Butzweilerhof – internal conversion

Cologne, North Rhine – Westphalia
Germany

Status: BLACK – It’s been irreparably destroyed

Description of the Site

The “Butzweilerhof” airport was built during the period of German aviation’s rapid growth in the 1930s. Constructed in the Bauhaus style, it consists of a tower with an adjacent aircraft hangar. The complex also had a depot with a garage, an office wing for the European airlines of the day, and a mail and customs area. One especially striking feature was the main hall, where the main portal had a large black eagle in basalt lava. Lastly there was a restaurant and coffee shop, the adjoining kitchen and the living quarters of the custodian.

Butzweilerhof was Cologne’s first airport and the second largest airport in Germany. The buildings were designed by Professor Hans Mehrtens. More than that, it definitively represented Germany’s richest aviation history. Built in 1935/1936, it was the first complex in Cologne that was planned from the beginning as an airport. The buildings survived the war unscathed. In Hall 1, the famed first industrial aircraft Junkers Ju 52 of the Bayer AG “Bayer-Ju” D-AOHU was stationed. In the late evening of the May 3d, 1937, the LZ 129 “Hindenburg” had its last stop here before its fateful explosion in Lakehurst/USA. Also from here, the air assault on the Belgian fortress Eben Emael started in Mai 1940. This was the beginning of the war against France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. And as a young soldier during WWII, the former Vice-Chancellor of Germany Walter Scheel was stationed here with the Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, Nazi German air force night fighter-wing of World War II. From the end of the war until 1963, the British Royal Air Force used this airport, followed by the German air force until 2005. Another noteworthy fact is that the Butzweilerhof makes an appearance in the memoirs of the “Red Baron”, aka Manfred von Richthofen, who had his first flight lessons there.

The Threat

Owner “Motorworld” transformed the historic airport buildings into a mix of motel, entertainment hall, restaurants, venue, auto show and car sales. See also the former airport of The owner “Motorworld” transformed the historic airport buildings into a mix of motel, entertainment hall, restaurants, venue, auto show and car sales. See also the former airport of Böblingen/Germany (also build in 1936) were Motorworld implemented the same concept.

The historic airport buildings have been expanded by glass extensions, which changes the silhouette of the airport massively. The additions include a five-story motel that will be of the same height as the airport tower. In addition, glass cases were built in front of the hangar and other parts of the building. For the entrance of the motel, parts of the building were demolished. This happened with the consent of the city’s conservator Dr. Thomas Werner and State Conservator Dr. Andrea Pufke.
In the building almost all the historical curtains were torn out. The historical room layout was completely destroyed and replaced by plasterboard walls. On various exterior walls the gates were destroyed.

Efforts to Save Butzweilerhof – internal conversion

In order to save the Butzweilerhof, I tried to inform the public about the planned reconstruction measures. The district council shared my opinion and spoke out against the reconstruction measures. Former city conservator Dr. Ulrich Krings and the former cathedral master Prof. Dr. Barbara Schock-Werner, now chairman of the Rheinische Verein (a citizens’ initiative which works for the preservation of historical monuments) were asked for help in this matter. Unfortunately it took them too long to reply so the official deadline to submit complaints against Motorworld expired. The complaint committee of the city of Cologne has indeed been right, but a withdrawal of the building permit would have meant a compensation in the millions.
Now many citizens are against the reconstruction measures and compare what is going on with the demolition of the Old Opera House of Cologne (comparable to the Semper Oper in Dresden). But the damage is irreparable.

Links Connected to Group or Person Reporting this Site
www.luftfahrtarchiv-koeln.de/Butzweilerhof_1936_Das_Ende.htm

Who Should Be Held Accountable

Andreas Dücker – owner
MOTORWORLD Trademark Management AG
Stefan Boettle, Markus Mehwald architects
CIP GmbH Architekten Ingenieure
Dr. Thomas Werner city conservator of Cologne
Andrea Pufke – Head of the Office for the Preservation of Historic Monuments in the Rhineland
Jürgen Roters – former Mayor of the City of Cologne

Source Links

Responsible of the destruction – http://www.motorworld.de/home/koeln-rheinland/
Executive Architecture Office- http://cip-architekten.com/
City Conservator of Cologne – http://www.stadt-koeln.de/service/adressen/stadtkonservator-amt-fuer-denkmalschutz-und-denkmalpflege
Office for the Preservation of Historic Monuments in the Rhineland – http://www.denkmalpflege.lvr.de/de/startseite.html

Image Gallery

* All photos courtesy of Werner Mueller.

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