Dirty windows, behind them vacancies: The former department store at Stachus has been a sad sight since Kaufhof closed its branch there last autumn. But now life has returned. Seating furniture, tables and a reception counter made of smartly designed white cardboard have been set up. People are scurrying around, there are still a few boxes to clear out and things to screw together, and time is of the essence. A week-long jewelery exhibition is already opening this Tuesday on the first floor of the department store.
It is the prelude to a major new interim use, which will officially start on May 1st and will enrich downtown Munich for at least two years. The cultural organizer Michi Kern calls this project “Lovecraft”, which the AZ first reported on. Kern and his team agreed on the name with Michael Zechbauer, whose family has owned the building since it was built 60 years ago: “Lovecraft”, which means something like “The Craft of Love”.
According to Kern and Zechbauer, whether the whole thing really picks up speed that quickly also depends on the city. “The people in the town hall and in the administration are probably happy when something happens in the building,” says Zechbauer. “We therefore hope that the city will do what it can to make the temporary use as attractive as possible.”
Standing behind the project: Michael Zechbauer (left) and Michi Kern.
(Photo: Alessandra Schellnegger)
The project is definitely large-scale: “The entire area is to be gradually used,” says Kern. That would be a good 20,000 square meters. There should be opportunities to play football and table tennis on the various floors, a skater park should be built and a floor where young people and children can let off steam, Kern lists. “So play on literally,” he explains his idea: “Because the whole city is a playground in the creative sense.”
Temporary museums, trade fairs and markets are to find their way into the building by architect Leo Pope (Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Mannheimer Kunstverein). The shop windows will show exhibitions. Shops and coffee bars are to be located on the ground floor, none of which is screwed too tightly, everything is modular and adaptable to changing needs wherever possible.
Everything should be as easily accessible as possible and thus also meet social standards. “A cultural and communicative concept will permeate the entire building, and as much as possible in the temple of consumption of yore should be available to visitors free of charge,” promises Kern.
The rooms are gutted.
(Photo: Alessandra Schellnegger)
The former use as a department store is still clearly visible.
(Photo: Alessandra Schellnegger)
Worth seeing: The view of the city center from the building.
(Photo: Alessandra Schellnegger)
The city has been Kern’s playground for a long time, the restaurateur, yoga teacher and manager is already using his know-how in the Obersendlinger project “Sugar Mountain” and in the Gasteig for temporary uses. He also advises the investor Ralf Büschl on questions relating to future use of the former parcel post hall. Incidentally, “Lovecraft” should be clearly different from the Gasteig, which Kern and three other organizers will be performing under the name “Fat Cat” in the future: “There will be no concerts and no parties at the Stachus. We will be open there at most until 8 or 10 p.m have.”
Michael Zechbauer leaves the building complex at Stachus to Michi Kern for the price of the running costs incurred by the house. Anyone who is no longer quite sure which property it is, now that the Galeria Kaufhof signs have disappeared from the outside, can use the “Zechbauer” lettering as a guide. It is emblazoned in large letters, the family is known in Munich for their cigar trade.
In this context, of course, the question arises as to how the property will continue in the long term. In the past year, the Zechbauer family had advanced sales negotiations with the Austrian real estate company Imfarr. A purchase price of several hundred million euros is said to have been in the room, but the matter fell through.
Now the Zechbauers are apparently thinking again about whether they really want to sell the family inheritance or whether they want to redevelop it themselves. “We are currently not on the market with the property,” says Michael Zechbauer. A challenge in future planning is monument protection. Because not only the facade of the department store is protected, but also the steel skeleton construction, which was innovative at the time of construction. This in turn makes it difficult to consider converting the building for other uses or even building a new one. Because one thing is certain: there will no longer be a department store with many floors at this location.