Das Wirken und die Werke des Architekten, Stadtbaurates und Bausenators Gustav Oelsner von 1924 – 1933 in der Stadt Altona und im türkischen Exil von 1939 – 1948.
Gustav Oelsner hat – wie rund ein Jahrhundert zuvor der Architekt Christian F. Hansen – das Bild der Stadt Altona zwischen 1924 und 1933 außergewöhnlich architektonisch geprägt. Oelsners Architektur kann zur damaligen Zeit als besonders mutig, fast revolutionär bezeichnet werden: Er löste sich vollkommen von den traditionellen Städtebau- und Architekturauffassungen des Historizismus der Kaiserzeit. Oelsners Architekturauffassung war geprägt durch die Einflüsse des „Neuen Bauens“ und der holländischen „de Stijl- Bewegung, Licht, Luft und Sonne waren sein erklärtes Ziel für gesunden Wohnungsbau und für seine Bewohner. Sein Leitmotiv dafür bezog er aus dem Theaterstück „Baumeister Sölness“ von Ibsen: „Heimstätten für Menschen schaffen“. Diese Aussage verband Oelsner mit seiner klaren und funktionellen Archi-tektursprache, die kubische Form seiner Gebäude mit den dazugehörigen Flach-dächern. Er war ein mutiger Schrittmacher in der Architektur und ein Visionär in der Stadtplanung, so wie er seine eigene Arbeit beschreibt: „Ich suche bei allen Bauaufgaben den Ausdruck unserer Zeit“.
In Altona fand Oelsner als Stadtbaurat und Bausenator ab 1924 eine Arbeitsstätte, die er zusammen mit dem damaligen Oberbürgermeister von Altona, Max Brauer, mit Energie und sozialer Verantwortung ausfüllte. Dazu gehören insbesondere etwa 1800 Neubau-wohnungen, die durch die eigens gegründete SAGA (Siedlungsaktien-Gesellschaft Altona) in wirtschaftlich sehr schwieriger Zeit vor und nach der Inflation, in Altona nach seinen Entwürfen gebaut wurden. Dazu sollte man wissen, dass für die Bau- und Siedlungsentwicklung jener Jahre die finanziellen Maßnahmen der deutschen Kom-munalpolitik, ermöglicht durch die vom Reich eingeführte Hauszinsteuer, von großer Bedeutung waren. Diese hatten den Erwerb von Baugelände durch die Gemeinden selbst oder deren Sicherung durch Erbpacht und Vorkaufsrecht zum Ziel, und die Gemeinden übernahmen die allgemeine Bauherrentätigkeit, weil durch die Inflation das private Kapital der Bevölkerung, und damit der privaten Bauherren, die bisher für Wohnungsneubau sorgten, verloren gegangen war.
Die Wohnungen, die Oelsner bauen ließ, waren ausschließlich funktional konzipiert. Sie waren für dringend Wohnungssuchende mit niedrigen Einkommen gedacht. Aber selbst diese kleinen Zwei- und Dreizimmerwohnungen waren für diesen Bevölkerungskreis nicht mehr bezahlbar, so dass sich Besserverdienende die Wohnungen mieteten. Oelsners Anliegen bei der Grundrissgestaltung der Wohnungen war deren Reduzierung auf ein Mindestmaß ausreichender Funktionalität. Jede Kleinwohnung bestand aus einem kleinen Flur, 2-3 etwa gleichgroßen Zimmern, WC oder Bad mit WC, einer Wohnküche – seltener aus einer Funktionsküche wie der der sog. „Frankfurter Küche“ – mit dazu gehöriger Speisekammer und einem Wirtschaftsbalkon oder einer Loggia. Bei diesen Wohnungen handelte es sich ausschließlich um sog. Zweispänner, so dass die Durchlüftung der Wohnungen grundsätzlich neben einer guten Belichtung und Besonnung durch Nord-Süd oder Ost-West-Ausrichtung garantiert waren, ein völliges Novum gegenüber dem Wohnungsbau der früheren Kaiserzeit.
Die Ziele der Stadtentwicklung von Altona hatte Oelsner im Wesentlichen schon im sog. „Generalsiedlungsplan von 1923“ formuliert, nämlich die Eingemeindung der Elbvororte von Othmarschen bis Rissen und der nördlichen an der Kieler Eisenbahn gelegenen Vororte. Das gelang tatsächlich durch die politische Zustimmung Preußens 1928.
Im Zusammenhang mit diesem Groß-Altona plante Oelsner drei Grüngürtel, um die neue Großstadt zu gliedern und zu durchlüften, die in kreisförmigen Bögen um die Sied-lungsgebiete herumgeführt wurden und von jeglicher Bebauung freizuhalten waren (was bis zum Bau der A7 zum Ende des letzten Jahrhunderts auch weitgehend gelang). Durch die Kommunalisierung von sieben ehemaligen privaten sog. „Elbeparks“ als Teil dieser Grüngürtel wurde diese Politik für jedermann erlebbar gemacht. Damit eröffnete sich Altona die Chance, die grünste Großstadt Deutschlands zu werden. Dazu Oelsner selbst: „Altona hatte ein Stadtgebiet gewonnen, im Sinn modernen Städtebaus eines der schönsten, vielleicht das schönste in Deutschland. Hoch über dem mächtigen Strom der Elbe.“
Zu weiteren bedeutenden Bauten Oelsners gehören bis heute seine Schulbauten, die ganz dem Geist der Schweizer Pädagogen Pestalozzi und dem Ziel der preußischen Schulreform entsprachen, selbstbewusste und selbstständige Schüler heranzubilden, mit dem Ziel der Vermittlung von Bildung der Jugend. Zu diesen Schulbauten gehört die ehem. Pestalozzischule an der Kleinen Freiheit und die GewerbeschuIe an der Museumstraße, ursprünglich „Haus der Jugend“ genannt, die erstmalig alle verschie-denen Handwerkzweige umfasste. Die Aula dieser Schule ist nach dem Krieg in das „Altonaer Theater“ umgebaut worden. Zu den öffentlichen Bauten gehört auch das Gebäude des Arbeitsamtes an der Kieler Straße, seiner Zeit auch das erste in dieser konzentrierten Organisationsform.
