Gartenstadt Dahlhauserheide, Bochum: a garden city for miners

Bochum, located between Essen and Dortmund,  in the heart of the Ruhr Area is situated between the rivers Ruhr and Emscher on the border of the northern and southern sections of the Ruhrrevier. The city of Bochum incorporated many smaller villages at the end of the 19^th century, thus gaining many collieries and other industrial sites with the workers colonies built especially for these. Many more settlements were incorporated between 1904 and 1929. In 1975 the city of Wattenscheid was merged with Bochum. The village of Hordel, near Wattenscheid was incorporated by Bochum in 1926. Heavy industry developed quickly after 1830 and peaked around 1929 with over 70 pits on 59 collieries. Well-known collieries are Zeche Prinz-Regent, Zeche Hannover, Zeche Hannibal, Zeche Constantin and Zeche Hasenwinkel.

In 1890 the Krupp Company bought the Manor of Dahlhausen (Rittergut Dahlhausen) located near their coal mines Hannibal and Hannover and the Zeche Carolinenglück further south that was owned by the Bochum Mining Union. The manor comprised of a large expanse of heathland (Dahlhauserheide), a manor house on a brook, a watermill and a few farms and fields. Robert Schmohl, who had lead the Krupp Building Department since 1892 was asked in 1905 to design a large new colony for the miners and workers of the two collieries. The Krupp family was by that time on board with the Reform Movement and instructed Schmohl to create a garden city instead of the typical colony that were built for instance around Eickel and Heβler.

Siedlung Dahlhauserheide was built on the heath below the manor house. The manor house is still standing. The watermill on the Hüllerbach was eventually torn down as most of the old cottages. Incidentally, the village of Dahlhausen is not located near this manor, but 8 km further south on the river Ruhr. The garden city was a true suburban satellite located between the existing urban areas of Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Wattenscheid.

As per usual the housing was divided in classes. All housing was designed in a Westphalian vernacular resembling farm houses and cottages. The streets show the influence of park design from the period and Sitte-esque aesthetic with curved or short straight streets with variable building line. There are no true closes, that staple of English garden city design, but rather kinked streets behind main streets. Amenities were also included, especially schools and sports and leisure facilities. Two Konsumanstalten (Cooperative Shops) and a Bierhalle (Beer Hall) were also included. Each house had a garden, many had a small stable or outbuilding as the Reform Movement advocated a return to living in tune with nature and growing your own food. As a result of the many vegetable gardens Siedlung Dahlhauserheide was colloquially known as Kappeskolonie (Cabbage Colony).

The outline of this garden village is rounded giving it a natural feel especially in combination with the curved streets. The central axis is formed by the street “Hordeler Heide”. This is not a formal axis and a new line. Some old dirt tracks were transformed into residential streets linking the suburban satellite to its surroundings. The amenities and green public spaces are located on pivotal points in the layout; these include primary schools (ps), a kindergarten (kg), a chapel (c), Konsumanstalt (ka), park, beer hall (bh) and sports hall (sh). Sitte-esque or Unwinesque design principles (in orange) are employed to create spatial end visual interest at intersections and along streets. Illustration based on Jansen/Wetterau 2002.

In total 339 semidetached houses were built in 40 types on 8 different floor plans with a further 37 detached houses for the foremen, making 715 units in total. The streets are mostly named after the surrounding coal fields. The whole does feel like a village, as was the intention of Schmohl and Krupp. To preserve the character of the garden city -or better garden village- a Gestaltungssatzung (design regulations framework) was agreed in 1980. Most of the buildings have thus maintained their original appearance. The housing has however not officially been listed.

Urban animal: parks and gardens

Cities are often seen as ecological wastelands; this couldn’t be further from the truth. That is to say that the urban landscape provides different habitats than some rural or natural areas. Also parks and gardens –the more natural elements of the urban landscape- provide important habitats for both plants and animals.

The use of pesticides has all but wiped out wild bee populations in many rural areas. For some species the urban garden is the last refuge. All those paved gardens are certainly no help, but as long as there is food the animals will come. Some species are very picky, but others will happily feed on cultivated Lavender. Some wild plant –here Marjoram- are so beautiful that they deserve a place in the garden, thus attracting insects like this butterfly. In parks and on road verges the trend is to create more natural vegetation thus attracting wild bees, like this bumblebee on a thistle.

It is not just insects that are attracted to gardens and parks. Friends in Germany have these lizards living in their garden wall. This appropriately named Wall lizard favours man-made structures over natural rock formations. In some places parks and gardens are the last refuge for the Hedgehog. A messy corner in the garden makes them very happy indeed. Especially if there are lots of snails and slugs. The Black slug –which can also be brown- is common everywhere where there is vegetation.

Gartenstadt Hellerau: an anti-urban idyll near Dresden

This early garden village was built between 1909 and 1933 as the first official settlement supported by the German Garden City Society. Originally set up as a progressive community it is still a much sought-after place of residence within easy reach of Dresden by tram.

On the old road between Dresden and Moritzburg the old buildings of the German Werkstätten suddenly come into view as the greenery open up in a vista. This factory comprises of a series of buildings designed as one complex. Within several small manufactures of furniture and artisanal workshops found space. The whole was set up as a collective with each skilled worker working together and exchanging ideas when needed. The idealism that created this complex is still evident today in the photovoltaic panels on the roof.

