Hermann Beims Housing estate (Hermann-Beims-Siedlung) (1925)

In the space of seven years, just over 2,000 flats were completed within the estate, although around 5,000 had originally been planned. The flats average around 63 square metres in size and typically contain three rooms.

The streets of the estate are lined with three- and four-storey buildings with flat roofs, reflecting the principles of Neues Bauen architecture. However, along the outer edges of the development the houses were built with pitched roofs, seemingly to ensure that the modern flat-roofed architecture would not be too visible from the main road, Große Diesdorfer Straße. Many of the buildings are long and linear in design, while balconies and loggias were incorporated throughout the estate.

The layout of the estate was carefully planned to reduce through traffic. Several cul-de-sacs were created within the residential areas, enclosed by the surrounding buildings, as can still be seen at the northern ends of Calvörder Straße, Marienborner Straße and Völpkerstraße. The roads in between serve primarily as routes leading out of the estate. Green spaces were integrated throughout the development, and at its centre an east–west axis of poplar trees, walls and pathways forms a small park. The construction of the nursery school in the centre of the estate did not follow the original plans.

At Beimsstraße 8, visitors can view a preserved historic flat that also offers overnight accommodation.

The housing estate was built between 1925 and 1932 in order to address the severe housing shortage in Magdeburg. Around 2,000 flats were constructed, although in the end only about one third of the originally planned development was completed. 

In Magdeburg, GEHOG operated under the name Magdeburger Gemeinnützige Heimstätten AG (“Magdeburg Non-Profit Housing Association Ltd.”). This demonstrates the influence of Bruno Taut. Johannes Göderitz was responsible for overseeing the city’s building projects.

One of the estate’s first residents was the architect Konrad Rühl, who lived in a flat at Calvörder Straße 1. The visual documentation of the project is remarkable, as the Magdeburg City Archives has made many of the photographs available online.

Since 1931, the estate has been named after Hermann Beims, the mayor of Magdeburg, who died in the same year.

Beginning in the 1990s, the buildings have been modernised in several phases.

• lda-lsa.de Beims-Siedlung
• bauhauskooperation.de Hermann-Beims-Siedlung
• ak-lsa.de Hermann-Beims-Siedlung
• wobau-magdeburg.de Historische Musterwohnung
• Wikipedia Hermann-Beims-Siedlung