Die Bauten Oelsners haben zum großen Teil den Zweiten Weltkrieg überstanden. Seine Industriebauten am Hafen, die Viehmarkthalle am Altonaer Güterbahnhof und die Ausstellungshalle an der Elbchaussee (ehem. Flottbeker Chaussee) wurden dagegen ebenso wie die Sport- und Stadionanlagen im Altonaer Volkspark in den 70er und 80er Jahren abgebrochen. Das Gleiche trifft auf zahlreiche seiner sog. „Stadtmöbel“ zu, wie Pavillons, Kioske, Bus- und Straßenbahnunterstände sowie Tankstellen mit integrierten „Bedürfnisanstalten“. Seine Wohngebäude wurden, soweit sie vom Krieg beschädigt waren, sehr bald wieder hergestellt, allerdings mit veränderten Grundrissen, wie z. B. an der Koldingstraße und mitsamt den Dachumbauten, die während der Nazizeit durch den Ersatz der Flach- durch Satteldächer erfolgt waren.
Die Besonderheit und das Außergewöhnliche an Oelsners Bauten ist die Verwendung seiner Klinker, die jedem seiner Gebäude, insbesondere der Wohngebäude, einen unvergleichlichen, einmaligen Ausdruck verleihen. Das erreichte er durch große Farbigkeit der verwendeten Klinker. Die bunten Klinkerfassaden der Wohngebäude wirkten – und wirken bis heute – wie buntes Herbstlaub. Deren Farbspektrum reicht von roten, gelben, blauen über blauviolette, rotbraune, graue, graugrüne und ockerfarbene Klinker bis hin zu unterschiedlichen braunen Tönen. Entsprechend der Farbigkeit seiner Klinker wurden die Mauerfugen farbig gestaltet, von gelb, ocker über rot bis zur grauen Zementfarbe, jeweils bezogen auf die unterschiedliche Farbigkeit der jeweiligen Klinker-fassaden. Oelsner suchte bewusst Ziegelsteine aus, die nicht der perfekten Gleichheit der Massenherstellung der Ziegelindustrie entsprachen, sondern verwendete Steine, die auch das Eigenleben des Brandprozesses sichtbar machten und die raue und brüchige Oberfläche der gesinterten Klinker mit ihrem breiten Farbspektrum betonten. Die Verwendung dieser Klinker eröffnete Oelsner die Möglichkeit, sie als Ausdruck der expressionistischen Experimentierfreudigkeit für seine Bauten einzusetzen. Oelsner schuf mit dieser Farbigkeit seiner Fassaden einen Beitrag zum „farbigen Bauen“ in Deutschland, der mit den (Putz-)Bauten von Bruno Taut in Magdeburg und Berlin damals ihren Höhepunkt fand.
Oelsner gliederte seine Fassaden grundsätzlich horizontal mit Fenster- und Brüstungs-bänder. Diese Bänder erhielten unterschiedliche Mauerverbände, das Brüstungsband zwischen Fenstersturz und Sohlbank war aus flach liegenden Steinen vermauert, das darüber liegende Brüstungsband aus stehenden. Um diese Horizontalgliederung zusätzlich zu verstärken, versetzte er die einzelnen Bänder um jeweils ein bis zwei Zentimeter von einander, was ein zusätzliches interessantes Schattenspiel bei Sonnenschein ergab und verwendete verschiedenfarbige Klinker für das jeweilige Brüstungsband. So z. B. bei dem Wohnhaus am Bahrenfelder Steindamm 41-47 mit gelben Klinkern, dagegen bei dem darüber liegenden Fensterband mit roten, was dem Haus im Volksmund den Namen „Schichttorte“ bei diesem fünfgeschossigen Gebäude einbrachte, weil fünf Mal die über-einander liegenden gelben und roten Fassadenbänder mit einander wechselten.
Diese Art der Vermauerung war nur möglich, weil die eigentliche Tragkonstruktion der Fassaden aus tragendem Mauerwerk von 24 bis 36 cm Dicke, getrennt von einer Luftschicht, hinter der Schale des Vormauerwerks lag, das somit phantasievoll, weil technisch nicht tragend, abwechslungsreich mit verschiedenen Steinformaten, gestaltet werden konnte. In den 80er und 90er Jahren setzten notwendige Sanierungsmaßnahmen bei den Wohnhäusern ein, unabhängig davon, ob sie den Krieg unbeschadet oder ausgebrannt überstanden hatten.
Diese Sanierung fand im Zusammenhang mit energetischen und sanitären Ausstattungsverbesserungen in und an den Gebäuden, nur teilweise unter denkmalpflegerischen Gesichtspunkten statt. Das Aufbringen einer Thermohaut auf die Fassaden stellte dabei einen unwiederbringlichen Verlust an der gestalterischen Qualität seiner Bauten dar. Diese wärmedämmenden Maßnahmen sind sinnvollerweise an Fenstern, an Keller- und Dachbodendecken und am Dach selber durchzuführen, durch die Zweischaligkeit des Oelsnerschen Mauerwerks aber nicht notwendigerweise an der Außenfassade aus oben beschriebenen Gründen. Mit den Stadtverordnetenwahlen 1931, in der die NSDAP stärkste Fraktion wurde, verlor der Altonaer Magistrat die Grundlage seiner Reformpolitik und seine Hand-lungsfähigkeit.