At the heart of the complex still lies a large cobbled courtyard. Furniture production is now in a modern factory across the road; the old workshops are now leased to artists and small creative businesses.

The Deutscher Werkstätten were the raison d’être for a new garden village satellite of Dresden to be developed in this location. The buildings are designed in a vernacular style referencing farm buildings, but at the same time creating a complex that is recognisably not agricultural. The design with many connected volumes creates the sensation of a much smaller operation than this complex actually housed.

Some of the houses in the western section were built in wood, also referencing vernacular German architecture. Split logs are used to great effect in cladding panels. The window frames and wooden shutters contrast nicely both in texture and colour. Although each house was built to the same basic plan, each dwelling has an individual appeal through the detailing and the use of colour.

In most places the houses are mixed with several types creating a varied streetscape. Different types of cladding, different roof pitches and different paint colours all ad to the diversity along the streets. Where possible the original woodland was retained, as the aim was to reconnect residents with nature.

There is a mix of buildings in wood and in brick with rendered walls. All houses are set in ample gardens. Some houses are quite close to the street -where there are remnants of the woodland on the slope- others are set back further to create a greener streetscape with large front gardens.

In some sections all the houses are built in brick with rendered walls. The render is always a shade of soft yellow or cream. This gives the whole a sense of unity. The housing itself is individual and was designed in a vernacular idiom.

Around a natural well an ornamental pond was built to provides a natural focal point in this section of Hellerau. A pond near the top of the slope feels rather artificial though. From the pond one can glimpse the buildings around. This again reinforces that sense of nature being omnipresent in Hellerau.

The streets in the primary section near the Werkstätten are lined with terraced housing. This is the norm in German garden villages and in sharp contrast to the preference for cottages and linked semidetached properties in short rows advocated by English architects of the Garden City Movement. The long rows create an image similar to German village streets. Note that the houses for workers lack a front garden.

Most streets in Hellerau were given a gentle curve so the end could never be seen from the start of the street. Everywhere the architects favoured rhythm over variety in type. So often the houses along a street are all similar, sometimes with variations in the detailing.

In most streets the principles of urban planning by artistic means along the lines of Camillo Sitte are put into practice. The building line is given subtle variations, creating room for small front garden along a section of a long street. Also a green verge planted with trees is part of the layout of some residential streets. The buildings on each street were designed by one of a group of architects. The buildings al have a certain individuality, but also create a sense of unity through a conscious use of vernacular design features.

The street leading up to the central Market Square shows all of the design features of Sitte-esque design and planning. The basic layout is varies little, but the dwellings are detailed with a variation in roof height, roof shape, window treatment. Also shifts in building line are used to create sections along the street creating visual interest and a more varied sensation of space and place.

The central square is still used for an open air market once a week. It is also used for community gatherings and a festival. For large crowds, however, the Festival Hall was built. The buildings around the market are higher than those in the residential streets and contain shops on the ground floor and apartments above. The buildings are 4 storeys with additional bedrooms up in the attic space.

The bakery is one of the amenities that were concentrated around the central public space. This building with soft ochre render and blue shutters, windows and doors differs only slightly from the residential buildings (these have mostly green shutters and doors). The design aesthetic is again vernacular in character. A covered walk with arches is a feature imported from Italy into Germany in the late medieval period. It is used to great effect here, but also has a practical reason in the rainy climate.

Further up the slope from the central square large detached and semidetached properties line the short streets. The design is in keeping with the blocks around the market square and less individualistic than the villas in the western section.

The streets leading towards the third section -the section north of the thoroughfare that was planned as part of this garden village- all have low village-like buildings in long terraces. In some places (semi)detached houses are used on corners to create visual interest. All houses have wooden window shutters and where there are front gardens the garden fence was part of the total design.

Where streets meet the corners are given extra emphasis by rotating the corner block 45 degrees. Also the use of variable roof shapes is very clear on this corner. Sections with gable ends break up the roof surface and emphasise the corners of each block. Where this is a semidetached block of 2 the gable ends are adjacent; in short terraces the gable ends are further apart.

The same aesthetic is carried through north of the thoroughfare with curved streets and white fences edging the small front gardens. The houses have the same gable ends on each corner dwelling in the row.

Some streets in the northern section are rather straight with a kink at either end. The ends of the long terraces protrude to emphasise the beginning and end of the street. Gable end again are used to create rhythm and divide the long rows up into sections.

The buildings have vernacular details in the design. Short porches protrude from the main mass of the row of houses. Each porch has a short tiled roof. All windows have window shutters. The little railing along the gutter is typical for German buildings in areas with many trees and heavy snowfall. Some building have a side entrance. Here one with a porch that backs onto a neighbouring building with a building line that is not set back.

The Festspielhaus (Festival Thetre) was bult in 1911 on the edge of Hellerau. It is built as a formal ensemble with a central theatre building behind a large cobbles square. The entrance on the other side is flanked by two low buildings that housed workshops, storage and a small café. The theatre was an important centre for experimental theatre and expressive dance prior to 1933. A restauration was started in 2006. The lower galleries flanking the entrance still need some work done, but the central building has been brought back to life.