The huge tarpaulin in front of the former brewhouse and former machine building of the old brewery could well have come from the legendary packaging artist Christo. The eye-catcher on Röntgenstrasse diagonally opposite the entrance to the clinic, however, has a technical function: behind the protection there is a scaffolding, on which workers blast and repair the repeatedly painted facade masonry. Because where wort for barley juice was once brewed and steam and cold were generated, apartments, especially for students, are to be built.
“The post-war provisional arrangements are over! Now all damage is properly repaired – with the monument protection in the boat, of course, ”is how builder Jürgen Herrmann outlines the concept of the major construction site between Röntgenstrasse and Käfertalerstrasse. In 1920 his grandfather, the tobacco manufacturer Wilhelm Niderehe, bought the Badische Brewery for the production of cigars and cigarettes, which had been closed three years earlier due to a lack of raw materials and was therefore empty. Little by little other companies moved in – for example Rheinische Maschinenfabrik Gerberich, Auto-Ernst and Waldherr-Apparatebau. The industrial complex, which was built around 1883 with yellow and red clinker and sandstone masonry and striking facades, lost much of its charisma as a functional, but nevertheless artistically designed ensemble, when bombs fell on it in 1943: emergency roofs and makeshift repairs were to become unsightly permanent makeshifts.
On top of that, the future of the buildings, which had been used by different tenants such as Carpet Frick, Jehovah’s Witnesses, a physiotherapy school and a judo club over the decades, was uncertain.
Demolition averted
In the mid-1980s, there was even a threat of an excavator, because a development plan approved by the local council called for demolition in favor of a lane widening as for outsourced hospital facilities. But then the realization matured what kind of an industrial gem that would shape the city should be flattened.
In the new millennium, the renovated malt house building got a radiant face with 200 new metal lattice windows and exposed brick and sandstones in their original state. In 2005, companies such as BB-Promotion moved into the listed building, and the Mannheim Medical Faculty established a lecture hall. Part two of the major project is now running. This time again, the owner Herrmann is working with the architect Andreas Schmucker und Partner.
40 (student) apartments should be ready by the end of the year – from single apartments to shared apartments for several people. The full gutting of the former brewhouse and machine building is in full swing. Herrmann mentions the following steps: sandblasting the repeatedly painted facades, repairing the masonry, installing new stairwells and windows. Roof insulation and interior work with thermal insulation are to follow. When determining the restoration work on roofs, dormers and facades, according to Herrmann, the protection of historic monuments played a “significant” role. “
Ensemble look like 130 years ago
He describes the new old exterior view as follows: Basket and arched windows with the cornices, friezes and wall panels (called pilasters in technical terms) create an ensemble look “almost like when it was built 130 years ago – only the corner turrets that were once decorative will be missing.
The corner house is to have a pointed roof on the bay window as an eye-catcher. The former director’s villa, according to the owner Herrmann, marked the beginning of the straight section of Käfertaler Strasse from Mannheim to the east even before 1900. And when will the overall project be completed? The client, who wants to turn the Alte Brauerei into a “piece of identity” for the city, is hoping “by mid-2022”.
© Mannheimer Morgen, Wednesday, January 27th, 2021
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