History Haus Vaterland

1 history

1.1 haus potsdam
1.2 haus vaterland
1.3 third reich , world war ii
1.4 under occupation
1.5 destruction

history

haus potsdam, 1913


haus potsdam

the six-storey building designed franz heinrich schwechten, architect of anhalter bahnhof , kaiser wilhelm memorial church, , constructed between 1911 , 1912 haus potsdam. office building; 1917 or 1919 until 1927 universum film ag or ufa, owned site, headquartered there; lower floors contained 1,196-seat cinema, called lichtspieltheater im piccadillyhaus or kammerlichtspiele im haus potsdam (cinematograph in piccadilly house, moving pictures in haus potsdam), , café piccadilly. building faced sandstone , gave impression of masonry, had steel frame , cinema space spanned 5 girders. @ northern end, facing square, circular pavilion topped copper dome rising 35 metres above pavement, row of attic statues beneath it; recreation of mausoleum of ostrogothic king theodoric great in ravenna. cafe entrance on bottom 2 floors of section. behind it, long, narrow section in simplified wilhelmine architectural style, mansard roof, extended 100 metres alongside potsdamer bahnhof.

the café piccadilly accommodate 2,500 guests , lavishly decorated wall , ceiling paintings , sienese marble. operated heinrich braun, attraction comparable moulin rouge in paris, drawing white collar workers, business people , tourists day, amusement seekers, restaurant , variety patrons , prostitutes @ night. 1 of ernst ludwig kirchner s street scenes cycle of paintings, potsdamer platz in berlin (1914), depicts 2 prostitutes on traffic island in front of building , potsdamer bahnhof. after world war began in 1914, renamed more patriotic café vaterland.

haus vaterland

haus potsdam became less successful during 1920s, , in 1927 sold bank für handel und grundbesitz, leased ten years kempinski family of restaurateurs. had exclusive contract provide food , drink , manage business, became flagship. in 1928, building reopened haus vaterland, based on idea leo kronau, had visited coney island in new york , wanted emulate international attractions in amusement parks there , improve on berlin s own imitation, lunapark. persuaded kempinski family, had 65-year track record of success restaurateurs in berlin, convert haus potsdam haus der nationen (house of nations), , became first artistic director, arranging entertainment suit flavour of each of gastronomic units.

the architect conversion, carl stahl-urach, architect fritz lang s doctor mabuse films, modernised exterior applying stucco , in particular wiring domed section illuminated @ night example of architecture of night (architektur der nacht) or light architecture (licht-architektur) emulated coney island lighting effects. lettering around rotunda illuminated, , approximately 4,000 bulbs arranged in intersecting arcs on dome turned on , off create illusion of spinning motion. reporter in germania applauded babylonian dome irrefutable evidence here, world-capital life pulsing. david clay large describes beacon of commercial kitsch . inside, cafe renovated , building extended , cinema moved make room new entrance block in centre of building; in rest of space, restaurants dedicated different countries , regions of world constructed. each decorated appropriately dioramas 6 metres deep, panoramas, , lighting effects, , served appropriate food; example of modern theme dining or experiential gastronomy. while main shows took place in ballroom, each theme restaurant had musicians of appropriate origins on staff complete dining experience, including @ least 6 dance bands. central kitchen occupied entire top floor, connected different dining establishments pneumatic tubes, through orders came up, , dumbwaiters, means of food sent down , dirty dishes sent up; conveyor belts @ kitchen level transferred dishes machine washed, dried , stacked. whole run on american-influenced principles of industrial efficiency. published house magazine called berolina - latin berlin , famously embodied in statue in alexanderplatz.

it enormous , popular establishment, , haus potsdam before it, alluded in both artistic , tourist contexts, example in irmgard keun s 1932 novel das kunstseidene mädchen (the artificial silk girl). combination of spectacle, variety performances, international dining , cinema unique. large sees having been kind of proto-disney world . building accommodate 8,000 people; 4,454 square metres of theme restaurants had capacity of 3,500 people , café vaterland largest in world; 1 millionth guest recorded in october 1929, barely year after opening.

third reich , world war ii

in nazi years, mix of restaurants modified , jewish kempinskis had sell building pittance aryans , leave country. 1936 french film, les loups entre eux (english title: sequel second bureau), features scenes in haus vaterland, including horst wessel song booming loud-speaker . business continued host throngs of customers after berlin began suffer heavy bombing allies. in 1943 building damaged, particularly in central section, in raid on night of 22 november destroyed of centre of city. on 2 february 1945 bombed out, walls left standing.

burnt out ruin of haus vaterland after war, 1947



2005 aerial view of tilla-durieux-park on site of potsdamer bahnhof; office buildings left on site of haus vaterland; note semicircular frontage paying homage vanished building


under occupation

after war, potsdamer platz centre 4 allied occupation zones demarcated. ruined haus vaterland in russian sector, had doors both british , american. in 1947, café vaterland reopened in acclaimed gesture of rebuild city, , in 1948 communist cabaret frischer wind playing there, while because of position on sector lines, hotbed of spying, flight east, , black marketing in currency , goods.

destruction

the building burnt out on 17 june 1953, along erich mendelsohn s columbushaus, during east german strike , protest. left in ruins, windows being walled up. adjacent berlin wall after construction in 1961. in 1966 der spiegel described desolation of potsdamer platz during years, birch trees growing out of rubble of had been busiest traffic intersection in europe , kestrels nesting in ruin of haus vaterland , hunting rats emerged locked s-bahn entrances.

in 1972, senate of west berlin bought building part of 8.5 hectares of land build road, , had demolished in 1976. 600 tonnes of iron , steel sold scrap. in mid-1980s artists , members of alternative culture converted wasteland, had been used dumping , parking, caravan colony.

ironically, when potsdamer platz rebuilt after german reunification, site of haus vaterland parcel on no entertainment facility sited, offices, because felt small. building abutting square given semi-circular façade in homage round section of building had once stood there.

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