weimargel2/daten/pdf/history.pdf · the asbach valley, which, at that time, formed a natural...

Bauhaus-University Weimar Chair of Design and Theory of Building Types Prof. Karl-Heinz Schmitz iAAD 2008

Weimar

Weimar lies along the Ilm River, just east of Erfurt. First mentioned in

documents in 975 as Wimare, it was declared a town in 1254 and was

chartered in 1348. Ruled by the counts of Weimar-Orlamünde from

1247 to 1372, it then passed to the Saxon house of Wettin and became

the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Weimar in 1547 and of the grand duchy

of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in 1815 (until 1918). The German National

Assembly, forming the constituent national representative body of the

German Republic, which was created after the revolution of 1918–19,

met in the city from Feb. 6, 1919, and the constitution of the new

republic was drawn up there. Weimar was the capital of Thuringia from

1920 to 1948. It sustained damage during World War II, but most of its

monuments have been restored.

Many of the important buildings in Weimar are associated with the

German writers J.W. von Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller, who lived

there for many years and died there. During this period, the late 18th

and early 19th centuries, Weimar was the intellectual centre of Germany.

Reminders of the period include a bronze monument to Goethe and

Schiller (1875) in front of the German National Theatre; a Goethe-

Schiller Mausoleum; a Goethe-Schiller Archives (opened 1896); the

Goethe National Museum (occupying a house where the poet lived) and

his summer garden house; homes of Schiller and Franz Liszt; the Liszt

Museum; the Franz Liszt College of Music; and an archive of Friedrich

Nietzsche. Other notable landmarks, many restored since World War

II, include the Wittums Palace (1767), Weimar Castle (1790–1803),

Belvedere Castle (1724–32), Tiefurt Castle, and St. Peter and Paul Church

with an altarpiece by Lucas Cranach and his son.

1 Weimar town plan


Between 1919 and 1925 Weimar was the seat of the Bauhaus archi-

tectural school before its move to Dessau. In 1953 the East German

government established the National Research and Memorial Centre of

the Classical Writers of German Literature, with its centre in Weimar.

Also in the city are the headquarters of the German Shakespeare Society,

a college of architecture and building, and a national observatory.

Northwest of Weimar, on the 1,568-foot (478-metre) Ettersberg (Etters

Hill), is the Buchenwald National Memorial, on the site of one of the

largest and most infamous of the Nazi concentration camps (established

in 1937), in which about 56,000 persons died. The Buchenwald camp,

primarily for political prisoners, was especially notorious for medical

experimentation on living human beings. It was the first of the large

concentration camps to be entered by the Allied armies, in April 1945.

Encyclopedia Britannica 2006

2 The old Railway Station in 1910

3 Weimar Railway Station in 1925


The important relationship between the city and the railway station

The first important public building that one can see when leaving

Weimar’s railway station is the State Museum by the architect Josef

Zitek. This prominent building was positioned on a prominent site, on

axis with the railway station and on the edge of the Asbach Valley, where

it marked the beginning of the new extension that connects the centre

of the town with the railway station.

In 1936 the Asbach Valley was leveled to make way to the “Gauforum”,

a large and monumental administrative centre built to house offices and

a large hall for the NSDAP.

This intervention had two negativ effects on the city’s fabric: 1. The

State Museum lost much of its presence. 2. A beautiful urban Park,

which respected the natural topography of the valley was destroyed and

replaced by a clumsy and oversized building complex.

4 view from station to state museum 1897

5 Carl-August-Square before alterations in 1930 6 intentions for alterations in 1935


History of the Railway Station

Because the town of Weimar is situated in a valley, the railway could

not be planned in close proximity to the town’s edge. The railway line,

needing a gentle slope, had to be situated at a distance to the town. This

left a barren area between the station and the town, which, according

to the Grand Duke Carl Friedrich, was not an adequate way to enter or

leave the town of Weimar. He therefore had a new street constructed,

which led from the city centre to the railway station, as an extension to

the “Karlsplatz” (now “Goetheplatz”) and the “Bürgerschulstraße” (now

“Karl-Liebknecht-Straße”). To this end, a viaduct was built spanning

the Asbach valley, which, at that time, formed a natural boundary on

Weimar’s nothern edge.

Ernst Kohl’s Plan 1863-1887

Ernst Kohl, who had been director of building works since 1857 and

railway director from 1875 to 1895, was commissioned, by the Grand

Duke, to draw up a plan for the area between the station and the town.

The plan, which was passed by the city council in 1863, gave precise

instructions on the design of sidewalks, the distance the houses were to

have to the streets, the length of the front gardens, the minimum and

maximum heights of eaves, etc. The main feature of the design, however,

was an idea to house the Grand Duke’s art collections in a new museum,

which was to be situated at the end of the street closest to the town.

With this idea, an important public building was placed at the beginning

of the new extension and on an axis with the railway station. This seems

to indicate, that the Grand Duke and his planner felt strongly about

turning this new extension into the new gate to Weimar.