Mit der endgültigen Machtergreifung der NSDAP begannen die Gleichschaltung und die „Säuberungen“ der Institutionen und Verwaltungen. Max Brauer floh aus Deutschland. Oelsner wurde 1933 nicht nur aus dem öffentlichen Dienst entlassen, er musste sogar ein strafrechtliches Verfahren wegen angeblichen Miss-brauchs öffentlicher Haushaltsmittel über sich ergehen lassen, glücklicherweise mit einem Freispruch der noch funktionierenden preußischen Gerichtsbarkeit. Durch die Nationalsozialisten wurden mehrere seiner Wohngebäude durch die Aufstockung seiner Flachdächer durch „arische“ Satteldächer verunstaltet und durch den Ausbau der bisherigen Bodengeschosse zu zusätzlichen Wohnungen verändert.
Gustav Oelsner war durch die Durchführung der „Nürnberger Gesetze“ bedroht. Durch Vermittlung Fritz Schumachers, Oberbaudirektor von Hamburg bis 1933 – mit dem ihm im übrigen eine Freundschaft verband – gelang Oelsner 1939 die Ausreise in die Türkei, wo er auf Wunsch der dortigen Regierung, dem Ministerium für öffentliche Arbeiten, eine verantwortungsvolle neue Tätigkeit als Architekt und Stadtplaner, im Sinne eines Beraters der Regierung in städtebaulicher und wohnungstechnischer Hinsicht, fand. Er wurde als Leiter der obersten Genehmigungsbehörde eingesetzt und verschaffte sich durch intensive Reisen und Studien z. B. in durch Erdbeben zerstörten Städten an umfangreiches Wissen an und erntete damit großen Respekt. Außerdem führte Oelsner eine einheitliche Vermessung der Städte und Dörfer ein und damit im Zusammenhang die einheitliche kartographische und farbliche Darstellung der Bestandspläne der Kommunen unter erstmaliger Berücksichtigung der Topographie, der Gewässerläufe, der naturbedingten Besonderheiten, der Fauna und des örtlichen Klimas sowie der Geschichte und der historischen Bauten des jeweiligen Ortes. Ihn interessierte im Besondern auch die traditionelle türkische Bauweise in Konstruktion, Materialität und Gestaltung und er verband diese seine Studien mit seinen mittel-europäischen Erfahrungen, was Wohnhygiene, Infrastruktur und Funktion der Wohngebäude angeht. Dabei achtete er darauf, nicht als Besserwisser aufzutreten, sondern nur durch entsprechende Vorschläge Einfluss auf den Neubau von Wohnungen und deren Siedlungen zu nehmen, wobei er auch das Genossenschafts-wesen für den Wohnungsbau in den Kommunen förderte und die Regierung und die zu beratenden Städte davon zu überzeugen versuchte, eine kommunale Grundstücks-vorratspolitik – wie seiner Zeit erfolgreich in Altona – zu betreiben, um zukünftige Stadtentwicklungen überhaupt und besser steuern zu können.
Durch seine Berufung 1940 an die Technischen Universität Istanbul, ITU genannt, und wenig später auch an die dortige Hochschule für Bildende Künste führte Oelsner das Fach Städtebau erstmalig in der Türkei erfolgreich ein. Dadurch bildete er zum ersten Mal in der Architekturfakultät beider Hochschulen Städteplaner aus, was ihm wiederum große offizielle Anerkennung und Beliebtheit bei seinen Studenten einbrachte. Oelsners Ortskenntnisse und Erfahrungen von städtebaulich Problemen in Städten aus der Provinz (Anatolien) verband er in seiner Lehre als praktische Beispiele des Städtebaus mit der Theorie des Städtebaus, also Praxis und Theorie gleichermaßen als ein gemeinsames Lehrziel. Seine Vorlesungen hielt Oelner weitgehend auf Französisch, die von seinem Assistenten Aru und späteren Nachfolger auf seinem Lehrstuhl auf Türkisch übersetzt wurden.
Ich selber habe Herrn Prof. Aru vor wenigen Jahren als Pensionär ebenso wie einen weiteren ehemaligen Studenten, Herrn Akyol, kennengelernt. Beide schwärmten geradezu über Oelners bescheidene und freundliche, aber auch überzeugende Art. Oelsner schwärmte nach seiner Rückkehr nach Hamburg 1949 ebenso von seiner fast 10-jährigen Tätigkeit als Berater der türkischen Regierung und der Zusammenarbeit mit den Menschen in der Türkei.
Der ehemalige Oberbürgermeister von Altona, Max Brauer, wurde nach seiner Rückkehr aus der Emigration in die USA Erster Bürgermeister Hamburgs, und bat in dieser Funktion seinen ehemalige Stadtbaurat von Altona, Gustav Oelsner, auch zurückzukehren. Oelsner fiel diese Entscheidung nicht leicht. So wurde er 1949 in der Baubehörde Hamburgs „Referent für den Wiederaufbau“. Hier war er wesentlich an der Aufstellung des ersten „Aufbauplanes“ der Stadt beteiligt, er erreichte die Durchsetzung der Binnenalsterverordnung und die endgültige Kommunalisierung des sog. Alster-vorlandes zur Schaffung des Alsterparks im Zusammenhang mit der ersten Bundes-gartenschau 1950.
Gustav Oelsner war inzwischen die Ehrendoktorwürde der ITU verliehen worden und in Hamburg 1950 das erste Mal nach dessen Schaffung durch die Alfred Toepfer Stiftung der „Fritz-Schumacher-Preis F.V.S.“ Er war Mitbegründer der „Freien Akademie der Künste“ Hamburg.
Gustav Oelsner trat 1952 73jährig in den Ruhestand. Er verstarb 1956 in Hamburg und wurde auf dem Ehrenteil des Ohlsdorfer Friedhofs neben Fritz Schumacher beigesetzt.
