by the aesthetic preferences of the imperial family. So then was also a street facade with all the features of the Wilhelmine eclecticism, an overloaded blend of different styles shapes, with neo-baroque roof landscape, Egyptian obelisks and classicizing sculpture.

Completely different presented themselves designed by Endell building areas. August Endell had studied philosophy and psychology, he dealt with perception problems and was anxious to put his theoretical knowledge in architecture and crafts. In his writings, he spoke out against historicism and eclecticism. His aesthetic guiding idea was the implementation of movement in architecture and decor. In the first courtyard of Hackescher Markt he created by the shape, size and arrangement of the windows and the use of colored glaze stones two different facades that give the court the impression of a small, tree- houses various public square. To the east, the colors are blue and white, the forms refer to Moorish idols. The west side, mainly shades of brown, reminiscent of the then state of the art buildings Alfred Messel for the department stores of the Wertheim Group.

Even in the interiors Endell pursued his idea of ​​moving space. Get Tolerably are the staircase in the left wing, a vestibule in the right wing and the one-story ballroom on the first floor of the rear building, which says however the least about Endell's intentions. The large, two-story banquet hall had already been destroyed around 1930. Here the architect had bestowed his ideas most clearly expressed by a specific wall and ceiling construction, with swelling profiled pillars and wavy completion of the deck Narrow ledge.

Earlier use

In the farmed by the wine merchant and innkeeper Wilhelm Neumann function rooms, ideal for families and club parties and anniversaries were aligned from the beginning. This took over the Neumann ballrooms a very important function as a meeting and communication point for the residents of the surrounding neighborhood. A very special moment when the founding of the merger expressionist poet in " The New Club" dar. for the office and commercial spaces, a pronounced mixed-use development through a wide variety of companies: a bank branch operations for men's clothing, gloves, furs, musical instruments, metal products, office furniture, wholesalers for flour, coffee, and feed, and many others. Temporary tenants were also the girls' home of the Jewish Women's Federation and the Jewish student cafeteria.

As early as the 1920s began a change. With the turmoil and economic problems after the First World War, many companies left the farms, cultural and public activities were completely soon after. By the end of World War II a large part of the building complex from the department store group Defaka (Deutsches Family department store ) were used - the front house as headquarters, the horizontally split large ballroom as a canteen and numerous commercial space for storage.

Rehabilitation

" In November 1993 I came in an apparently forgotten world with gray walls. "

At this time there were only the nascent Hackescher Court Theatre, whose orientation should be on Jewish culture in the years to almost a synonym for the Hackescher Markt.

In the GDR, the Hackescher Markt had been neglected for decades, the festival halls defaced structurally and used misused, destroyed the street facade in the 1960s. After all, it was the tenants in 1950 failed to prevent the complete destruction of the facades in the first courtyard - an important prerequisite for the subsequent preserving the architecture.

1951, soon after the founding of the GDR, the Hackescher Markt were declared national property, declared a National Monument in 1977. 1991, constituted the "Association Society for the Promotion of urban life - Hack Hofe eV" The district office of Berlin-Mitte was to create a social study of the complex. Having returned to the plant in 1993 to the heirs of the former owner, and in 1994 was sold to West German entrepreneurs began a close collaboration between the investors, the conservation authority and the agency " New Roses Corporate Communications ", which developed the mixed-use concept to give the local cultural sites, the new corporate identity and corporate design defined and known by extensive publicity Hackescher Markt made ​​in public. The very complicated restoration work - they involved larger reconstruction and construction, historic preservation activities and all the building services - could be completed in 1997.

Current use concept

The courtyards are closed in the evening and in this way guarantee peace at night. Extensive office space has been created in the former factory floors. These rooms are used predominantly by members of creative professions such as architects, Internet designers, PR agencies. The small stores respond to specific suite of design products created in the courtyards, manufactured or processed further. In addition to local residents visitors are the target group of dining options for the Hackescher courtyards cinema, Sophie Club and the vaudeville chameleon in the complex.

After completion of the renovation, the Hackescher Markt are one of the most expensive and well-known real estate in Berlin. Due to the artistic and gastronomic offer, they form a sight which also influenced the surrounding areas.