Haus Hindenburg
Neoclassical corner building at Schildergasse and Neumarkt in Cologne, a listed historic monument since 1993.
The building's chamfered corner position resulted from urban redevelopment at the transition between Schildergasse and Neumarkt.
Source: Wikipedia
At a Glance
- Type
- Commercial building, listed monument
- Location
- Schildergasse 113–117 at Neumarkt, Altstadt-Nord
- Year built
- 1914 and 1915
- Architect
- Hermann Eberhard Pflaume
- Style
- Neoclassicism
- Storeys
- four
- Façade
- six bays on Schildergasse, three on Neumarkt
- Heritage listing
- registered 13 April 1993 (No. 6779)
Above the main entrance of Haus Hindenburg once stood a keystone inscribed with a verse celebrating Paul von Hindenburg as a "victor" – today, this inscription no longer exists.
Location and Street Layout
Until the years before World War I, the passage from Schildergasse to Neumarkt was noticeably narrower than it is today. On the north side, this first changed when the police headquarters at the corner of Krebsgasse was set back behind the old building line. In 1914 came the demolition of the Blankenheimer Hof, which had jutted several metres into the street as a corner building after Zeppelinstraße was laid out in 1910. The new building line on the south side was also disputed: given Cologne's small-scale plot divisions, setting it back too far would have left few economically viable building sites. In the end, the line was angled slightly, allowing traffic to flow through a funnel-shaped opening from Neumarkt into Schildergasse.
Construction and Naming
The plot at Schildergasse 113 to 117 belonged to the Dutch merchant Dirk Lindhout, based in Düsseldorf, and his Cologne partner Paul Malkowsky. After the old buildings were demolished, construction of the four-storey house began just before World War I. The shell was completed in a four-month build under architect and builder Karl Alsdorff; by February 1915 the building was nearing completion. Following the tradition of giving houses their own names, the owners chose a name referencing the era of its construction, with Paul von Hindenburg's approval. Above the main portal sat a keystone bearing a verse, now lost, which read: "In Germany's great hour I was built, / Have witnessed many heroes and sacrifice, / There Hindenburg is hailed as victor, / And in his honour I was named."
Changing Uses
After World War I, the building became a popular Cologne meeting place. This was helped by the café on the first floor, which advertised itself as Cologne's most distinguished café, and later by the stage dance school of Araca Makarowa (born Elisabeth Linfert, née Simons, 1905–1964). From 1926 the ground floor housed the Hamburg cigar shop "Gustav Geber"; in 1946 the family-run "Seidenhaus Schmitz" moved in after its premises on Zeppelinstraße became unusable due to war damage. From 1956 this firm occupied the building alone. A passage briefly connecting Neumarkt to Schildergasse was later closed again. Clothing companies used the building until 2020.
Architecture
Upon completion, the building had two basement levels, a shop on the ground floor, the café above it, and a photographer's studio in the attic. The stone façade is largely preserved externally, with original windows partly surviving from the third floor upward. The building suffered comparatively minor damage in World War II, though the original mansard roof was never rebuilt. A 19th-century Madonna figure adorns the corner on the first upper floor.
Timeline
- 1910Zeppelinstraße was laid out, causing the Blankenheimer Hof to project as a corner building.
- 1914Demolition of the Blankenheimer Hof and start of construction of Haus Hindenburg.
- 1914–1915Construction of the commercial building designed by Hermann Eberhard Pflaume.
- Februar 1915Completion of the shell construction was imminent, led by Karl Alsdorff.
- 1926Cigar shop 'Gustav Geber' moves into the ground floor.
- 1946'Seidenhaus Schmitz' occupies premises on the ground floor.
- 1956The Schmitz company begins using the entire Haus Hindenburg alone.
- 1993Listed as a historic monument in Cologne (13 April, No. 6779).
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Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-09-12
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