Plea for Eisenhüttenstadt

Admittedly, the name doesn’t sound very appealing. So why Eisenhüttenstadt of all places? Surprisingly, there are several reasons to visit. Architecture lovers, history buffs, and yes, nature lovers, art enthusiasts, and utopians should definitely feel attracted as well. Eisenhüttenstadt is the first completely planned city foundation of the GDR. It was designed in the early 1950s for 30,000 inhabitants. Today, Eisenhüttenstadt is one of the largest area monuments in Germany. On a tour, one encounters magnificent architecture in the neoclassical style of Berlin’s Stalinallee, as well as plenty of art in the space and extensive green areas.

Blick vom Museum Utopie und Alltag in Eisenhüttenstadt in die Wohnanlage von Wohnkomplex II mit Parkanlagen und Kunst im öffentlichen Raum. Gesellschaft- und Versorgungseinrichtungen wie Kindergarten, Schule, Gechäfte und Erholungsräume liegen in der Planstadt Eisenhüttenstadt stets dicht beieinander / © Foto: Georg Berg
View from the museum Utopia and Everyday Life in Eisenhüttenstadt. Social and supply facilities such as kindergarten, school, shops and recreational areas are always close together in the planned city of Eisenhüttenstadt / © Photo: Georg Berg

The aspiration of the government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was to create an ideal city for Germany. Anchored in the 16 principles of urban planning by resolution in July 1950, human needs for work, housing, culture and recreation were to be harmoniously intertwined in the planned city of Eisenhüttenstadt. However, this ideal, which people in many cities today long for, was preceded by a principle that in turn explains why the ideal city ultimately remained utopian. The free development of the individual fell by the wayside. Principle 1 immediately states: The city, in its structure and architectural design, is an expression of the political life and national consciousness of the people. In addition, the government reserved the right to determine and confirm the factors that shape the city.

Heutiges Rathaus Eisenhüttenstadt, ehemals das Haus der Parteien und Massenorganisationen / © Foto: Georg Berg
Today’s Eisenhüttenstadt town hall, formerly the house of the parties and mass organizations / © Photo: Georg Berg
Kaufhaus in der Lindenallee, Eisenhüttenstadt mit Mosaik von Walter Womacka, Arbeit für den Frieden von 1960. Die starke Hand des Arbeiters schafft Frieden. Idealisierung der sozialistischen Lebensweise / © Foto: Georg Berg
Department store in Lindenallee with mosaic by Walter Womacka, Work for Peace from 1960. The strong hand of the worker creates peace. Idealization of the socialist way of life / © Photo: Georg Berg

City tour of an area monument

Eisenhüttenstadt is today one of the largest area monuments in Germany. A tour takes us through the residential complexes and avenues with their visual axes, at the end of which there were always representative buildings that served the residents and the community, such as a hospital, school or administrative building. A tour of the residential complexes I – III takes a good two hours. Architecture fans will not be able to get by with that. The tour is also a journey through time, through the various architectural styles that developed in Eisenhüttenstadt between 1950 and 1970. From the splendor of neoclassicism in the first residential complex to deliberate recourse to the Heimatstil of the 1930s to the architecture of late International Modernism as it was implemented worldwide in the 1960s.

Wohnkomplex III Eisenhüttenstadt. Wohnhaus mit Torbogen. Rückgriff auf den Heimatstil der 1930er Jahre. Thema ist die kleine deutsche Stadt mit Erkern und Reliefdarstellungen deutscher Märchen. Architekt Kurt W. Leucht / © Foto: Georg Berg
Residential complex III Eisenhüttenstadt. Residential building with archway. Heimatstil of the 1930s. The theme is the small German town with bay windows and relief depictions of often German fairy tales / © Photo: Georg Berg

Air and light in the luminous project

The principles for the reconstruction of German cities after 1945 also include many positive approaches that were consistently implemented in Eisenhüttenstadt. These include traffic planning that serves people and does not hinder them. For example, no traffic roads cutting up the city were to be built, and traffic was to be kept out of residential areas. Instead, space should be created for green areas, air and light. Short distances to shopping as well as kindergartens and schools in the same neighborhood were also part of this mammoth urban planning project, which was realized by architect Kurt W. Leucht starting in 1950.

