New life for old houses
Invitation to the inspection on 1 November, 3 pm, Zietenstraße 42
On Tuesday, 1 November at 3 pm, interested parties can find out more about the plans for the building at Zietenstraße 42. On the occasion of International Cities Day, there will be an opportunity to talk to the owners as well as representatives of the city planning office and the city's "Agentur Stadt-Wohnen Chemnitz" project. The planning for the complete modernisation of the building has been completed and the renovation work will begin in the foreseeable future.
The listed corner building at Albertipark on Chemnitz's Sonnenberg has a number of special architectural features and a particularly ornate façade. Zietenstraße 42 is located on the "Chemnitz creative axis", which was included in the nationwide funding programme "Sustainable inner cities and centres". One of the aims of this programme is to counteract vacant shop units with individual concepts. The building was sold to the two owners in a forced sale in November 2017.
The history of the building
The building at Zietenstraße 42 was constructed in 1909. The developer and owner was Moritz Hermann Petersohn, who was very active in Chemnitz and built a number of houses. In 1911, he sold the building to Emil and Helene Kluge. It remained in the possession of various heirs of the couple until 1972.
From the beginning, there were two shop units in the building. From 1911, the ground floor housed a "sales outlet of the Allgemeine Konsumverein für Chemnitz und Umgegend e.G.m.b.H", which was one of the oldest consumer associations in Germany and aimed to supply consumers with inexpensive quality goods. After the association was liquidated in 1935, Gertrud Richter took over the shop and sold groceries there. A confectionery and chocolate shop moved into the other shop, which remained there until 1931 with changing owners. After that, the sweet shop became a hairdressing salon. There was a hairdresser in the building until the 1990s.
During the Second World War, Zietenstraße 42 was spared direct bomb hits, but suffered damage from shrapnel and air pressure waves.
On 1 December 1947, the Konsumgenossenschaft opened a grocery shop on the ground floor. Five people were employed there.
In the mid-1980s, planning began for the so-called complex refurbishment, which was carried out on many buildings in Karl-Marx-Stadt. The shop units were renovated and modernised. The Tuttaß hairdressing salon found its place next to the Konsum. After 1990, "ALEKS" moved into the ground floor area, a shop that offered Eastern European specialities and was based there until 2012.