Little Berlin: The history of the apartment complex is linked to both the Nazis and the Communists
It is not twice as convenient to go on a trip, even to the nearby German capital Berlin. On the other hand, you can travel at least in Prague, specifically in the formerly industrial Holešovice, in which we do not go a small area called Little Berlin. The area bordered by Heřmanova, Janovského, Strojnická and Bubenská streets is described in this way mainly because many German-speaking Praguers lived here in the pre-war period.
Another reason for that designation resulted somewhat from coincidence at the time when the construction of one apartment building began here at the intersection of Bubenská and Veletržní streets in 1937. The investor was then the Construction Cooperative of Bank and Savings Bank Officials in Prague, the constructivist design of the house was elaborated by the architect Franz Hruschka, a graduate of Prague’s German technology.
A complex that is ahead of its time
“A closed six- to eight-storey block of flats has two entrances from U Smaltovny Street with gatehouses. These lead to the halls, from which it enters eight residential sections. In the atrium there was a garden, a children’s paddling pool, but in the 1950s they filled it with a fountain, a sandpit for children and a pergola with benches. The complex also included shops, warehouses and carriage houses. In the basement there were modern laundries with stage dryers and sophisticated carpet cleaning equipment, “describes Nora Třísková from the Institute of Planning and Development (IPR)
Although the facade of the building block is a bit faded at the time, there are still interesting details. “The façade is painted brown, and there are brick paneling around the windows set in green frames. The overall impression is complemented by wooden rolls. There are also several decorative elements, such as artfully forged railings, which are located on the balconies, ”adds Třísková.
Apartments for the Gestapo and communist celebrities
The apartment building was approved on March 15, 1939, the day Czechoslovakia was occupied by Nazi troops. shortly afterwards, the head of the Prague Gestapo, Rasch, commissioned SS Obersturmführer Jochen Tostmann, to get enough flats for Gestapo and SS officials. The original owners, who were mainly German Jews were subsequently evicted from Little Berlin and the flats were occupied by imperial officials. The apartments were brand new and luxuriously equipped at the time, for example, each of the houses had its own elevator and each apartment had two balconies – one to the street and the other to the courtyard.
After the end of World War II, the German inhabitants were evicted again, but the original owners did not return anyway. Either they died in concentration camps or their flats were occupied by the then communist party for his highest representative, or for influential diplomats.
The modernist block of houses called Little Berlin is located in Holešovice
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