Ruhrgebiet, or the industrialisation of Germany

Between the rivers Ruhr and Lippe lies the largest conurbation of Germany: das Ruhrgebiet or the Ruhr Area in English. Located in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia this agglomeration of several large and medium sized cities is home to eight and a half million people. In contrast to Greater London, which is -of 2014- of equal size, there is no separate regional authority, all the municipalities (Gemeinden) are independent entities within a Kreis (district) or are so-called Kreisfreie Stadte (literally: district-free cities, the better translation is incorporated cities). The larger cities have grown through incorporation of neighbouring towns and villages. These often have a form of local representation within a so-called Stadtbezirk (similar to a London Borough, a Dutch Stadsdeel or a Belgian Deelgemeente). In Germany Stadtbezirke (literally city district) are to be found in cities with more than 150.000 inhabitants.

The Ruhr Area includes the cities of Duisburg, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Herne, Hagen, Dortmund and Hamm as well as sections of the non-urban district (Landkreis) Wesel, Reckllinghausen, Unna and the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis. There is no central settlement or an administrative centre for the whole of the Ruhr Area. As such it is a perfect example of a true urban landscape! The independent local authorities cooperate in the supracommunal Regionalverbandt Ruhr (RVR).

The RVR started in 1920 as the Siedlungsverbandt Ruhrkohlenbezirk (SVR). This SVR was founded to raise the money needed to pay the settlement forced on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles after WW1 and included al the rural and urban district of the industrial and mining heartland of the country. The development of the region into an urbanized industrial landscape had started in the late eighteenth century with the early industrialisation in the Wupper Valley (Wuppertal) in the County of Berg (Bergisches Land). By 1820 hundreds of water-powered mills were producing textiles, wood, shingles and iron. The iron was used for crafting knives, tools and harnesses in large workshops.

The Ruhr Area (Rhineland) in 1830 before the rapid industrialisation with the Rhine on the left en the Rurhr meandering at the bottom of the map. The small towns and cities are spread over a large undulating landscape that had been largely deforested for agriculture by this time.

As the decades went on the factories became bigger and more automated. This called for more power, so the industrialists started using steam power. For this they needed large quantities of coal. The few coal deposits around the Wupper Valley and Dusseldorf were quickly being depleted, so a railway was constructed to link the area with the Ruhr Valley some 30 kilometres further north. By 1850 there were almost 300 coal mines in operation in the Ruhr Valley. This rapid growth of the mining industry also meant an unprecedented change to the landscape. Spoil heaps were being raised at some distance of the collieries. Train tracks were laid. Rivers were bridges and on occasion culverted, diverted or dammed. Forests were cleared. Castles and hamlets were replaced by vast industrial complexes. The land of many a farm was developed for housing. As a result the area quickly urbanised in a totally uncontrolled manner. The local village and city councils were no match for the industrialists and often had no clue what this "economic development" would mean for the existing residents. The need for a large workforce also attracted many young men from nearby rural areas in the Rhineland and the Palatine, but also further afield from Silesia, Bohemia, Poland, Pomerania, Posen and Moravia. These men later started families end needed sufficient housing. This lead to a building boom of often substandard housing. This in turn lead to the construction of designated housing for miners and other workers in so-called colonies.

A century on this map from 1930 shows a vast conurbation with shipping canals, docks, railways, collieries, spoil heaps, miners colonies, housing, factories and so on. Only some small pockets of rural land remain as islands in a (sub)urban sea. After 1950 most of these areas were developed for housing en industrial estates as most of the new motorways avoided the existing built-up areas.

