Description
The former cloth factory with its functional, modernistic design language is one of only a few buildings from this architectural genre that have remained in Eurocity Guben-Gubin until now.
The property is a four-storey, long clinker building alongside the street with a flat roof and large industrial windows, which adjoins the residential building at Bahnhof Str. 1. The building has a slightly protruding, sloping corner where the clinker-framed stepped main entrance protected by a flat roof is located (cross-section Bahnhof Str. - Alte Post Str.). Above it a vertical row of windows to illuminate the stairwell, which is accentuated by dividing horizontal rows of bricks and interlocking brickwork at the corners can be seen. An another, smaller entrance can be approached from the Bahnhof Str. The industrial windows on the upper floors are held together by roller layers above the lintels and under the sills; they were planned on totally 6 axes. The element enclosing the narrow front garden has lost its brick pillars and wooden fence panels. The interior of the building was modified accordingly for school and training purposes.
Historical background
Gustav Steinke founded the hat factory in 1884 in rented workshop in the “altes Langer´schen”. Due to rapidly growing demand of cloth goods, a need for a much bigger, modern factory emerged. Therefore, a new building complex was built in 1890 at Alte Post Str. 31. Steinke’s factory plant specialized in the production of stiff woolen hats called “Melon”. In 1911 the company was first converted into a GmbH and in 1922 into the "Vereinigte Hutwerke AG Werk Guben I".
In 1927-1928, the factory complex was a significantly expanded along Bahnhof Str. under the direction of the Jewish entrepreneur Martin Rosenthal. One of the corner extensions connected the buildings at Bahnhof Str. and Alte Post Str. was destroyed by a major fire on 06-07.06.1938. After the end of the World War II the production was shut down. Since the local industry was able to offer only a very limited number of jobs after the end of the war, the empty corner building was used for young, occupation-seeking trainees. The same applies to the former factory building at Bahnhof Str. 2: on 01.09.1950, the use of the property as a vocational school with a dormitory for apprentices was resumed. From March 1954, it also housed a folk music school.
Today the property is used as a vocational school by the non-profit vocational training association Gemeinnütziger Berufsbildungsverein Guben.
Bahnhof Str. 2, 03172 Guben, Germany
Former expansion of the cloth factory (today Gemeinnütziger Berufsbildungsverein Guben)
Construction: 1890
Extension: 1927-1928
Technology: solid, clinker construction
The former factory is situated about an 8-minute walk from the Guben train station and 5 minutes from the Plastinarium. As it is a private property, it can only be visited from the outside.
