Bernhard panzer a good half-century ago, herzogenaurach’s local politicians and citizens were occupied with a major project that is still the subject of discussion today: the construction of a new town hall. Back in the 1960s, the new building was erected on a completely new site. Today it is again a new building, but at the same place.
The then new building has now been demolished, and the construction site will continue for many months until the new building is ready for occupation. In the next few weeks, the building work will begin. There will still be many discussions and debates. Some problems will still have to be mastered, but other worries may not come true. It will be a lively time until the new town hall is finally built. And then, just like back then, they will probably be satisfied with what they had planned: to create a building for the future.
It was 57 years ago, an evening at the end of april. At that time, the city council unanimously approved plans for the construction of a new city hall. The amtsblatt reported in detail about the meeting and a previous meeting with the government and the preservation of historical monuments. A "very already elaborated model was submitted at that time. One of four submitted planentwurfen found at that time the agreement of the responsible places.
Ornamental words
The chosen location was described in the report with decorative words in interlaced sentences: "if one enters the castle courtyard, there will be a three-story building opposite where the old prison still stands today, and to the left of it, in the north-south direction, a larger building with four stories and an east-west exposure will be constructed." This was the description of an object, the construction of which was a considerable task at the time.
As it is today, with the upcoming new building at the same place, again. Only now the object description is presented in a simpler way. And further it says in the official gazette of the 3. May 1963: "a small building on the north side will also house the town hall. A part of the schlob wall is broken off and the wall is kept lower."
According to the report, the new building created sufficient administrative space and made it possible to concentrate all of the town hall’s offices here. This view is also the basis for the approach of a good half century later.
The current new building should also be sufficient to accommodate the administration. For this purpose the building was planned more roughly than it was before. And the castle is still available for use. Critics now claim that there will not be enough space, and that two locations may be needed for the city hall departments.
In 1963, the official gazette also reported that the basement could house the heating system, the archives and subordinate rooms. Access was also a topic: "through a small gate in the northern slob wall, one can also enter the administration building from the plant. The garages for the state police will no longer be located in the previously planned place, but in the south wing in the so-called horse stable."
Then as now, the mayors were enthusiastic about the plans. Then, as now, they belonged to the SPD. Hans maier described the project as a plan for the future. This would also take into account the coarser public traffic.
In response to a question from city councillor georg simon as to whether the entire city hall should be moved, the mayor at the time said that it would make more sense to bring all the city’s offices together in a central location. Interesting also the statement about the old town hall: it should be used for public purposes again.
Other speakers at the meeting were karl prokop and albert spieb. The latter described the planned new building as a structure that would be adapted to the old castle and yet would be purpose-built. Finally, mayor hans maier explained at that time that the administrative building should be constructed in one go. It will have an enclosed space of 6760 cubic meters and cost around 850,000 DM. City chamberlain fritz maier said at the time that 750,000 marks had already been made available in the budget.
At that time as well as today such a project was and is absolutely financeable. The only difference is that the current rough project will not cost 850,000 DM, but about 28 million. Euro mind you.