Prof. Dr. Peter Michelis Vorsitzender der Gustav Oelsner Gesellschaft für Architektur und Städtebau e.V.“
15.Juni .2017 Begrüßungsansprache von Prof. Dr. Peter Michelis im Rahmen der Ausstellungeröffnung in der Galerie Kammer über eine Auswahl von Werken Gustav Oelsners in Altona in Form von Architekturmodellen, Plänen und historischen und aktuellen Fotografien. Diese Ausstellung ist Teil der Veranstaltungsreihe „Tage des Exils“ vom 15.6. bis 21.7.2017 in Hamburg
Literaturnachweis: siehe gesonderte Zuschrift
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Olaf Bartels – Altonaer Architekten, Hamburg 1997
Olaf Bartels – Gustav Oelsner in der Türkischen Emigration, in: Der Architekt Gustav Oelsner – Licht, Luft und Farbe für Altona an der Elbe, Hamburg 2008, Hrsg. Prof. Dr. Peter Michelis
Olaf Bey – Das Neue Bauen in Altona, in: Der Architekt Gustav Oelsner – Licht, Luft und Farbe für Altona an der Elbe, Hamburg 2008, Hrsg. Prof. Dr. Peter Michelis
Matthäus Becker – Monographien deutscher Städte: Altona, Berlin 1928
Leonardo Benevolo – Die sozialen Ursprünge des sozialen Wohnungsbaus, Gütersloh 1971
Wilfried Brenne – Bruno Taut, Meister des farbigen Bauens, Berlin 2005
Ekkehard Buchhofer – Kattowitz – die Metropole des oberschlesischen Industriegebiets, in: Die Erde; Berlin 1973
Agnieszka Gryglewska – Gustav Oelsners Arbeit in Breslau, in: Der Architekt Gustav Oelsner – Licht, Luft und Farbe für Altona an der Elbe, Hamburg 2008, Hrsg. Prof. Dr. Peter Michelis
Gustav Oelsner – Aufgaben der Stadt Altona, in: Hamburg und seine Bauten 1918-29, Hamburg 1929
Gustav Oelsner – Pläne der Stadt Altona, Grünflächenplan, in: Turnen und Sportwoche, Altona, 1925
Gustav Oelsner – Pläne der Stadt Altona; Eingemeindungsfrage, in: Stimmen für ein größeres Altona, 1925
G. Oe. Gesellschaft – Ein architektonischer Stadtrundgang, Hamburg 2006 und 2016
Herrmann Hipp – Die Wohnstadt Hamburg, Hamburg 1982
Paul Th. Hoffmann – Neues Altona 1919-1929, Band 1 und 2, Jena 1929
Erich Lüth – Gustav Oelsner, Portrait eines Baumeisters, Hamburg 1960
Jan Lubitz – Zum baulichen Erbe von Gustav Oelsner, in: Gustav Oelsner – Ein Stadtplaner und Architekt der Moderne, Hamburg 2008
Peter Michelis – Der Architekt Gustav Oelsner – Licht, Luft und Farbe für Altona an der Elbe, Hamburg 2008, Hrsg.
Peter Michelis – Stadt-Visionen-Antworten, Gustav Oelsner Architekt für Altona 1923-1933, Ausstellungskatalog, Hamburg2004
Peter Michelis – Spurensuche in Dresden-Hellerau, in: Die Zukunft der Stadt, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Bonn 1995
W. Müller-Wülckow – Deutsche Baukunst der Gegenwart, Band 1-4, Königstein 1975
Julius Posner – Vorlesungen zur Geschichte der neuen Architektur, Aachen 1979
Fritz Schumacher – Entwicklungsfragen einer Großstadt, München 1923
Fritz Schumacher – Zukunftsfragen an der Unterelbe, Jena 1927
Manfred Sack – 75 Jahre SAGA, Düsseldorf 1997
Joseph Stübben – Der Städtebau. Handbuch für Architektur IV, Stuttgart 1907
Heinrich Tessenow – Wohnhausbau, München 1909
Christoph Timm – Gustav Oelsner und das neue Altona – Kommunale Architektur und Stadtplanung in der Weimarer Republik, Hamburg 1984
Christoph Timm – der preußische Generalsiedlungsplan für Groß-Hamburg von 1923, in: Zeitschrift des Vereins für hamburgische Geschichte, Band 71, Hamburg 1985
Fritz Tutenberg – Die Stadt im Grünen, in: Monographie deutscher Städte Altona, Berlin 1928
Verein Aktives Museum – Haymatloz, Exil in der Türkei 1933-1939, Berlin 2000
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Prof. Dr. Peter Michelis, Hamburg 10th January 2011
THE WORK OF GUSTAV OELSNER
Introduction
Who was Gustav Oelsner? His personal development
Gustav Oelsner, a German with Jewish roots, was born in 1879 in Poznan / Posen, Prussia. He graduated from Berlin Technical University with a degree in architecture in 1904. During this period he became a Protestant, because he wanted to become a functionary(Beamter) in a official position.
Between 1904 and 1911 he worked as an official in the Building Department of the Prussian city of Wroclaw / Breslau and he was responsible for hospital and school expansions. From 1911 until 1923 he became City Architect for Katowice / Kattowitz, leaving it when it became part of the 1. Polish Republic in 1923.
Subsequently he worked in the city of Altona, which was also part of the Bundesland Prussia. Altona in the meantime has become 1938 part and a suburb of Hamburg. However, his work as City Architect of the independent Altona was brought to an abrupt stop by the Nazi government in 1933 when he was expelled out of his duties. Fortunately he could emigrate in 1939 to Turkey with the support of his contemporary colleague, the architect Fritz Schumacher of Hamburg, who had also suffered under the Nazi regime because he too lost his job. Oelsner was appointed as a consultant to the Turkish government advising on housing and planning. In addition he became professor for town planning and architecture at the Technical University and School of Beaux Arts in Istanbul. About 1948 he was asked by the new Mayor of Hamburg, who had just returned from exile in America, to be a lead advisor for the rebuilding and planning of the war – damaged city of Hamburg. He returned 1949, where he took over his new job. Oelsner died in 1956.
