Open Monument Day 2012: Wood as a natural material takes centre stage

Programme on the Open Monument Day on 9 September 2012 in Chemnitz:

Type timber houses from the 1920s in the Borna district
In the 1920s, the serial production of prefabricated timber houses became fashionable. Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau was involved in this type of production alongside furniture manufacturing, but soon had to cede market leadership to the rapidly expanding Christoph & Unmack AG in Niesky. The Lusatian company also pushed into the North American market. In Chemnitz, we can find individual examples of this era and construction method in Hilbersdorf, on Morgenleite and on Burgstädter Straße in the Borna-Heinersdorf district.
The three wooden houses in Borna were built as prefabricated houses on behalf of the company C. G. Haubold AG around 1927-28 and rented out to employees of the company. The former semi-detached house at Burgstädter Straße 7/7a and the detached house no. 9 are prefabricated houses of the "Plattenhaus" type built by Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau. The residential building no. 9a was built by the company Christoph & Unmack AG using the block construction method. After a long period of vacancy, the houses now have new owners and have been or are currently being renovated.
Guided tour at 11 a.m. by Cathrin Fuchs, Department of Monument Protection in the Building Licensing Office of the City of Chemnitz.

Villa Lieberknecht, Zschopauer Straße 560
In 1927, the factory owner Paul Lieberknecht from Einsiedel had a villa-like country house built in timber construction by the leading manufacturing company Christoph & Unmack AG from Niesky. It corresponded to the "Blockhaus Muskau" in the company catalogue of the 1920s. Thanks to the Lieberknecht family, the country house with its small villa park and view of Augustusburg Castle has been largely preserved in its original state. Today it is used as a residence and sculpture park by the grandson of the builder, Prof Rolf Lieberknecht, a freelance artist.
Guided tours at 11.30 am and 2.30 pm by Prof Rolf Lieberknecht and Edgar Rüberg, Chemnitz Monument Protection Authority (otherwise not open). Please register in advance forthe guided tours by contacting the office of the Monument Protection Department on 0371/488- 6351 or by e-mail: denkmalschutzbehoerde@stadt-chemnitz.de

Reconstruction of the prefabricated wooden church from Kaßberg
The Old Lutheran Trinity Parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church was founded in Chemnitz in 1875. After the neo-Gothic church building erected in 1883 on the corner of Weststrasse and Kaßbergstrasse was bombed down to the surrounding walls on 5 March 1945, the Chemnitz congregation received a prefabricated wooden church as a gift from its Old Lutheran partner congregation in the USA in 1946. The wooden elements, which were transported by ship and train, were erected next to the old church ruins at Kaßbergstraße 23 and a small, solid choir was added. The congregation celebrated its services in this wooden church until 1979, when the destroyed stone church was consecrated after gradual reconstruction. After that, the wooden church lost its significance, stood unused and fell into disrepair. After the property was sold to a private investor from Bavaria, the dilapidated wooden church was demolished. The monument authority commissioned documentation and the salvage of the wooden supporting structure for later reconstruction. After all previous interested parties withdrew, Mierbach & Schädlich GbR acquired the wooden parts and prepared the reconstruction on Ahornstraße. Some of it can already be seen. There will be plenty to learn about its future use.
Guided tour 11 am, meeting point Ahornstraße 45, building site - guided tour by the owners Jörg Mierbach and Sven Schädlich as well as Thomas Morgenstern, Head of the Department of Monument Protection in the Building Permit Office of the City of Chemnitz.

Half-timbered house at Mittweidaer Straße 55 in Ebersdorf
One of the last typical cottages can be found on Mittweidaer Straße in Chemnitz-Ebersdorf with a half-timbered upper storey on a solid ground floor with porphyry walls. It was built around 1855 and used as the "Zur Post" inn from the end of the 19th century. Vacant since the early 1990s, the house fell into disrepair and was ready for demolition. However, the young Eckert family acquired the monument in 2010 and began renovating it in 2011. The half-timbered house is due to be occupied by the end of the year and will serve as a home for the young family.
Guided tours of the building site from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. by the owners, the Eckert family.

