Marzahn: a model neighbourhood - once again
Finns also involved in construction of East German suburbs
By Kristiina Markkanen
The GDR gave concrete suburbs a bad name. Suburbs dominated by large apartment buildings had been built around Europe since the 1950s, but in East Germany, the poor quality of prefabricated construction, haste, and lack of the human touch in construction reached a peaked in the 1970s.
The residents and builders of the suburbs saw things differently. The GDR suffered from a massive housing shortage for a long time. People often had to share a dwelling with other relatives.
In addition to the shortage of space, prewar buildings were cold and damp. Many apartments had wood and coal heating as late as the 1970s. Outhouses were a common sight in the back yards of apartment houses.
Finally, in the 1970s, a fanatical campaign was launched to build new housing. Suburbs shot up in different parts of East Germany to symbolise modern socialism, and many families got their first own home. Hundreds of thousands of happy people moved into the apartments. Central heating and indoor toilets were seen as earned luxuries.
Marzahn in East Berlin was the best-known concrete suburb. It is still Europe's largest, even though thousands of apartments have been eliminated during the renovation programme of recent years.
The construction of Marzahn began in 1977, and in 1989 there were nearly 70,000 apartments in the area, with almost 200,000 residents.
Finns also took part in the construction of Marzahn. A subsidiary of Partek, which now has the name Elematic, delivered two factories for prefabricated housing to East Berlin, and renovated a third. The factories manufactured elements for the WBS 70 type buildings.
During a visit to East Germany by President Urho Kekkonen in 1977, Helsingin Sanomat wrote that the factory provided by the Finns could complete a bathroom in 40 minutes, and a midsole in just 12 minutes. Each factory produced about 4,000 apartments a year.
"The official truth is that it has been delivered, put up, and it works", says Lothar Spaete, who worked as project head overseeing the deliveries of the Finnish factory in the 1970s.
"The people were told that it was the latest Western technology, but the ones who were invovled knew better", says Spaete, who now lives in Frankfurt am Main.
Keijo Kuru, who worked as head of installation during the cosntruction of several factories, says that the Finns are not to blame for the poor quality of construction, or the appearance of the building.
"We just delivered the machinery and the equipment to build the prefabricated elements, as the head architect, Erich Honecker, ordered them."
"They had no tools. Women would crumple newspapers for use as insulation", Kuru recalls.
Up to 50 Finns at a time, some of them with their families, would work in Berlin, and in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now renamed Chemnitz).
"We had no complaints. We were paid in West German marks. I bought two Mercedes", Kuru says by telephone from Dubai, where he is helping set up another prefab factory.
Eastern Germany - the "new states" has been undergoing cleaning and remodelling to the tune of billions of euros.
Thousands of damp and drafty apartment buildings have been re-insulated, painted, restructured, and had their plumbing redone. Now new residents are also being sought.
"First year rent free, pay only expenses of just over two euros a square metre!" one housing company in East Berlin advertises. Another company offers three years of cheap living at EUR 50 a month for holders of a student ID card.
Older residents are also being encouraged to stay in their homes, by offering various services. Some buldings have porter service, offering residents help and safety. A porter will also provide a morning paper, and a spare key, if necessary.
The flight from old apartments finally came to a halt last year. In some suburbs there is a miniature boom boing on, and Marzahn is again a model suburb - a forerunner of rennovation and repairs.
At one stage, one in three flats were empty. Now there are "only" 10,000 empty apertments any more, and four out of five have been refurbished, according to the area's urban planning office.
Concrete suburbs are also experiencing a subtle cultural rennaissance. The aesthetics of the 1970s combines with Ostalgie - the feeling of nostalgia for the days of East Germany. The interior design of the GDR is again in fashion, and where could it be better implemented than in an old prefabricated Plattenbau?
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 13.3.2005
More on this subject:
 Home in an East German suburb
KRISTIINA MARKKANEN / Helsingin Sanomat
kristiina.markkanen@hs.fi
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