Nouverture

The history of the Twentse Schouwburg (Twenthe Theatre) starts in 1889. A theatre building designed by Reijers and Van Gendt was erected in the centre of Enschede on the Langestraat (Long Street) not far from the present city hall (built between 1930 and '33). In 1952 the theatre was expanded by adding a much larger auditorium (Grote Zaal) on the back. In 1985 the old auditorium (Kleine Zaal) was remodelled. In 2001 a new organisation was founded to include all podium arts and venues in Enschede. Within this concept a new theatre was needed as the old one would need extensive remodelling. So a new complex called the Wilminktheater was opened in 2008 and the large 1950s auditorium was torn down for new housing and shops. The old auditorium was restored and is since known as De Kleine Willem (literally Little William, a reference to the famous local lyricist and poet Willem Wilmink).

In 2008 a combination of a commercial developer and a housing association won a design competition for the redevelopment of the old theatre site. They included some parts of the old theatre buildings in their new concept that comprises of luxurious apartments, social rented housing and commercial space along a series of walkways between the Walstraat (Wall Street) and Langestraat. The development was dubbed Nouverture a contraction of the French words nous (us), nouveau (new) and ouverture (opening).

In the redevelopment of the old city theatre the front facade was kept including the statues by Jawik Krudde (created 1984) representing harlequins and clowns as a reference to sixteenth century Italian theatre. This lifelike artwork is most surreal after dark as their faces are lit by the lamps they hold and strange shadows are cast on the facade and the pavement.

Happy New Year

 I wish you all the best for 2016; may every new day bring you amazement!

Bookworming

I'm one of those people that likes to read books, yes even those without pictures. I have always read books and have no intention of stopping! Sat here I'm actually surrounded by books floor to ceiling 8 shelves high. Most of these books I've read once, some have been reread and others are often consulted. Some of these books I've actually mentioned on this blog: e.g. The Scatered City, Building the Workingman's Paradise, Garden Cities of To-morrow, Nothing gained by overcrowding,Tuinsteden, Das Englische Haus and The Garden City Utopia.

This Christmas I received a new copy of Ebenezer Howards seminal book Garden Cities of To-morrow, as I had lent my first book to a graduate student years ago and have been without since (I must mention said student is adement he returned the book, but I have moved house twice since, so it might have been misplaced rather than lost). So now the book has been returned to its rightfull place next to Tuinsteden by G. Feenstra, the must-read for understanding garden villages in the Low Countries.I am lucky to have an original from 1920. My next read will be another festive present: The Lego Architect.

The remnants of Friedrichshof, Essen

A few blocks of the Friedrichshof estate still stand. These Gartenhof-type buildings are situated along the Kaupenstrasse and Hölderlinstrasse. These buildings are the only remnants of the second building phase of this estate. Of the first building phase, with a formal square on the Mörikenstrasse, nothing remains.

The distinctive architecture of the Friedrichshof in the typical Landhaus Architektur is made all the more clear in the contrast with the later replacement blocks of flats (on the left of the picture). The Gartenhof blocks of the Friedrichshof Estate are more horizontal in design than those of the Alfredshof.

The architecture, again by Schmohl of the Baubüro Krupp, does know vertical accents, mostly in the shape of gable ends and turrets. Here the two gable ends flank  loggias. Special attention has been paid to the gables at the end of each block. These are often shapely with a scalloped edge (shown on the right).

Part of the Hölderlinstrasse still has the original blocks on either side, giving a good impression of the original intentions. There was a green verge planted with trees. Now the streets are dominated by cars, the communal gardens are, however, free from parking.

Hanging bays -or oriels- have been used to great effect to break the boxiness of the blocks and add interest on the otherwise long facades. Note how the decorative brick band runs along the bottom of the oriel. With the refurbishment of the flats new balconies have been added. As these could not be safely fixed to the building they have been constructed as a separate construction.

On the Fredrichshof Estate no gates were built to give access to the communal gardens within the super blocks, instead the buildings form separated sections with extra attention paid to the corners. Here the corners have little turrets.

The entrance on the corner with the stairwell in the turret (left) is a variation on the normal entrance treatment with an awning over a door that gives access to a  stairwell.

The communal gardens are basically small parks with trees, shrubs, grass, and the occasional playground.