Zeisigwaldschänke Forststraße 100
Forest and park taverns are characterised by their idyllic location, rustic and cosy guest rooms, spacious beer gardens or summer terraces and winter gardens. The Zeisigwaldschänke is the last original listed forest pub in Chemnitz. In 1898, the Schloßchemnitz stock lager brewery leased a plot of land in the Zeisigwald forest from the city and in 1899, master builder A. Trübenbach had a forest pub built in the traditional half-timbered style of the Heimatstil. After 1905, it was owned by the town, the first extensions followed under town planning officer Richard Möbius and large summer terraces were built. In 1910, 1913 and 1927, further conversions and extensions were added by the city with the respective tenants. Spared from the effects of the war, it became very popular again from 1947.
Later run down as a HO restaurant, it had to be closed for safety reasons at the end of the 1980s until an investor was found in 2002. The removal of dry rot and wood preservation measures in particular, as well as the renovation of the roof, accounted for a large part of the restoration work. Original windows, doors and room furnishings such as the hunting room and the banqueting hall with its barrel-vaulted wooden ceiling were lovingly restored. In 2007, a former garden house in the form of a small chapel was moved from the Zeisigwaldstraße 76 property to the Waldschänke and restored.
Guided tours from 11 a.m. every hour (or as required) through the property with explanations of the details by the owners Ute Giloj and Tilmann Krieger, supported by Bettina Schülke, Department of Monument Protection in the Building Permit Office of the City of Chemnitz.

Half-timbered farmhouses in Chemnitz-Rottluff
A number of old half-timbered farmhouses have been preserved in the former village of Rottluff. Representative farmsteads with some original upper-storey arbours are presented: Limbacher Straße 260 (Reiterhof), the large four-sided farmstead at Limbacher Straße 356, as well as a barn with an upper-storey arbour in an allotment site, Jugendweg 12, which was saved from demolition in 1965.
Guided tour 2 p.m., meeting point: Limbacher Straße 356 (in front of Vierseithof Vogel), by Karin Hartung, Department of Monument Protection in the Building Permit Office of the City of Chemnitz.

Half-timbered houses Schloßberg 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 in Schloßchemnitz
Tour of the lower Schloßberg with its old half-timbered houses. This area is one of the best preserved and architecturally most important parts of Chemnitz city centre. There are explanations about the history of the neighbourhood, the individual buildings and the characteristic building details. Special attention is paid to the use and processing of wood.
Guided tour - Meet at 3.30 pm in the car park in front of Schloßberg 1; guided tour by Astrid Bauer-Mecili, Chemnitz Guides' Association.

Interior of the New Town Hall
The interior of the New Town Hall of the City of Chemnitz was built between 1909 and 1911 according to plans by the then City Planning Officer Richard Möbius, attached to the Old Town Hall and designed with historical elements reminiscent of predecessor buildings and important Chemnitz buildings. The high quality interior, council chamber and city council chamber with library were designed in the late Art Nouveau and neo-Renaissance styles and feature the skilful use of wood. Original furnishings have also been preserved and recently restored.
Guided tour at 14:30by Grit Linke from the Chemnitz Guides' Association.

On Open Monument Day 2012, the Chemnitz programme also includes visits to two monument ensembles that are being restored and maintained by members of dedicated Chemnitz associations:
Open-air stage in Küchwaldpark, Schloßchemnitz
On Monument Day, attention will also be drawn to the activities relating to the Küchwald open-air stage. The open-air theatre was built from 1956 according to plans by the architect Roland Hühnerfürst, largely by the citizens of Chemnitz themselves, and occupies the site of the former Küchwaldschänke, which was destroyed in the World War. After the Küchwaldbühne was closed in 1991 due to structural defects, the "Verein zur Förderung der Küchwaldbühne" e.V. (Association for the Promotion of the Küchwaldbühne) was founded in 2009 and halted the deterioration of the listed complex. Theatre performances have been held in summer again since 2010.
Explanations and guided tours from 1 to 4 pm by Rolf and Evelyn Esche; 4 pm theatre performance of "A week full of Saturdays".

Signal boxes II and III as well as parts of the cable drainage system of the former Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf marshalling yard
The large marshalling yard, which was built according to plan at the end of the 19th century, has been maintained and restored by the Förderverein Eisenbahnfreunde Richard Hartmann e.V. for three years. On Open Monument Day, visitors can see Signal Box III, which is now used as a museum, Signal Box II, which is still to be renovated, with its engine room and parts of the reconstructed cable drainage system with tensioning towers, cable drainage wagons and other accessories - located in the immediate vicinity of the Saxon Railway Museum in the former Hilbersdorf railway works.
Guided tours from 11 a.m. as required by Jochen Schubert and Wolfgang Vogel, Friends' Association.

