In the borough of Rüttenscheid south of the old city
and located on the edge of the Stadtwald Friedrich Krupp AG acquired arable
fields with the aim of building a number of houses for retired or invalid
former employees of the Krupp company. Friedrich Krupp founded the first phase
of what was to become Siedlung Altenhof in 1893 as the Invalidenkolonie
Altenhof. Such social provision and attention for former factory workers was a
revolutionary move as the idea was to provide rent free housing for the invalid
and widowed. This colony for the infirm consisted of two C-shaped terraces of
small houses on either side of a garden square.
The subsequent Siedlung Altenhof was built as a way of
thanks for the statue of Alfred Krupp (1892 by Alois Mayer) commissioned by the
factory workers. On the plinth Alfred's motto is engraved: the purpose of work must be the benefit of the community. His son
Friedrich Krupp commissions the Krupp Housing Division with the development
of 607 dwellings for retired former
employees to be housed here rent free.
Robert Schmohl designed the buildings in an eclectic
Heimatstil that is also known as Cottage style. Depending on the social status
terraced, semidetached and detached houses were provided along parallel curved
streets that made the most of the triangular site. The first building phase was
completed between 1893 and 1896, the second -beyond the mine railway of Zeche
Langenbrahm- was built between 1899 and 1907. This factory housing, however
similar in appearance to garden villages should not by typified as such, as it
pre-dates Ebenezer Howards book of 1898. The Altenhof is rather one of those examples
of social labourers housing that has inspired later developments.
The Siedlungen Altenhof I and II are situated on
either side of the Woodland Park (WP), with a half open landscape garden (LG)
behind the Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria Erholungshaus (KAV) Next to this leisure centre
and convalescence home, the Frauenerholungshaus (F), Prebendary for widows (P)
and Wöchnerinnenklinik (WK), a post natal clinic once stood. On the edge of
this hospital site the chapel (C) was -and still is- located. On the edge of
the first building phase the GP-Surgery (S) was located. The invalid colony (IC)
is located further west and links this housing estate with pre-existing urban
fabric. Beyond Altenhof II a football stadium (FS) was
built in 1927 on the Uhlenkrug. Altenhof II only has housing and no other
provisions or amenities.
A church, shops, women's clinic and a hospital were
part of the housing estate Along the eastern edge of the Siedlung Altenhof an
extensive recreational area was created out of the existing wood as the
Kruppsche Waldpark (Krupp Woodland Park). It was thought important for the
inhabitants to have access to healthcare after retirement and also keep active
and spend time outdoors in nature.
After the sudden death of Friedrich Krupp in 1902 the
work on the Siedlung Altenhof was completed. Along the lines of his ideas
around 1907 plans were drawn up to create a second social housing estate as
part of a belt of garden village satellites. This Siedlung Altenhof II was
begun beyond the Waldpark on the edge of the Stadtwald. The site chosen known
as Verreshöhe has a marked slope so the usual Unwinesque layout was difficult
to realise, instead curving streets follow the slope and steep stairs and
streets connect these residential streets.
The construction of this garden village, again
designed by Robert Schmohl, started in 1907 and was interrupted by WW1. So in
1914 only the northern half of the present garden village had been completed.
Some more housing was erected in 1926-27. The garden village would be completed
in 1937. This southern section is also known as Altenhof-Heide. It is this last
section that has some Unwinesque features. Most of Altenhof II is comparable to
Altenhof I and best typified as a semi-rural housing estate with factory
housing.
The two estates of the Altenhof were built in several
phases in 1893 (phase 0), between 1893-1896 (1), between 1899 and 1907 (2),
between 1907 and 19154 (3), between 1926 and 1927 (4), in 1927 (4*) and between
1935 and 1937 (5).
As a result of the building of a new motorway most of
the Waldpark was destroyed. This changed the spatial configuration of the old
and housing estate and the garden village, effectively separating them. A new
trunk road was also built along the edge of Altenhof II. Thus this garden
village became isolated between infrastructure. Most of Altenhof I was
demolished in the 1977 to make room for the new Alfried Krupp Hospital, only
the invalid colony around the Gussmannplatz, the chapel, some widows houses and
4 detached houses remain. Other parts that lay derelict for years have recently
been developed for new housing. The quality of what remains shows what a
misguided decision it was to sacrifice the Siedlung Altenhof I for enormous
parking places around a good example of bad 1970s architecture. The houses in
Altenhof II, that still survives almost intact, have been privatised and are
now occupied by people with no direct links to the Thyssen-Krupp company.
The Siedlung Altenhof I has been demolished apart from
some fragments and has been replaced by the new hospital (H). Al the present
buildings are shown in orange. Another mayor impact has been the building of a
motorway (M52) and a trunk road (K3). The railways have been decommissioned.
The northern track has been cleared for a long distance cycling route (a true cycle
super highway!).The first two building phases of Altenhof II were built around
the old farmstead (F) on the Verreshöhe.
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