A court approves the demolition of an extraordinary building in Frankfurt Dornbusch – the neighbors want to file a complaint.
Frankfurt – The street on the corner of Spenerstrasse and Mechtildstrasse is blocked off, and the duplex house’s power and water supplies are cut off. Now only the construction vehicles are missing, which will start the demolition of the building with its rare hipped roof, which was built in the late 1920s. Because they should actually move now.
To the horror of the neighbors, who have been trying to prevent this for months and have therefore lodged an objection to the demolition permit issued by the city. With the aim of having not only the building, but the entire ensemble east of Eschersheimer Landstraße, which was built according to the plans of the architect Christoph Bernoully, listed as a monument or at least to get the city of Frankfurt to issue a preservation statute. Neither of which has happened so far.
Demolition in Frankfurt: get the right in the urgent procedure
The neighbors’ objection had the desired suspensive effect, since the property owner is not allowed to start demolition until the court has finally decided on it. A process that can take a long time. Probably too long for the owner, who therefore filed an urgent procedure with the Frankfurt Administrative Court and was right. On February 16, a decision was made there that the demolition can take place immediately and that there is no need to wait for the decision on the objection from the neighbors, the administrative court recently announced in a lengthy press release.
So, theoretically, demolition could begin next week? No, that’s not what it means. Because the neighbors now have the opportunity to lodge a complaint with the Hessian Administrative Court in Kassel within the next two weeks. Which they will probably do, as Rainer Krug, direct neighbor of the affected corner house, says. Knowing full well that this is the last possibility to prevent the demolition.
Because such an urgent procedure does not go as far as the Federal Administrative Court. Of course, Krug did not want to make any predictions about the chances of success of such a complaint. “But it is not uncommon for the administrative court to decide differently on monument issues than the administrative court,” he says simply.
House with seven apartments planned in Frankfurt-Dornbusch
Friedrich Hesse (CDU), head of the local advisory board 9 (Dornbusch, Eschersheim, Ginnheim), who had also advocated placing the ensemble under monument protection or at least issuing a preservation statute, sounds less optimistic. “Unfortunately, our hands as a local council are tied. I think that was it,” he says. Knowing full well that even a preservation statute could not prevent the demolition. Rather, it is an instrument to preserve the townscape and the urban structure. In other words: a new building must fit into the existing ensemble.
But that is exactly what the plans for the new building on the corner property do not do, criticize the neighbors and the local advisory board for three years now, after a possible demolition became known for the first time. An apartment building with seven residential units including an underground car park is planned.
When will the demolition begin in Frankfurt-Dornbusch?
The State Monuments Office in Wiesbaden had already announced in the summer of 2019 that the prerequisites for assessing the buildings as cultural monuments were not met. Subsequent intensive tests did not come to any other conclusion either, it was said at the end of 2021. This was justified by major structural changes to buildings. It was carelessly worked, meanwhile criticizes Rainer Krug. Which is why the neighbors had also commissioned a corresponding report from an expert. But without success. “The private expert opinions submitted by the neighbors did not convince the court,” it says.
And: A corresponding concept would exist for the increased noise and dust pollution associated with the demolition work. If this is not adhered to, the neighbors could seek help from the authorities. If at some point it really starts with the demolition.
The demolition of the bread factory in Frankfurt should be prevented at all costs. The city has signaled its support. (Judith Dietermann)
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