City of Fulda extends protection for Wilhelminian-era train station district

1. Fulda Newspaper
2. Fulda

Status: 15.09.2024, 05:07

From: Sabrina Mehler

Five years ago, the city of Fulda introduced a statute to help preserve the houses in the “Gründerzeit train station district” and the unique character of this area. Now the regulations are to be tightened up again.

Fulda – The area was created after Fulda was connected to the railway network in 1866: first, lavish suburban villas were built, later also commercial and residential buildings. Almost all styles, such as neo-Gothic, neo-Romanesque, neo-Renaissance and especially neo-Baroque, can be found in a single building, sometimes across different styles.

In addition, Art Nouveau influences characterize the facades, which are often decorated with lavish floral plaster ornamentation. This testimony to Fulda’s history should be preserved. Therefore, the preservation statute protects the townscape in the area of ​​the Wilhelminian station district. The aim is to stop the trend towards demolition and new construction.

City of Fulda extends protection for Wilhelminian-era train station district

The aim is to prevent buildings worth preserving from being significantly altered by renovations. This is accompanied by the hope that rental and purchase prices will be stabilized. The statute also gives the city the thumbs up when preserved buildings in the area are to be renovated or even demolished.

While previously it was only about the external appearance of the buildings, the city is now also focusing on the interior of the houses. In recent years there have been increasing requests in the area to convert large, family-friendly apartments into one-room apartments, often furnished.

“These are usually rented out for short periods or used as holiday homes,” reported city planning officer Daniel Schreiner in the building committee. Because this deprives the housing market of the living space it needs, changes the resident structure and displaces previous tenants, the city wants to counteract this and protect the social structure in the district.

“So far, most three-story buildings in the area have had one or two apartments per floor,” Schreiner explained. “Now we are seeing that up to 19 residential units are being built in such a structure. That is not what we envision for the station district.”

Trend towards downsizing: Up to 19 units in one house

They want families to be able to continue living here and also want the courtyards to retain their structure. In addition, the scope of application is to be expanded. The statute now covers the area between the train station and Lindenstrasse as well as Kurfürstenstrasse and Petersberger Strasse.

The plan was approved by the city council. Something from Ernst Sporer (Greens): “We think the plan is a good one. The trend in all cities is towards making apartments smaller, as student apartments are much more profitable to rent out.” This does not mean that students cannot also live in the buildings.

“They can then set up shared apartments.” Sporer also suggested drawing up a similar preservation statute for the entire inner city area to prevent the conversion into Airbnb apartments. As far as he knows, there are more than 1,000 such apartments in Fulda that are rented out to private or business travelers for short periods of time. “I know companies that specifically buy houses in the inner city for this purpose.”

Ester Schmitt-Eckart (CDU) also praised the project and stressed: “It is an important and defining area of ​​the city.” The CDU is even considering tackling the whole thing even more boldly and including other areas, such as the corner of Sturmiusstrasse and Heinrichstrasse, in the scope of the statute. The other factions also agreed to the establishment of the statute.

The citizens of Fulda probably already became acquainted with the Frauenberg mite in the Gründerzeit period. The Frauenberg and the Kalvarienberg were transformed into the first local recreation area for the people of Fulda during this period.