This year, Eberswalde has come into the spotlight. The small town about 40 kilometers northeast of Berlin is considered the cradle of Prussian industrialization and is accordingly well stocked with old industry that is now to be revived. So it is no coincidence that the Brandenburg Year of Culture, which runs under the title “Future of the Past – Industrial Culture in Motion”, has just opened there.
Eberswalde is spending a lot of money, for example 2.8 million euros for the newly renovated Borsighalle. Developed in Berlin in the middle of the 19th century, the construction – riveted cast iron, wooden roof and skylight – served as a model for factories, train stations and exhibition halls throughout Europe. The copy in Eberswalde, which is on the list of national cultural monuments, is now owned by the city, which is now working on a concept for public use.
The factories used to be located along the Finow Canal, which served as a transport route. The connection that leads from the Havel through the valley of the Finow river to the Oder is the oldest still navigable canal in Germany. “The construction of the Finow Canal was ordered by Elector Joachim Friedrich in 1603,” says Hartmut Ginnow-Merkert, who is on the board of the Our Finow Canal Association. Today he advocates that the locks are rehabilitated so that more and more tourists can discover the canal for themselves, on whose banks the remains of historic factories and overgrown industrial wastelands alternate.
The Finow Canal is the oldest still navigable canal in Germany; it is to be developed even more for tourism.
(Photo: Torsten Stapel)
The industrial landscape is particularly impressive from the boat. “There is no longer any commercial shipping here,” says Hartmut Ginnow-Merkert. “Only pleasure boats are allowed that are allowed to travel a maximum of six kilometers per hour.” The listed locks, which are operated by hand, also contribute to the feeling of deceleration. The boats glide under the Devil’s Bridge, which once formed an arch of the Berlin Weidendamm Bridge, the oldest cast-iron bridge in Central Europe. You pass the dilapidated paper mill with its striking water tower, later the Heegermühle power plant, which was given a massive façade facing the water and was shut down in 1991.
You can whiz off the historic crane runway through giant slides
In the GDR, Eberswalde remained an important industrial location and received the status of a district capital. VEB Kranbau Eberswalde was even the European market leader for port and shipyard cranes until the fall of the Wall. When many factories closed after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city lost a quarter of its inhabitants. Since then, efforts have been made to master the structural change and to revitalize abandoned factory areas. For example, the site of the Eisenspalterei was used for a state horticultural show in 2002 and then transformed into a recreational area, the “family garden”. The 17-hectare site is dominated by an old assembly crane with a viewing platform; You can whiz off the historic crane runway through giant slides.
The underground service channels of the ironworks can be explored by pedal boat. A metal artist shows his works in the old rolling mill; the horseshoe factory serves as a town hall for cultural events.
A wide variety of companies are located in the Rofin industrial park – there is a sanitary specialist shop as well as furniture design and a meeting place.
(Photo: Stefan Escher)
The boom in metal production in Eberswalde picked up speed when Prussia’s oldest brass factory set up shop here in the early 18th century. “In 1863 it was taken over by the Jewish Hirsch family and developed into the most important brass factory in Europe,” says Karl-Dietrich Laffin, civil engineer and board member of the Finower Wasserturm eV association its colorful mosaics and leaded glass windows. There are eight prefabricated residential buildings with innovative sheet copper cladding in the vicinity. They were developed as a model housing estate in the early 1930s. “The Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius also got involved in this project,” says Laffin.
The apartments in the green, quiet brass works settlement are very popular today. But the rush for real estate is also increasing in other parts of Eberswalde – not least, the city is benefiting from the great tension on the Berlin housing market. “Our population has been growing again for a few years now,” says Friedhelm Boginski, mayor of Eberswalde since 2006, who has been committed to promoting culture, tourism and education. “These are the most important pillars for us to strengthen urban development and civil society.”
Sarah Polzer-Storek, owner of the Rofin business park within the walls of a Wilhelminian-era pipeline factory, also believes that the city is about to take off. “So far, Eberswalde has not been very popular. But that is changing now,” says the entrepreneur. “There is still scope and design options here. Now it is important to steer development in ecologically, socially and economically sustainable paths.” As a landlord, Polzer-Storek is setting a good example. This is evidenced by the “colorful mix” of companies in the Rofin business park: from the bouldering hall to specialist sanitary ware and furniture design to the “Save Your Culture” association, which operates a socio-cultural meeting place in Hall 58.
The ship lift near Niederfinow is considered to be the oldest still working lift in Germany.
(Photo: Jan Mönikes / SHW Touristik)
While a DJ is playing here, you can only hear the birds singing down on the Finow Canal. Nothing reminds of the lively activity that once prevailed here. “Countless barges and rafts passed on the way between Berlin and East Prussia,” says Hartmut Ginnow-Merkert from the Our Finow Canal Association. “The locks in Eberswalde were in operation around the clock. Nevertheless, the skippers had to wait four to five days for their locks. In 1914, the Oder-Havel Canal, which ran parallel to it, was inaugurated.”
The new ship lift is considered “Brandenburg’s second BER”
The new canal also had to overcome the gradient to the lower Oderbruch. At Niederfinow, a few kilometers east of Eberswalde, it adds up to 36 meters. This was initially remedied by a huge staircase made up of four individual locks. In 1934, after seven years of construction, what was then the largest ship lift in the world began its service.
“Today it is the oldest still working elevator in Germany. The original wheels are still running here,” says Helmut Kluge, who worked as an electrician in the factory for 50 years and now offers tours of the huge riveted steel structure. “Since it was opened, the elevator has been working uninterrupted and largely trouble-free.” It is particularly exciting to drive into the 85-meter-long, water-filled trough on board an excursion steamer and take part in a lock.
The discussion about putting the listed elevator on the World Heritage List, however, is bobbing around. Helmut Kluge is convinced that the work should be on the list. “Absolutely! It’s a technical achievement that can’t be topped,” he enthuses.
In the meantime, a new reinforced concrete ship lift has been under construction next door for twelve years, which is already considered “Brandenburg’s second BER” due to immense construction delays and cost increases. When it goes into operation at some point, the old elevator should be shut down. Master electrician Helmut Kluge remains skeptical. “You will need the historical work even longer than you think,” he says.