Cover photo by Prof.hc Dr.-Ing. Philipp Meuser - we thank you for making it available
Ideal cities for the ideal man - 'model settlements' in comparison
An architectural tour for Frankfurt residents and visitors who are interested in the complexity of historical urban planning.
Affordable, comfortable apartments in the countryside close to the city – it sounds like a jack of all trades. The ambitious goal of the 'New Frankfurt' in the 1920s was to raise a new (better) generation of people. In the 1960s, the ideal living environment was to be created by separating functions and transport routes and living in the countryside. The expectations linked to the plans and the resulting disappointments can be studied today during our architectural tours.
The city tour moves in the settlement triangle - Nida, Römerstadt and Nordweststadt. Nida is the name of the real "Roman city", like all cities of this period, a planned urban development. Information boards provide information about Nida. It seems to have never been there today, as the archaeological traces have been removed in favor of inexpensive housing in the modern "Roman city". It was built in the 1920s under the direction of Frankfurt's city planning officer Ernst May. One house was reconstructed as a model house by the Ernst May Society and can be visited.
On our architectural tour we then go to the neighboring "Northwest City," which was planned according to the ideals of the 1960s, with paths (pedestrians and cars) and functional separation (living, working, leisure). In the middle is the compressed Northwest Center with shops, offices, a parking garage, and a central bus station at a subway stop. Footpaths radiate out into the surrounding residential areas located in a park landscape; near the Northwest Center there are mostly high-rise buildings, and further away there are apartment blocks and terraced houses.
Separate architectural tours are also possible for both areas.
project selection
'Römerstadt'
- Residential development (Ernst May)
- Geschwister Scholl School (Martin Elsässer, extension: Behnisch & Partner)
Nordweststadt
- Overall concept Schwagenscheidt, Sittmann and Apel, Beckert, Becker
- Renovation JSK Architects