7 plan of the area around the station building in 1855

8 northern construction plan 1863


Design of Public Places and Buildings Along the Axis Leading up to the Station

Alongside the “Sophienstraße” public squares and buildings were

created in order to encourage private investors - through public building

activities - to start construction of their own in this area. In 1870 Ernst

Kohl instituted a “Bau-Verein” (building association) to this end.

Vis-à-vis the station between 1850 and 1899 already existing domestic

architecture was replaced by hotels, on the east the “Hotel Victoria” was

built, the west was made up by the Hotel “Kaiserin Augusta”.

The construction plans from 1863 and 1867 show a series of several

public squares on the axis between railway station and state museum.

This way the square in front of the railway building had been kept free

and been designed as a public park (since 1878 the “Jubiläumsplatz”/

jubilee square, today “August-Baudert-Platz”). Another large space

south of the jubilee square was planned as a regular ‘English square’

(the “Watzdorfplatz” since 1873, today “Buchenwaldplatz”). Alongside

of this rectangular extension of the street residential buildings were to

be created, which were to have the “character of country houses of

larger towns”.1 The estate on one side of the “square” the Grand Duke

presented to the catholic congregation to enable the building of the

catholic church.

Because of another donation of the Grand Duke’s to the town in 1871 it

was possible to build a “Realschule” (school for secondary education) on

the north side of the state museum, at the beginning of the Sophienstraße.

To enforce the Sophienstraße’s character as entrance to the town, the

Grand Duke Carl Alexander had a second “Bürgerschule”/state school

built in 1887.

South of the state museum parks were designed in baroque-like fashion,

with intertwining paths, fountains and stairways, which were meant to

bridge the different street levels in direction of the town proper. The

whole area was finished after 40 years of construction in 1896 and

stayed nearly/almost the same till it was re-designed in 1936 as “Adolf-

Hitler-Platz”.

(Footnotes)

1 ThHStAW, HMA 3605, Bl. 2 ff.

9 northern construction plan 1868

10 state museum, Josef Zitek 1868

11 state museum, bird’s eye view 1920


Railway Station 1846-1922

The main building of the railway station was planned at the time of

the construction of the railway line Weimar-Weißenfels. In 1846 the

station first was created by chief-engineer August Mons as a three-

storied building with two side wings, which were only two storeys high.

The railway station was a series of individual buildings, the one in the

“Paulinenstraße” (today Schopenhauerstraße) being the main edifice for

arrival and departure. The other buildings were a coach-house, a water-

tower, a locomotive-shed and the dispatching department. In 1857 Ernst

Kohl was authorized to design the area around the station. Until 1907

the side wings were extended several times.

The main building’s exterior was designed in the style of the Italian (Neo-)

Renaissance. A small flight of steps led to the entrance. On the east

side the so-called “Fürst-Empfangsgebäude”/Grand Duke’s reception

edifice was built. Here the state visitors were received by the Grand

Duke, the German emperor among others. It was possible to drive a

carriage directly up to the front of the portico. In 1870 a waiting room

and a refreshment room were put up on the west side. In those times the

railway employees were also living in the station’s buildings. Ernst Kohl

himself lived in the station till 1895, when he moved to the villa of the

site manager of the state museum, Carl Stegmann (today Carl-August-

Allee Nr. 9).

Behind the station in 1846 there was only one platform, in 1900 there

were already two.

The reasons for demolishing the building are not quite clear, the growing

number of employees, which could not be properly housed in the

building, the increasing traffic or the apparently roundabout way into

the station by steps and staircases – in short it’s lack of usability - might

have been responsible for its demolition in 1915.

As early as 1914 Johannes Saal had started to lay out plans for a new

royal reception building (finished in 1916, today a bank’s branch) on the

east side of the station. After an interruption during the First World War

that led to changes to the plans by architect Steinbrink the new railway

station was finished in 1922.

The building from 1922 is still practically unchanged. While the south

side appears as a two-storied building with a larger middle part, which

encompasses the entrance hall - to be reached without steps - the north

side seems to melt into the ground behind the higher situated track

superstructure.

12 Weimar station 1850


14 “Fürstempfangsgebäude”/Grand Duke’s reception building 1910



Photographs and pictures

1 Weimar town plan, Bauhaus-University

2 Wagner, Rainer: Weimar Stadtansichten im Wandel. Kassel: Thiele und Schwarz, 1992. p. 70.

3 p. 73 ibd.

4 Günther, Gitta: Weimar - eine Chronik. Leipzig: Kiepenheuer, 1996. p. 126

5 Weimar: Stadtansichten im Wandel. Rainer Wagner (ed.), Kassel: Thiele & Schwarz Verlagshaus, 1992. p. 113.

6 Weimar: Stadtansichten im Wandel. Rainer Wagner (ed.), Kassel: Thiele & Schwarz Verlagshaus, 1992. p. 114.

7 Neues Museum Weimar. Geschichte und Ausblick. Rolf Bothe (ed.). München: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1997. p. 10. Drawing by Georg Haubold, 1855. Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar

8 Neues Museum Weimar. Geschichte und Ausblick. Rolf Bothe (ed.). München: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1997. p. 14. Weimar - historische Fotografien, Kassel 1992.