Oelsners work in Altona – his conception and philosophy in architecture
As Head of Planning and Building in Altona, Oelsner was able to establish his own work program resulting in some outstanding achievements. Because he freed himself from the urban concepts and architectural standards of the prewar time during the German Empire. His own interpretation of architecture could be called revolutionary, comparable with the work of the “Bauhaus”. His notion of architecture was influenced by the „Moderne”, or the so called „Neue Sachlichkeit” or „Neues Bauen”, and from the Dutch „de Stijl” movement, which represented a clear and functional new expression of architecture. Oelsner himself said of his work: “I am searching with my building design the expression of our time.” And in an other relation, he expressed his philosophy in designing houses „I like the cube and the flat roof”.
Planning aims for Altona
From the outset Oelsner put in place an overall planning strategy for the metropolitan region of Altona, Hamburg, Harburg, and Wandsbek, and it was this that provided a framework for the future planning process. Responsibility for the harbour area was divided into three: Altona, Hamburg and Harburg. Three years later his plan, called the “Generalsiedlungsplan” became the basis for the formation of „Greater Altona”, uniting the industrial town of Altona with 11 villages set in the rural area above the north bank of the river Elbe. This beautiful landscape provided Oelsner with the opportunity to plan and promote three green belts within the boundaries of Greater Altona. They comprised a combination of farm land, wooded areas, and former private parks of rich merchant families who had lost their money in the great economic crisis 1923, and who had sold their parks therefore to the local authority. So many of the former parks extended to the banks of the Elbe, as a result of which, Oelsner could buy them by public money and after that he was able to incorporate a public footpath on the bank of the Elbe which continues to this day to be one of the most attractive walkways in Hamburg opposite the harbour.
For the working class families of the industrial town of Altona the greenbelts offered opportunities for a better climate in the industrial parts of Altona as well as leisure and relaxation areas for the inhabitants. With the improvement of public open space achieved by Oelsner, Altona became one of the greenest towns of Germany.
Max Brauer, the Mayor of Hamburg, proved to be the greatest stimulus for Oelsners work in Altona. They were able to work together with an energy and enthusiasm that embodied both social consciousness and creativity. For eleven years the skills of the Mayor complemented the architectural creativity of Oelsner and would significantly contribute to the architectural composition of the later “Greater Hamburg”, today “Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg”.
Historically Altona had been ruled by the kingdom of Denmark and became part of Prussia in 1866 after the so called “War of the two Duchess”. Altona had developed then as a dense industrial centre, competing with Hamburg, but also suffering many social and urbanistic problems as a result.
Together, Oelsner and Brauer initiated the foundation of one of the first social housing companies in Prussia. The company, SAGA, was to build over 2000 dwellings during the period of economic hardship following the First World War, and particularly following the period of hyper inflation of 1923, see above. As a result of this crisis private capital markets had collapsed and there was effectively no private investment in housing. Only with the introduction by the German government of a special tax on housing and property did the economy begin to recover and it was with the assistance (hypothecation) of such taxation that the costs of the social housing could be covered.
The cooperation between Gustav Oelsner-Altona and Fritz Schumacher-Hamburg
Another important aim of Altona was the cooperation with Hamburg, the “competition city” since centuries. In Fritz Schumacher, the city architect of Hamburg, Oelsner found a perfect partner, with whom he collaborated until 1933 close together.
The base of this political background gave the contract between both cities of 1928, so called “Hamburgisch-Preussischer Landesplanungs- ausschuss”, which meant a better coordination between the cities dealing with the harbour in the river Elbe, the project of a common urbanistic planning and the organization of the public transport for instance. Both personalities had published already their studies about proposals for a common future planning in and round Hamburg and Altona as part of a greater region on both sides of the “lower Elbe” near the North Sea. So Schumacher had already written a paper called “Zukunftsfragen an der Unterelbe/ Future Question round lower Elbe” and Oelsner was working in commission of Prussia 1924 on the “Generalsiedlungsplan” /Masterplan for the region around Altona and Hamburg. These plans didn`t come to any realization, but the union of both cities in 1938 through a decree by Hitler based on both plans, mainly that of Oelsner.
The idea of the common economical cooperation was a political demand from the central government in Berlin, because up to today the different Länder in Germany are more or less independent in their planning aims and often don`t respect the planning aims of their neighbours. But for the common using of the Elbe through the ship trade and traffic it was obvious to have the same using and responsibility of the river. Hamburg`s harbour was the most important harbour for international trade and passengers and Altona for the fishing industry in Germany.
Oelsner and Schumacher both were workoholics. Schumacher in contrary to Oelsner wrote about 40 books about planning, architecture and arts, instead Oelsner not even one. His ideas and visions were published only in periodicals or official gazettes. (This fact made the research about Gustav Oelsner very difficult.) Both men were working close together in terms of a better cooperation between both cities and their collaboration became more and more a respectful regard between each other, which columinated in a deep friendship within and after the war, documen- tated in their remained correspondence. Schumacher died 1947 while Oelsner was still working in Turkey.
A merchant of Hamburg sponsored 1950 an architectural prize, called “Fritz-Schumacher-Preis”, Oelsner was the first one who got it.