Fassaden von Wohnhäusern in der Pawlow-Allee, Eisenhüttenstadt. Als Idealbild der sozialisitschen Lebensweise ab 1950 erbaut / © Foto: Georg Berg
Facades of residential buildings in Pavlov Avenue, Eisenhüttenstadt. Built as an ideal of the socialist way of life from 1950 / © Photo: Georg Berg

The visual axes of the planned city often end at particularly representative buildings that served the life and well-being of the people. First and foremost among these are the hospital or schools such as the Erich Weinart Elementary School, which is huge by today’s standards. The many young families who settled in the city because of work at the Eisenhüttenkombinat Ost had all the important facilities in their respective housing complexes. Crèche, schools, grocery stores and local recreation in the spacious courtyards with playgrounds and lots of trees. In the 1950s and 1960s, the average age in Eisenhüttenstadt was 25. Today it is 55 years. This also led to the demolition of residential buildings.

Grundschule Erich-Weinart auf der Friedrich-Engels-Straße im Wohnkomplex II, Eisenhüttenstadt. Baustil erinnert an die Berliner Stalinallee mit ihren neoklassizistischen Bauten / © Foto: Georg Berg
Erich-Weinart elementary school on Friedrich-Engels-Strasse in residential complex II, Eisenhüttenstadt. Building style is reminiscent of Berlin’s Stalinallee with its neoclassical buildings / © Photo: Georg Berg
Glasfenster Aus dem Leben der Kinder von Walter Womacka im Treppenhaus Museum Utopie und Alltag. Das Gebäude entstand 1953 als Kinderkrippe und diente bis 1990 als Kindergarten, Planstadt Eisenhüttenstadt, Brandenburg / © Foto: Georg Berg
Stained glass window From the Lives of Children by Walter Womacka in the stairwell Museum Utopia and Everyday Life. The building was built in 1953 as a nursery and served as a kindergarten until 1990, Planstadt Eisenhüttenstadt, Brandenburg / © Photo: Georg Berg

Blast furnace instead of high mass

The planned city of Eisenhüttenstadt has no church steeples. One of the tallest structures is the blast furnace of the Eisenhüttenkombinat Ost, EKO Stahl. As a central place of work, visual axes and main streets were aligned with the steel mill during planning in the early 1950s. The plant is still an important employer today. Construction took place near the historic town of Fürstenberg an der Oder, which has existed since the 13th century. Initially, the GDR’s ideal city was called Stalinstadt. When Josef Stalin’s image began to crumble in the Eastern bloc countries as well, Stalinstadt became Eisenhüttenstadt in 1961.

Eisenhüttenwerk in Eisenhüttenstadt (früher Stalinstadt). Die Planstadt hat keine Kirchtürme. Der Hochofen gehört zu den höchsten Bauwerken. Als zentraler Ort der Arbeit wurden Sichtachsen und Hauptstraßen bei der Planung Anfang 1950 zum Stahlwerk ausgerichtet / © Foto: Georg Berg
EKO Stahl in Eisenhüttenstadt (formerly Stalinstadt). The planned city has no church spires. The blast furnace is one of the tallest structures./ © Photo: Georg Berg
Mittlerer Teil der Lindenallee (früher Leninallee) in Eisenhüttenstadt mit rhythmischer Abfolge von Hochhäusern mit auskragenden Dächern und Ladenlokalen. Am Ende der Allee Blick auf den großen Hochofen / © Foto: Georg Berg
Middle part of Lindenallee (formerly Leninallee) in Eisenhüttenstadt with rhythmic sequence of high-rise buildings with projecting roofs and stores. At the end of the avenue, view of the large blast furnace / © Photo: Georg Berg

Pavilions for consumption

Heinrich-Heine-Alle is home to the country’s first self-service department store. The department store was a symbol of a new era. The design is typical of the modernism of the 1960s. Today, the gem is largely empty. Occasionally, art exhibitions are held here. A similar pavilion stands on Lindenallee. Behind gold-framed display windows, Wartburgs and Trabants, the objects of longing of all GDR citizens, were exhibited. On a turntable, the current car models were presented to the citizens. In addition, a list was displayed for which birth cohort the allocation of the planned economy controlled car production was to be made.