9 Neues Museum Weimar. Geschichte und Ausblick. Rolf Bothe (ed.). München: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1997. p. 15. Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar

10 Neues Museum Weimar. Geschichte und Ausblick. Rolf Bothe (ed.). München: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1997. p. 13. drawing by Josef Zitek 1886. Foto Atelier Louis Held: Eberhard und Stefan Renno, Weimar.

11 Weimar: Stadtansichten im Wandel. Rainer Wagner (ed.), Kassel: Thiele & Schwarz Verlagshaus, 1992. p. 112. Stadtarchiv Weimar.

12 Berger, Manfred: Historische Bahnhofsbauten I. Sachsen, Preußen, Mecklenburg und Thüringen. Berlin: Transpress, 1991. No. 381. Watercolour by Jäde 1850.

13 Günther, Gitta: Weimar – so wie es war. Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag, 1991. p. 40. Postcard. Stadtarchiv Weimar

14 Weimar: Stadtansichten im Wandel. Rainer Wagner (ed.), Kassel: Thiele & Schwarz Verlagshaus, 1992. p. 71. Private collection Dr. Magdlung, Weimar.

15 Berger, Manfred: Historische Bahnhofsbauten I. Sachsen, Preußen, Mecklenburg und Thüringen. Berlin: Transpress, 1991. No. 389.


Literature

- Berger, Manfred: Historische Bahnhofsbauten I. Sachsen,

Preußen, Mecklenburg und Thüringen. Berlin: Transpress, 1991.

- Dehio, Georg: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. Thüringen

(bearbeitet von Stephanie Eißing). München: Deutscher Kunstverlag,

2003. p. 1342

- Encyclopedia Britannica 2006

- Fromm, Günter; Hunger Erich: Die Entwicklung der Thüringischen

Eisenbahn. Erfurt: Reichsbahndirektion Erfurt, 1972.

- Günther, Gitta: Weimar - eine Chronik. Leipzig: Kiepenheuer, 1996.

- Günther, Gitta; Huschke, Wolfram; Steiner, Walter: Weimar Lexikon

zur Stadtgeschichte. Weimar: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger,

1998.

- Günther, Gitta: Weimar – so wie es war. Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag,

1991.

- Neues Museum Weimar. Geschichte und Ausblick. Rolf Bothe (Hrsg.).

München: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1997.

- Rittig, Franz: Verborgenen Spuren: Begegnungen mit der

Eisenbahngeschichte in Thüringen. Altenburg: Reinhold Verlag, 2003.

- Rössner, Alf: Weimar um 1900. Stadtbild und genius loci. Diss.

Weimar, 1999.

- Satjukow, Silke: Bahnhofstraßen. Geschichte und Bedeutung. Köln:

Böhlau-Verlag, 2002

- Weimar: Stadtansichten im Wandel. Rainer Wagner (ed.), Kassel:

Thiele & Schwarz Verlagshaus, 1992. pp. 68ff.


The following facts and figures may be summarized for the Weimar railway station:

daily passengers 13.550

daily trains 182-thereof intercity railway transportation/daily main lines 50

platforms 5

total area 19.658 m2

area of platforms 14.057 m2

passenger tunnels 428 m2

car/bike park 1.587 m2

rentable area 1.548 m2

concessions such as coffee-shops, food outlet,pharmacy, newspaper shop, flower shopat Weimar station shops (7), services provided such as hairdresser, tourist information, theatre (1)

provision of toilet facilities, lockers, ticket vending machines

WeimarInhabitants 65.000

Region: middle east of Germany (Thuringia)with 320 railway and interchange stops

Weimar railway-station„DB Reisezentrum Weimar“Schoppenhauerstraße 2, 99423 Weimar

location: 15 minutes walk from city centre

Today‘s appearance of the stationdesigned by Saal and Steinbrink

Year of completion of platforms and passenger tunnels 1915

Year of completion of main building 1922

Renewal of the station and its surroundings 1996-98


Spatial requirements m2

1 foyer 350

porch/vestibule entrance area lobby arrival hall/departure zone

2 customer service 30

tourist information service help point lost property

15 5

10

3 ticket office/travelling service 100 ticket area

administrative office staff room toilets

40 30 30

4 luggage/lockers 15-30 (left luggage office)

lockers (15)

12-15

5 lounge/waiting hall 40 seating area

lounge/waiting rooms seating provided for platforms

and foyer 25

15

6 rentable area 1.550 shops

(books, flowers, convenience store, etc.) food outlet newspaper/kiosk

7 theatre 400

foyer, bar, box office, lockers stage rehearsal technics (light, sound) office toilets

50 200

50

8 service facilities 50-100

toilet facilities, refreshment facilities ticket vending machines public telephone trolleys post box

9 bike/car park ~ 1.550

cycle storage parking spaces

provision of 100 bikes and 200 cars

10 technics ~ 450

11 platforms 14.050

12 passenger tunnels 450

total area ~ 19.100

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