The social housing program
The planning and building of the social housing was to be Oelsner`s outstanding work. Designed mainly with 2 dwellings on each side of the staircase, and either 3 or 4 stories high, each family flat comprised 50 up to 70sqm and included 2 or 3 bedrooms, and a living room which incorporated a traditional German kitchen known as a ‘Wohnküche’. Only occasionally would his projects include a so called ‘Frankfurter Küche’ designed by Schütte-Lohotzky in Frankfurt. This type of a kitchen reduced the kitchen to a functional area for cooking and cleaning only. Besides the rooms Oelsner designed for each flat a corridor with built in cupboards – unknown in Germany at the time – a bath, a pantry, and a loggia in front of the kitchen. The design also included transverse ventilation through the flat and windows to the east and west or south and north in order to get as much light, air and sunshine as possible into the flat.
As architect for the housing Oelsner was able to carefully manage the SAGA building program so that the living conditions satisfactorily met the needs of the lower income families. The monthly rent took a quarter of the monthly income of a family. Even so with the monthly rent for each flat climbing more and more middle class income families moved into the flats. Having studied the writings of the norwegian playwrighter Hendrik Ipsen whilst a student in Berlin, Oelsner had wanted to “Create homes for mankind”. This aim he has reached successfully. Even today Oelsner`s flats are considered comfortable and practical due to their good functional design.
Character of housing
Most of his housing constructions made use of gaps within existing mixed use high density estates built before the war. Oelsner opened up these blocks like lines and let air, light and sun into the yards and flats. Every courtyard got his playground for the children, also new at that time. Coloured facades figured large. This was introduced through the use of coloured brick walls: I will tell more of these coloured bricks later.
One of Oelsner`s first jobs when he started work in Altona was to expend a garden-city called „Steenkamp”, which was already built befor the war but not jet finished. Oelsner had made good experiences in garden-cities already in Kattowitz for miners housing. However, his ideas for developing garden-cities was brought to a halt by the lack of public money, and after 1927, when the majority left wing municipal council of Altona decided that flats rather than terraced houses in garden-cities should be built. This however would not be to Oelsner`s harm, because his multistorey flats became very popular with its expressive coloured brick facades.
Public Buildings
The most famous public buildings erected by Oelsner were his schools, not only from an architectural point of view but also because the functional design supported the philosophy of the great Swiss educationalist J. Heinrich Pestalozzi, in enabling pupils to develop self-confidence and independence during their stay in a school; the highest level of a school education. One of these schools was called „Pestalozzi-Schule”, an elementary school in the poorest part of the historical town centre of Altona (which is no longer in use of a school because of the lack of children in that quarter, but converted into apartments.) Another outstanding school was the vocational school called „House of Youth”, one of the first schools in Germany built in a concrete-construction, looking like a factory, but excellent in its pedagogic functions. Also well known is the “Job Centre”, another municipal building and one of the first of its kind to be built in Germany, see above.
Other public buildings, that had survived the 2nd World War, were however subsequently demolished in the 70`s and 80`s because they had fallen into disuse, or were in the way of other schemes. Examples include the hall on the site of the cattle market, demolished in order to enable a brewery to be extended; an exhibition hall was demolished for a new fair centre competed with that in Hamburg; the football and swimming stadium in the famous public park in Altona, demolished to make way for a modern football stadium for HSV; and last but not least many examples of smaller public utility buildings such as bus stations, newspaper kiosks and public conveniences.
The brick facades
Of particular note in Oelsner`s architecture is his use of brick. As a building material brick has a long and illustrious tradition in north Germany due to the absence of other suitable materials, especially natural stone. Brick therefore became the typical expression of the Hanseatic period in the Middle Ages of puplic buildings. Private houses were built in timber. It is seen at its best in the brick built churches and municipal buildings along the coasts of the Baltic Sea of the hanseatic time. In Hamburg, parallel with Gustav Oelsner, Fritz Schumacher used brick in his public buildings to emphasize the revival of this Hanseatic tradition during his working period; a theme taken further in the architecture of Fritz Höger with Brick- Expressionism; the “Chilehaus” being one of his best examples, unique to Germany.
For Oelsner brick was also seen as typical for north Germany, but his influences came less from the Hanseatic tradition, than contemporary from the modern architecture and the famous housing estates of Amsterdam and Rotterdam in Holland which had been designed to accord with the principles of the „de Stijl” movement already mentioned.
As has already been mentioned, a feature of Oelsner’s buildings which is particularly outstanding is his use of brick – which gives many of his buildings, especially the residential schemes, an incomparable and unique appearance as a result of the tonal colouration he was able to achieve through the use of different bricks. The coloured facades of his buildings give the impression of living colour rather than the dead flat appearance brickwork is often described as having. The colouration achieved contains tones of red, yellow, blue over blue – violet, redbrown, grey, grey – green, and yellow, ochre through to brown.
Complementing his coloured brickwork he also used coloured mortars including yellow, ochre and red. The appearance of the facades is also enhanced by his choice of bricks; rather than use a uniform industrial mass – produced brick with smooth face and accurate arris, he would choose bricks with a much greater variety of texture; bricks which had an uneven surface and which would weather differently due to their firing, and which as a result also had a wide spectrum of integral colour. The use of brick in this manner opened up the possibility for Oelsner to use his design as a manifestation of Expressionism of his time and his delight in experiment. With his use of colour in brick and the creation of coloured buildings – “farbiges Bauen”, Oelsner made a significant contribution to German architectural style at this time, on a par with the work of Bruno Taut.
In terms of structure, and the design of windows and cill – bands, Oelsners facades were horizontal in appearance, the horizontal banding being further accented by the use of different coloured brick. By using different colours – in the brick courses between the windows, and for the cills, where he would introduce soldier courses of bricks, and by subtly varying the position of the bands to each other, – he was able to achieve a fascinating play of light and shade with the sun. Probably the best example of his technique can be seen on a residential scheme he designed in Altona, nicknamed the ‚layer-cake‘ or „Schichttorte“, because of its different coloured layers one upon the other.
