Frohnhausen formed a Dreibauerschaft with Altendorf
and Holsterhausen. This collection of 9 large farmsteads held by yeoman from
the Stift Essen (Essen Abbey) lay southwest
of the city of Essen. It remained a rural place until the opening of the Steel
Works by Alfred Krupp directly to the north. The place remained sparsely
populated until the annexation by Essen with Holsterhausen and Altendorf in
1901. In the next decade the number of residents quickly rises from 6,000 to
over 27,000. Landowners were selling their land for development for housing for
steel workers and miners (as in the rest of the Ruhr Area there were many coal
mines around Essen). To channel this rapid urbanisation the City Council draws
up plans for the west side of Essen, a name made official by renaming the
Altendorf-Cronenberg railway station as Essen-West to signify the incorporation
into the central city.
In 1910 the Krupp Company gifts the city council of
Essen a large part of the Pfingstfeld (Pentecost
Field) on the edge of Frohnhausen bordering Holsterhausen, under the condition
that this former quarry be transformed into a public park. This is the present
Westpark. At the same time the fields north of the quarry are gifted to the Nationale Arbeiterverein Werk Krupp
(National Workers Union -of the- Krupp Works) for the development of new
housing.
On a narrow strip of land 151 dwellings were built in
several apartment blocks around communal gardens between 1910 and 1912. This
Siedlung Luisenhof I is best typified as a Gartenhof, a type of housing
pioneered in Germany around 1900 to provide better living conditions in
high-density inner-city developments. This complex has great affinity with examples
of social housing from Vienna. Although more commonly known as Gelber Block (after the yellow colour of
the facades) the official name commemorates Luise of Mecklenburg - Strelitz,
Queen of Prussia who had died a century before in 1810. A statue of her was
erected at the entrance to the large garden court.
Between 1916 and '17 a second housing project was
built directly north of the Westpark: Luisenhof II. This is again a Gartenhof,
but this time with clear Dutch influences. It has 140 dwellings that are
slightly larger and better equipped than those of phase 1. Both complexes were
designed by Adolf Feldmann. He created attractive building complexes of blocks
of flats around a green garden with fountain or statue. By opening up the
corners the inner courtyards feel less closed in and the effect on the side of
the street is less massive. The architecture tries to emphasise the entrances
and corners and used ornamentation to scale down the building in the
streetscape. Luisenhof II suffered damage during WW2. Both complexes have been
restored as examples of inner-city social housing and are part of the Route der Industriekultur in Essen.
The two urban blocks that make up the
Luisenhofsiedlung are situated exactly along the edge of Frohnhausen. Luisenhof
I (1) comprises of 3 apartment blocks that each wrap around a communal garden.
The whole complex is edged with public gardens. The nearby Luisenhof II (2)
comprises of a single complex with a separated block marking the entrance. This
complex sits directly on the street but adjoins the large Westpark (3) built in
a former quarry. At the end of this park a large town square (Frohnhauserplatz
- 4) completed in 1912 marks the new centre of this suburb of Essen. The space
is also locally known as the Markt (Market Square) to separate it from the
Altendorfplatz (5) that marks the old village green.
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