City-Hof, a complex of four high-rise buildings with 13 floors connected by a base of 2 floors with stores. Built in 1958 near Hamburg’s main train station on Klosterwall. Demolished in 2019.
2 thoughts on “In transition IV”
Peter, why was the complex demolished? And what came after?
The City-Hof had been a listed building since May 2013, but its worthiness for preservation was judged differently by different parts of politics, administration and the public. Among others, the then Chief Building Director Jörn Walter was one of the staunch supporters of a redevelopment of the City-Hof site for urban planning reasons.
In the course of inspecting the files, it later became known that in 2013 Finance Senator Peter Tschentscher, since 2018 First Mayor of Hamburg, had personally pursued the demolition of City-Hof in spite of monument protection – even though the Senate had committed itself to exemplary treatment of monuments in public ownership in the monument law that had just been passed.
As part of the call for tenders, a Hamburg architectural firm (gmp) submitted a design that envisaged the preservation and redevelopment and extensive conversion into apartments and “clearly came out on top in the jury’s decision.” However, after a subsequent change in the tender conditions, gmp’s contribution was disqualified and the contract was awarded instead to the Hamburg construction company August Prien, whose concept for the site envisages the demolition of the existing buildings.
After the demolition of the City-Hof, the current design plans the construction of a three-part building block, in which offices and apartments are planned in addition to a hotel with 200 rooms.
Peter, why was the complex demolished? And what came after?
The City-Hof had been a listed building since May 2013, but its worthiness for preservation was judged differently by different parts of politics, administration and the public. Among others, the then Chief Building Director Jörn Walter was one of the staunch supporters of a redevelopment of the City-Hof site for urban planning reasons.
In the course of inspecting the files, it later became known that in 2013 Finance Senator Peter Tschentscher, since 2018 First Mayor of Hamburg, had personally pursued the demolition of City-Hof in spite of monument protection – even though the Senate had committed itself to exemplary treatment of monuments in public ownership in the monument law that had just been passed.
As part of the call for tenders, a Hamburg architectural firm (gmp) submitted a design that envisaged the preservation and redevelopment and extensive conversion into apartments and “clearly came out on top in the jury’s decision.” However, after a subsequent change in the tender conditions, gmp’s contribution was disqualified and the contract was awarded instead to the Hamburg construction company August Prien, whose concept for the site envisages the demolition of the existing buildings.
After the demolition of the City-Hof, the current design plans the construction of a three-part building block, in which offices and apartments are planned in addition to a hotel with 200 rooms.