To achieve his design he also embraced ideas which were not universal at that time. By the use of cavity – wall construction he was therefore able to utilise the outer skin of brickwork to express the colour and vibrancy of his design, whilst allowing the inner wall to carry the building itself, which even by today’s standards are thereby able to incorporate overall energy – savings.
The colourful bricks used by Oelsner also recall the coloured painted plastered walls of the works of the progressive architect, Bruno Taut, one of the best known architects and protagonist of this short period of Expressionism, made in brick with his housing estates in Berlin and Magdeburg. Whether we can compare Oelsner`s coloured bricks with the painted facades of Taut, if Oelsner`s architecture also belongs to this period of Expressionism is a question, which I do affirm. Oelsner`s brick facades are however outstanding, they have the appearance of Coloured autumn leaves and the protection of these masterpieces should be an Obvious responsibility for the SAGA housing company today, that continues to operate. SAGA, however, recently demolished parts of these brick facades by applying thermo-plaster to them in order to save energy and obtain subsidies from public funds. Today not one of Oelsner`s houses has been listed as part of the national heritage and there is no control to prevent SAGA undertaking further work that would detract from the architectural appearance of the facades. Just as some of his very early work was disfigured under the Nazi regime in the 1930`s by the conversion of his flat roofs to a traditional “Aryan Germanic” roof, Oelsner`s architecture now faces a new crisis brought about by the indiscriminate application of green energy saving measures. In both instances misplaced popularism has been allowed to destroy architecture that should be conserved.
Tomorrow, Prof. Walter, chief architect from Hamburg will speak about how Hamburg is planning to save the outstanding brick facades in order that future generations will be able to enjoy their surroundings through the conservation of the best examples of his architecture.
Gustav Oelsner in Turkey
Gustav Oelsner threatened 1934 by a law against the Jewish people and jewish culture, called “Nürnberger Gesetze”. Although he was converted into Protestantism he was in danger. By assistance of his colleague Fritz Schumacher, former chief architect of Hamburg, he got the chance to be invited by the Turkish government, Ministry of Public Works. In September 1939 he emi- grated in the Republic of Turkey, where he had become a responsible and respectable personality.
He was asked to be a consulter for the government in questions of urbanism and housing. Oelsner became chief of the upper permission board for these subjects. He provided a comprehensive knowledge even about the far east towns in Anatolia, and especially those, which had suffered by diseases and destroyed by earthquakes. Oelsner had studied these problems and had proposed consequences for better hygienic standards and house constructions to the govern- ment.
Otherwise Oelsner founded a standardized measurement in the country and its cities with the same dimension and technical symbolic. He succeeded in consi- duration of the local topographical situation, the rivers and brooks, flora and fauna, characteristics of the nature and the climate and very important for him, the consideration of the history of a village or town and its traditional buildings.
Oelsner was especially interested in the traditional construction and material in Turkish houses and their creation. He combined these studies with his know- ledge of the construction of houses in Middle Europe, which means a more secure construction against earthquakes and means of a better hygienic and living standard. In this way he proposed for good dwellings and settlements a high standard of infrastructure and functions. For better and efficient housing he emphasized the necessity of non profit making firms to cover the huge demand for housing by the majority of the population. In this connection he tried to convince the communal authorities to organize a communal plot policy for a successful further development of their towns, as he did in Altona successfully years ago. But Oelsner never has been a know-all, he was very aware of such an attitude, what was very much estimated by the Turkish colleagues.
1940 Oelsner has got a call to the Technical University of Istanbul and later to the School of Fine Arts. He introduces townplanning and urbanism within the faculty of architecture for the first time in Turkey actually. As a professor this work he became again in teaching and research studies. He earned much acknowledgement and popularity in this way, he taught about actual urbanistic problems in Turkish towns in connection with the theory of townplanning, will say the combination between practice ant theory as a common and integrative aim of studying urbanism.
I met one of his former students, who became follower of Oelsner, Prof. Aru recently in Hamburg and he told me, that he was the translater of Oelsner`s lessons, who taught in French, which Aru translated into Turkish. Another pupil of Oelsner, the 90 years old architect Akkyol, whom I met in Hamburg too, emphasized his impression about Oelsner as very polite and modest man, but convincing in his argumentation, very popular by his students.
Oelsner himself estimated the Turkish people he knew and worked with very much, in the university, in his Ministry and in the towns. He even wanted to be buried in a Turkish town, called Borsa.
Gustav Oelsner in Hamburg
But his destiny was different. Because of the demand of his former Mayor of Altona, Max Brauer, who had become Mayor of Hamburg after returned from his America exile, Oelsner returned too to Hamburg in the year of 1949. This decision was quite difficult for Oelsner, to give up all his duties in Turkey. Here he was offered to run the Ministry of Building, but he denied and asked for a non political responsibility as a consultant for the reconstruction of the destroyed city. In this case he worked on the first “Redevelopment Plan” (1. Aufbauplan) for Hamburg and especially for the creation of the inner city around the two lakes and in the organization of the first gardening exhibition in Western Germany after the war.
In the year 1954 he got the doctor degree from the Technical University of Istanbul. Retired since the same year he died 1956 in Hamburg and was buried besides his colleague Fritz Schumacher as an honorable person of Hamburg.
Conclusion
Oelsner died in 1956. Overshadowed by the better known work of the architect Fritz Schumacher of Hamburg during the hectic period of post-war reconstruction, Oelsners career and work in Altona has largely been forgotten since the last 40 years because of the reconstruction of the destroyed city. In 2002, in the faculty of architecture I began researching Oelsner`s work. My students worked enthusias- tically on this project and research, which culminated in two Diplomas, and two publications about Oelsner`s architectural life`s work. As a result several exhibitions have been held – including this wonderful exhibition in the city museum of Gdynia -displaying 28 models of Oelsner`s different buildings for which he was Responsible as an architect. These models are important not only to study them but also in the point of view, that the habtical working a model is disappearing more and more in the time of digitalisasion of architecture and sculptures during the education of e students of architecture unfortunately.
