In Focus
January 1, 1914 – The Spandau-Nonnendamm industrial estate is officially named Siemensstadt
View of Siemensstadt, around 1925
When no further opportunities for expansion could be found within the city limits of Berlin, the company’s management decided to bring together the scattered factories and administrative at a single location outside the city. Following a thorough examination of the options, the choice fell on the Nonnenwiesen, a remote area north of the Spree River, between Charlottenburg and Spandau. From 1897, the company acquired over 200 hectares of building land in this area. In the ensuing period, not only production facilities but also residential areas were built, with transportation infrastructure and social institutions being developed as well. Construction in the district that officially named Siemensstadt at the beginning of 1914 was largely completed by the 1930s.
Karl Janisch was commissioned to design the buildings, and he gave Siemensstadt the unmistakable appearance that characterized the site until World War I. The engineer and architect drew up plans for functional buildings which facilitated efficient production. Designed for flexible use and able to be readily expanded, the individual structures could be utilized as required. Janisch was uniquely qualified to design highly functional, economical, socially compatible production facilities capable of being expanded over decades, having traveled to the U.S. in order to familiarize himself with manufacturing processes and industrial facilities there. Janisch was initially supported by Carl Dihlmann, a project engineer who served as head of planning and was one of the most vocal proponents of the new production site.
The buildings designed by Janisch gave Siemensstadt the self-contained character that distinguishes it to this day. In addition to production facilities such as the Westend cable factory (1898), the Wernerwerk I telecommunications equipment plant (1903), the Kleinbauwerk small switchgear and installations plant (1905), a dynamo factory (1906), a car factory (1906), an iron foundry (1907) the Wernerwerk II (1914) and a chemical-physical laboratory (1906), the administration building erected at Nonnendamm/Rohrdamm between 1909 and 1913 is one of the site’s most striking landmarks. Janisch’s successor, Hans Hertlein, had also already worked on this building, which clearly bears the mark of Hertlein’s conservative first design phase, characterized by what was referred to as Heimatschutz (“heritage protection”) style.
The dynamic Hertlein was held in particularly high esteem by the head of Siemens, Carl Friedrich von Siemens. Beginning in the mid-1920s, Hertlein’s architectural style, which was geared to the progressive design models of the day, shaped the appearance of Siemensstadt. One prime example of the style favored by Hertlein at Siemensstadt is the high-rise switchgear plant (1928), which was declared a symbol of modernism by the architectural world. A further structure epitomizing Hertlein’s work is the Wernerwerk (1930). This purpose-built structure exuded a cool, sober functionality while conveying an impression of dominance with its expansive, cubistic monumentality.
In view of these achievements, Karl Janisch and Hans Hertlein are considered the fathers of corporate architecture at Siemens.
December 29, 2012 – Dr. Frank Wittendorfer
Further reading
Ribbe, Wolfgang / Schäche, Wolfgang. Die Siemensstadt. Geschichte und Architektur eines Industriestandortes. Berlin: 1985 (available in German only)