100th anniversary of the Hufeisensiedlung (Horseshoe Estate)

Symposium with additional program

As part of the programme nested within the festival Triennale der Moderne (Triennial of Modernism), it becomes clear what makes the complex, which boasts many gardens, green and open spaces and a close neighbourhood and is now largely privatized, so instructive and relevant from today's perspective.

These include, for example

• the adoption of the social and reformist ideals of the garden city movement in serial row construction,
  
• the virtuoso variation and combination of multi-storey apartment buildings and terraced houses with gardens,
  
• the high quality of living with a close neighborhood - stimulated by the urban design
  
• the political implementation of improved hygiene standards and the cycle construction process
  
• the deliberately staged model and symbolic character of the estate as a "showpiece" of Neues Bauen, and
  
• the politically and logistically far-sighted, clever and broad-based implementation by the GEHAG housing association, which was founded in 1924 specifically to combat the rampant housing shortage and whose record is still impressive today and sets standards in terms of quality and quantity.
  

It also has an eventful history, which is exemplary of the German course of time and shifts in power from the 1930s onwards: Shortly after the National Socialists came to power, GEHAG was "brought into line" by the new rulers and then transferred to the ownership of the state after the end of the Second World War.

In the 1980s, the ensemble was placed under protection and upgraded as a historical monument. The privatization and subsequent stock market transfer of the GEHAG portfolio in 1998 gave rise, with a slight time lag, to special challenges and exemplary model projects. These relate to the homogeneous preservation of the Britz ensemble–which has now been extensively transferred into hundreds of individual properties–and the concrete and tangible communication of Taut's legacy. All of this will be presented, explained, discussed, and viewed during the event.

The highlight is the symposium on Sunday. Everyone is welcome! The free event is designed for residents of all six World Heritage Estates, as well as students, experts, and the general public.