15 of these models, showing housing estates and schools together with historical architectural and actual fotos as well as the layouts and plans of each project are on show today in this museum to celebrate the remembrance of Gustav Oelsner, the outstanding architect of the 20th and the early 30th of Altona, one of the protagonists of “Die Moderne” in Germany.
Thank you for listening.
Prof. Dr. Peter Michelis
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Gustav Oelsners Brickwork – a masterpeace of architecture ‘Homes for Mankind – Domy dla Ludzi – Heimstätten für Menschen”, and ‘for all people who I love and to whom I want to bring pleasure in their urban streets’, is a statement that best describes Oelsner`s approach to his work as an architect. Brick was his favoured material for buildings. We do rember: Brick is the oldest prefabricated material in our building culture, seen by the ruins of the Zikkurat in Ur in Mesopotania. It has become an important contribution in our European architectural tradition since the Roman times. When Oelsner arrived in Altona in 1923 having been forced to leave Kattowitz/ Katovice, because it became part of the 1. Polish Republic, he saw in Altona a town which was close to Hamburg, but which had an even shorter tradition of its urban development and the use of brick in its architecture because of its outstanding classicist architecture with predominant plastered facades, although the brick tradition was typical for north Germany, the region without natural stone to use as a building material. The brick had become the material for constructions and buildings, especially known in the brick-built cathedrals of the hanseatic times during the Middleages in the habour cities of the Baltic Sea. For Altona, however, the brick had a young tradition which had become important since its incorporation into Prussia in 1866. Since the time of the famous Prussian architect Friedrich Schinkel the design of public buildings, including churches, schools and universities, railway stations, hospitals and barracks had come to be expressed in brickwork to such a degree that it formed the ‘official’ architecture for Prussia. This tradition originated from the Technische Hochschule of Hannover (Technical College) too and resulted in a particular method of brick – architecture, that became known as the ‘Hannoverian School/Hannoversche Schule’. One of the best examples of the ‘Hannoverian School’ shows the historical hospital in Altona and surprisingly the Speicherstadt in Hamburg too, which was designed by an Engineer, J.A. Meyer, from the Technische Hochschule of Hannover, in a newgothic style about 1888. Architects in Hamburg in the 20th of the last century estimated the brick in the Hanseatic tradition again like Fritz Höger with his Chile-House e.g. and the city architect of Hamburg, Fritz Schumacher, with the Finance Department building, e. g. In order for us to appreciate Oelsners outstanding use of coloured bricks we first need to have a short understanding of how bricks are made. The production of bricks, made of clay, differs between that for normal bricks which are fired at 800 degrees, and bricks which are fired at a much higher temperature (1300 degrees) producing clinker bricks in which the process of vitrification (sinter) gives a special surface texture and colour. The colour of the brick itself can be affected by many factors including the compound of the clay and presence of organic impurities, different mineral content, the type of kiln, whether coal or wood is used in the firing process, and the amount of oxygen in the air that is admitted during the process. Iron Oxide is the most influential factor in the colouring of bricks too, but also the firing temperature and humidity will affect colour and enable the original colour of the clay to be changed into different patterns and tones. Other means of influencing or changing to a certain colour is to add oil, tar, or even twigs of Alder during the firing process. The industrialisation of brick production in the mid – 19th century, made possible with improved kiln design, allowed the manufacture of cheaper and more colourful bricks. Altona possessed its own brickyard which gave Oelsner the chance to produce bricks in such a creative and colourful manner as we find today in his buildings. I realise that in making these brief comments I have neglected to make reference to whether bricks were handmade or by mechanised clay extraction, and the reason for that is that I have wanted to emphasise Oelsner`s use and expression of brick through different patterns and colours; and the way different bonds combined with different forms and colours of joints, to give Oelsner`s brick designs the appearance of what I would describe as a sort of colourful firework display, or having the appearance of colourful Autumn leaves. This polychrome brickwork was not only Oelsner`s idea. It had become popular at the beginning of the 20th century in Central Europe, but was not as expressive as Oelsner`s brickwork, who through his contact with Oud and de Klerk and the “de Stijl” movement in Holland, for example, was impressed by the marvellous brickwork buildings in Amsterdam. Unlike Friedrich Schinkel, who preferred the use of accurate equally pressed and fired bricks to produce a uniform and monochrome colour – like younger architects did in the tradition of Schinkel, e.g. this one of Glivice/Gleiwitz with the expressionistic brick facade of a school, built by … and e. g Ostermeier with this housing estate in Altona, Oelsner’s brick facades have a much more textured surface as a result of him intentionally neglecting uniformity in the bricks he used. The appearance is dependent upon each brick with its different texture and different absorption of daylight which affects its lustrous surface, and which with the use of black fired vitreous brick gives a surprise shadow effect. This use of so – called ‘commons’, rather than the more highly regarded ‘facing’ bricks, for use on facades, with ‘shiners’ and ‘sailors’ as Francis Ching has described them in his Visual Dictionary of Architecture, is a very recognisable trait of Oelsners work, and one which marked a break with north German brick tradition. Conclusion Gustav Oelsner rejected totally the traditional and formal use of brick and bonds. His brick facades were his own independent expression, made possible through the development of construction technology and cavity wall construction which comprised a separate facade and supporting course. Fortunately the bricklayers followed Oelsner’s ideas and vision without compromise and did so creatively so that today we can count Oelsner`s facades as outstanding examples of Expressionism that was such a powerful architectural style in mid – 20th century in Germany. His work and artefacts need to be preserved and protected for the future; something which unfortunately is still very difficult, particularly in Hamburg.
Hamburg, 30th March, 2011