An innovative idea from the authorities of the depopulating Eisenhüttenstadt has turned out to be a foreign sensation. The town, located near the Polish border, has offered free accommodation to two random people, who will spend two weeks getting to know the 1950s East German town. Since 1990, Eisenhüttenstadt has lost more than half of its inhabitants, and the ‘Eastern’ tower blocks and limping industry have effectively scared off new tenants. An innovative idea aims to change this, and more than 1,700 people have signed up for the test programme.
Not so new
It might seem that Eisenhüttenstadt is just another squalid former East German town that only came into being after the war. In fact, it was the communist planners who drew up the new town centred around the ironworks in the 1950s. But before the Soviet settlement, the town of Fürstenberg (Polish: Przybrzeg) was located in the area.
Founded in the 13th century, the town was originally located in the divided Polish district, but changed hands in the following centuries to the Czechs and various German states. Its proximity to Frankfurt (Oder ) and Berlin fostered its development especially in the late 19th century. Interestingly, Przybrzeg’s historic buildings survived the war, and the most striking trace of German military activity is the blown-up bridge over the Oder, a fragment of which hangs on the Polish side.
By party order
Five years after the war, a new industrial conglomerate began to be built to the west of the medieval town. The socialist city to surround the steelworks was realised according to the precepts of party urban design. The city had to be efficient, modern and striking to the inhabitants with its political message. Wide avenues, Stalinist apartment blocks, parks and numerous socialist realist mosaics were created.
The author of this city concept was Kurt W. Leucht – a former member of the NSDAP. The architect’s problematic past did not bother the GDR authorities, and Leucht quickly became a key figure in the country’s post-war reconstruction. Interestingly, plans had previously been submitted by a representative of the Bauhaus school, but his idea was rejected.
The great industry attracted tens of thousands of people who, in a few years, populated the workers’ settlements. After Stalin’s death, the city was renamed Stalinstadt, but by 1961 the name Eisenhüttenstadt had become the correct one. The town continued to grow until the 1990s, when German reunification took place. The new system brought many challenges to eastern Germany, and the area is still much poorer today than the former West Germany. In 1990, the population of Eisenhüttenstadt was around 50,000 people. By 2020, this figure had decreased to just 23,000.
Flat on trial
It was not until the recent ‘Probewohnen’ programme that the city became internationally famous. Out of 1,700 people willing to live in a renovated block of flats, a lucky two were selected. Melanie Henniger, who lives in Bremen, is an IT specialist, and Berliner Jonas Brander is a film director. For a fortnight, the random twosome will be shown around the renovated streets of Eisenhüttenstadt. The city wants to bring in more specialised workers and the programme, made famous by the media, is good publicity.
Interestingly, the first effects can already be seen. Many of those who did not catch the ‘Probewohnen’ have declared their intention to move to Eisenhüttenstadt. There is no shortage of work in the town, and the renovations that have been made are creating a unique open-air museum of a bygone era. The question remains: could similar solutions be tried in Poland’s depopulating cities?
Source: MAZ
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