Small but beautiful - the former transformer house on Alsterdorfer Damm
The course of the Alster one hundred years ago: below the Fuhlsbüttel lock, the Alster river meandered in many twists and turns through an extensive meadow landscape, past low-hanging willow trees and gnarled oaks. Apart from the Alster crossing at the Fuhlsbüttel lock in the north and the road bridge at St. Johanniskirche in Eppendorf in the south, there was only one other river crossing: in 1834/1835, the Alsterdorfer Damm was built with a narrow wooden bridge that replaced the centuries-old Alster ford. It connected the small village of Alsterdorf with Kielerchaussee (now Alsterkrugchaussee) at the "Alsterkrug" inn. The Alster lowlands were regularly flooded by the water flowing down from the upper tributary area during snowmelt and rain and could therefore only be used as pastureland.
At the turn of the century, the remote Alsterdorf had around 2100 inhabitants together with the residents of the Alsterdorf institutions. More and more people were working and living in the cities. The harbour and merchant metropolis of Hamburg grew into a large city. The connection to the public transport network and the construction of houses and housing estates changed the village-like character of the suburbs. The damp meadows on the Alster lowlands were completely unsuitable as building land. The Senate and the town council decided to have the upper course of the Alster canalised in order to create dry building land for upmarket detached houses. They commissioned the relevant authorities to draw up a development plan.
Alster canalisation
In autumn 1909, architect Fritz Schumacher took up the post of Head of Building Construction. Just how useful and forward-looking this decision was for Hamburg's future urban development was already evident in his first major planning and construction projects.
Between 1914 and 1928, the course of the Alster between the districts of Eppendorf and Fuhlsbüttel was canalised over a length of 4.8 km. The banks and basin-like extensions were enclosed with quarrystone walls and the new road network was connected with bridges over the Alster. Individual houses and villas in brick construction characterised and still characterise the green suburb.
The extensive earthworks began on the northern section in May 1914, but progress was slow after the outbreak of war until they had to be temporarily halted in 1917 due to a lack of labourers and materials. After the end of the First World War, the situation in Hamburg changed fundamentally: Inflation and the economic crisis delayed the continuation of the work and it was not until 1928 that the entire canalisation and development project was completed with the start of the Alster steamship service from Jungfernstieg to Fuhlsbüttel.
The original development plan by Fritz Schumacher, who was appointed Chief Planning Director in 1924, also envisaged the construction of public buildings along the Alster. However, only the fire station on Alsterkrugchaussee, the Ohlsdorf and Lattenkamp open-air swimming pools and the transformer house described here were realised.