Guided tours will also take place in the following churches on Open Monument Day 2012 in Chemnitz:
Stadtkirche St Jakobi, restoration of the choir
Built 1350-65 as a three-aisled Gothic hall church over a Romanesque predecessor building. 1405-12 extension of the choir, 1877 neo-Gothic remodelling, 1911/12 reinforcement of the west gable and Art Nouveau façade by Schilling & Gräbner. Partially destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt, interior work on the nave completed in 2009. The current restoration of the choir has revealed special architectural archaeological findings.
Guided tours at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. by Stefan Thiele - those taking part in the tours should please wear sturdy shoes.

St Mark's Church, Sonnenberg district
The neo-Gothic central building with its twin towers, which shapes the cityscape, was built in 1893-95 according to plans by the Berlin architects Kröger & Abesser. The striking urban symbol of the Sonnenberg also has a high degree of originality in the interior, such as the electric lighting and neo-Gothic interior with many wooden frames. After the church building was renovated in 1992-2000 with the support of urban redevelopment and monument preservation funding, it is now used for a variety of purposes under the management of the parish.
Guided tours from 1 to 5 p.m. by members of the parish and the support association.

St. Peter's Church, Theaterplatz
Built in 1885-88 in the neo-Gothic style, St. Peter's Church, together with the King Albert Museum and Opera House, forms a complete monumental ensemble. Coloured stained glass windows and the ornamental colouring on the choir room walls form a special decoration. The restored Ladegast-Jehmlich organ was inaugurated in 2008. It is the largest historical church organ in the city - with an original wooden façade in neo-Gothic style.
Guided tours 12 to 4 p.m. - open church and guided tours "Discoveries on the organ case" on the Ladegast-Jehmlich organ with Sebastian Schmidt, St Peter's Sacred Building Society.

Church of St Jodokus, Chemnitz-Glösa
The church on the "Eierberg" hill in Glösa, first documented in 1269, was later joined by a vicarage and church school. A defence wall and two towers also served to fortify and defend the small ensemble on the hilltop. After the church was partially destroyed by bombing on 5 March 1945, it was rebuilt according to plans by architects Gerlach and Laudeley. The rebuilt church was consecrated in 1954. Many historical and construction details are explained during guided tours of the church and rectory, which was also the retirement home of Abbot Heinrich von Schleinitz of the Benedictine monastery in Chemnitz from 1522.
Guided tours from 13:30 to 17:00 by Pastor Horst Oertel and the parish.

Castle church
The late Gothic hall church with Romanesque architectural remains from the early days of the monastery church is one of the town's most valuable cultural monuments. In addition to the stone evidence of the Romanesque chapel, the ribbed vaults and north portal, wooden works of art such as the flagellation column and high altar are explained. The new organ and a look inside the colossal wooden roof structure will also be of interest.
Guided tours from 11 a.m. by members of the parish as required.

The Open Monument Day will conclude at 5 pm in the castle church with the final concert "Ringing Wood" - Sabine Petri (recorders) and KMD Siegfried Petri (organ) will perform.

Wood as a natural material - information on the theme of the Open Monument Day:
Wood has been a central building material since time immemorial. What made and still makes wood so important for architects, master builders, craftsmen, monument owners, restorers, artists and monument conservators? - There are as many answers as there are different ways of using wood on and in buildings. On the one hand, wood was and is almost always and everywhere available in our latitudes, and on the other hand, wood is a renewable raw material. This meant that wood was relatively inexpensive, at least in earlier times, and could be used as a building material by all sections of the population to build their own houses, cottages or farms. Since the colonisation of our region, building materials from the immediate vicinity were preferred, if only to save on costly transport: Wood, loam, straw, lime, clay bricks or the Hilbersdorf porphyry tuff were the most commonly used building materials. Compared to building materials such as stone or brick, wood has some extremely interesting properties: Despite its relatively low weight, wood is extremely resistant to tearing and breaking in the vertical direction of growth. At the same time, it has a certain flexibility and is easy to work with. Long trunks and thick beams joined together are ideal for constructing scaffold-like, very strong structures. These advantages were utilised in half-timbered buildings, ceiling constructions and roof trusses, as well as in shipbuilding, mines and the construction of technical facilities. Wood was and is just as important for furniture, room furnishings, wall and ceiling panelling and flooring - in some cases with masterly craftsmanship. Public buildings, villas and churches were often splendidly decorated with wood art, including church organs, altars and sculptures.

Information on the internet: www.chemnitz.de as well as on the nationwide programme on the website http://tag-des-offenen-denkmals.de/