Erste Selbstbedienugs-Kaufhalle der DDR um 1958 an der Heinrich-Heine-Allee mit Parkanlagen und Kunst im öffentlichen Raum. Gesellschaft- und Versorgungseinrichtungen liegen in der Planstadt Eisenhüttenstadt stets dicht beieinander / © Foto: Georg Berg
First self-service shopping mall of the GDR around 1958 at Heinrich-Heine-Allee with parks and art in public space. Social and utility facilities are always close together in the planned city of Eisenhüttenstadt / © Photo: Georg Berg
Erste Selbstbedienugs-Kaufhalle der DDR um 1958 an der Heinrich-Heine-Allee mit Parkanlagen und Kunst im öffentlichen Raum. Gesellschaft- und Versorgungseinrichtungen liegen in der Planstadt Eisenhüttenstadt stets dicht beieinander / © Foto: Georg Berg
In this pavilion with golden window frames on Lindenallee, the latest models of the Trabant and Wartburg car brands were displayed on a turntable. GDR citizens waited many years for the allocation of a car / © Photo: Georg Berg

Art as a design feature

Art objects in public spaces were firmly anchored in the city’s construction plan. Between three and five percent of the construction sum was earmarked for art, says city guide Bernd Geller during the tour of the planned city. Examples of this can be found on facades, bay windows, doorways and roofs, as well as on the many green spaces and in the courtyards of the residential complexes. In total, as Bernd Geller summarizes, the city has over 350 publicly accessible works of art by 93 artists from the GDR, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Hausfassade in Eisenhüttenstadt. Hier ein Mosaik aus Originalkacheln Meißner Porzellan. Zwischen 3 und 5 Prozent der Bausumme war in der Planstadt Eisenhüttenstadt kunstgebunden / © Foto: Georg Berg
House facade in Eisenhüttenstadt with mosaic of tiles Meissen porcelain. At the cat below right recognizable, the crossed blue swords, the trademark of the porcelain manufactory Meissen / © Photo: Georg Berg
Büste von Heinrich Heine im Wohnkomplex III in Eisenhüttenstadt. Zwischen 3 bis 5 Prozent der Bausumme war in der Planstadt Eisenhüttenstadt kunstgebunden / © Foto: Georg Berg
Bust of Heinrich Heine in the residential complex III in Eisenhüttenstadt / © Photo: Georg Berg

During a guided tour, one’s attention is drawn to many small details and everyday customs. Guided tours of Eisenhüttenstadt are offered regularly. The starting point for a guided tour is the tourist information office in Lindenallee. There you can also get city maps and tour suggestions. The perfect way to round off the tour is a meal at the former Aktivist restaurant. In the former brewery of the socialist workers’ town, you can get hearty and well-prepared meals in the listed restaurant. The name Aktivist alone should be motivation enough to fortify yourself before or after an extensive tour.

A visit to the Museum for Utopia and Everyday Life takes you even closer to the everyday culture of the GDR. The permanent exhibition shows the various facets of everyday life in the GDR in family and work, reports on consumption, education and communication possibilities. As a counter-design with intriguing parallels, a combination of a visit to Eisenhüttenstadt with a visit to the baroque monastery of Neuzelle, only ten kilometers away, is a good idea. The life of the monks in the Cistercian monastery of Neuzelle then and now comes remarkably close to the ideal image of life in the socialist model city. Work, living, culture and recreation sound like Ora et labora et lege. Pray, work and read! Eisenhüttenstadt as well as Neuzelle stand for exciting life concepts in the context of their time.

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Our mode of operation is characterized by self-experienced, well-researched text work and professional, vivid photography. For all stories, travel impressions and photos are created in the same place. Thus, the photos complement and support what is read and carry it further.

Never miss new Tellerrand-Stories again! Mithilfe eines Feed-Readers lassen sich die Information über neue Blogartikel in Echtzeit abonnieren With the help of a feed reader, all stories about the Tellerrand (edge of the plate) can be subscribed to in real time.

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