History - Ludwig Loewe Engine factory
Mitte - Tiergarten, Wiebestraße 42-45
At the end of the 19th century, the brothers Ludwig and Isidor Loewe, who already ran several factories in Berlin at the time, opened their most important factory location in Moabit. This included the Loewe GmbH (engine factory), which was build in 1896, as well as the Ludwig Loewe & CO. (mill and drill press factory), which had been finished in 1917 by Alfred Grenander. Subsequently, different pavilion-like production and administration buildings were brick-built and surrounded by green belts on the property.
The entire industrial plant is considered to be a prototype of modern factory architecture. The mechanical engineering hall, constructed in 1897/98 by Arnold Vogt, was a three-part brick building with wide glazed facades. In 1905, it was extended towards the north. The southern front wall was destroyed in World War II but rebuilt after the war. Later it was used as a storage hall and as a training place of the christian "youth village work". In 1994, the building was torn down.
Since then, a plaque is supposed to remind people of the historical relevance of this place by displaying the text: "The machine hall was a last witness of a former exemplary company. It had the status of an architectural monument and was torn down in 1994 in favour of this new building".
Loewe, Ludwig
* 27.11.1837 Heiligenstadt/Eichsfeld, † 11.09.1886 Berlin, Industrialist
He founded a Woolware business in 1858 in Berlin. In 1869, he created the Ludwig Loewe & CO. Corporation at Luisenstaedter Hollmannstrasse 32 for the production of sewing machines. The foundation of this company resulted in the establishment of a factory for mechanical tools, which in 1898 moved into the Huttenstrasse 17-20 (Ludwig Loewe engine factory).
Moreover, the German Weapon- and Ammunition Factory AG was set up in Augusta Street 14-24. L was member of the Berliner Stadtverordnetenversammlung and since 1877 member of the Prussian parliament. Also, he became a member of the German parliament (Deutscher Reichstag) in 1878. He was buried at the cemetery of the Jewish community in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg.
Grenander, Alfred Frederik Elias
* 26.06.1863 Sköfde (Schweden), † 14.07.1931 Berlin, Architect
G. studied architecture in Stockholm and Berlin from 1885 to 1888. Subsequently, he worked for Alfred Messel and since 1890 in Paul Wallot´s (1841-1912) Reichstagsbauatelier, contributing to the construction of the German Reichstag parliament building. From 1896 to 1903, he led the company Spalding & Grenander with his brother-in-law Otto Spalding (1863-1945).
Furthermore, he was a professor at the United States schools for free and applied art in Berlin-Charlottenburg. From 1897 to 1931, he lectured at the teaching institute of the museum of arts and crafts (Martin Gropius building) in Berlin-Kreuzberg. G. was particularly involved in Berlin's urban railway construction company from 1900 to 1931, for which he planned numerous U- and S-Bahn stations, including stations, such as Alexanderplatz, Bernauer Straße, Französische Straße, Friedrichstraße, Gesundbrunnen, Hausvogteiplatz, Heinrich-Heine- Straße, Jannowitzbrücke, Klosterstraße, Kurfürstenstraße, Märkisches Museum, Mohrenstraße, Potsdamer Platz, Reinickendorfer Straße, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Rosenthaler Platz, Seestraße, Schillingstraße, Schwartzkopffstraße, Spittelmarkt, Stadtmitte, Voltastraße, Weinmeisterstraße and Zinnowitzer Straße.
In 1910/11, G. arranged the Gotzkowsky Bridge to be remade. He also worked on the construction of the Komische Oper, the Kaisergalerie, the BVG administration building as well as the Ludwig Loewe engine factory in Berlin-Mitte. A plaque in the underground station Klosterstraße reminds people of G.´s achievements for Berlin's architecture.
The Brothers Loewe
