Fritzlar, Hesse

Fritzlar, known as the “town of minsters and emperors” has approx. 15,000 inhabitants distributed across 10 town districts. The number of vacant buildings in the core town area is low, but in other individual districts many family-held farmyards are witnessing a gradual process of dying out and this has left many buildings standing empty, generally those that were formerly used for agricultural purposes. The mostly older inhabitants are orienting themselves increasingly towards the central area of the town, where they have better care facilities and a better infrastructure. In close cooperation with the Regional Office for the Protection of Historical Monuments, the town of Fritzlar has taken stock of the situation in a model-like manner in order to create planning foundations on the basis of which framework plans for the sustainable development of core areas can be drawn up.

Two building blocks that form part of these planning foundations are questionnaires aimed at local residents and the ‘Hauskarten’ (building or house cards). In addition to a series of statistical data, such as floor space and other surface areas and room sizes, most of the details provided in these ‘Hauskarten’ are based on personal conversations and the assistance provided by the individual owners. This means that not only refurbishment proposals, but also recommendations for action can be worked out for the continued use of each house or building with the aim of reviving core areas of the town. Owners are then provided with ‘recommendations for action’ free of charge, which have already been coordinated with the building supervisory authorities and officials working in the area of protecting historical monuments. This places the protection of historical monuments within the constructive dialogue and thus brings such aspects into the context of an active search for solutions for preserving historical buildings.

This project was discussed as part of the 2015 Baukultur Workshops in Kassel.