Firmengebäude ehem. Färberei Haase

It has turned out to be a real gem. The complex of buildings on Rochlitzer Straße in Chemnitz city centre is truly impressive. It was a bold move to add a modern extension alongside the Theodor Haase Dye Works, an industrial heritage site with its original Gründerzeit charm. In accordance with heritage conservation guidelines, the octagonal water tower and the over 100-year-old factory building with its clinker brick façade were to retain their original character. The old chimney also remained in place and blends seamlessly into the complex. At the top of the chimney, professional rope access specialists installed a nesting site for kestrels as part of an environmental protection requirement.

Credit is due to the private investor, a local photography service provider. The growing company purchased the derelict site in 2007 and had long-term plans for a new, larger headquarters. Currently, around 250 employees work across an area of approximately 8,000 square metres. The company’s management is based in the water tower, whilst the administration is housed in the Haase Villa, which has also been renovated.

The buildings are situated directly behind the municipal swimming pool on the River Chemnitz, meaning that the renovation team had to contend with flooding right from the start of construction in 2012. The floodwaters partially eroded the foundations. To prevent future flooding, flood barriers were installed. The new riverbank wall, with a slope in front of it, provides further protection. In addition, the lower windows in the building were raised.

Before the renovation work began, the planners documented the historic façade. It was then dismantled and rebuilt securely on concrete piles against the riverbank wall, in accordance with current building regulations and faithful to the original. This makes the contrast with the modern extension all the more striking. But this was the intention, and it goes down well with visitors. The new building houses the company’s training centre. In the foyer of the old building, an old crane runway serves as a reminder of its former use. It hovers above staff and visitors as a testament to a bygone era.

Adapted to modern working life, the interiors are bright and open-plan, framed by exposed brickwork from bygone eras. The spacious outdoor area, with its many green spaces, offers staff plenty of room to relax during breaks, whilst a sports ground is available for use in their free time. There are also quiet corners in the atrium, conservatory and cafeteria, where guests are also welcome.

Let us turn back the wheel of history and go back to the beginnings of the Theodor Hase dye works. As early as 1801, the dyer Peter Gerenbeck was allocated a building plot on the so-called ‘Kunstbleiche’. The site on the River Chemnitz was quickly expanded. Shortly afterwards, a residential building was erected, to which further extensions were added over the years. In 19th-century Chemnitz, many dye works sprang up, all competing with one another. Around 1860, Theodor Haase founded a dye works at Pfortensteg. The company expanded continuously until the buildings and land became too small.

At the turn of the century, a new, larger site was needed. Theodor Hase found this at the former Gerenbeck dye works at 19 Rochlitzer Straße. In 1910, he purchased the land and the building. Between 1908 and 1909, the previous occupant, Schrepel und Kutschbach AG, had commissioned the construction of a modern factory building. A load-bearing reinforced concrete structure, designed by the Chemnitz civil engineer Bruno Bayer, was clad in a clinker brick façade. In the neighbourhood, Johann von Zimmermann’s machine tool factory was in operation. Today, the site is home to the municipal swimming pool.

Theodor Hase’s business was flourishing. He took over neighbouring dye works, such as those in Hermsdorf. Hermsdorf held a patent for black dyeing, which was increasingly influencing the world of ladies’ fashion, primarily hosiery production. This is why Theodor Hase forged links with the hosiery manufacturer Esche. Between 1922 and 1923, the striking water tower and the 60-metre-high chimney were built at Theodor Hase’s dye works. The architect responsible for this was Paul Kranz, who, almost at the same time, was overseeing the extension project for Moritz Samuel Esche’s hosiery factory on Walkgraben. The Gerenbeck residential and office building, constructed 100 years earlier, was converted in the Art Deco style and remains preserved in this form to this day.

Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, the dye works employed around 200 people. The air raids in February 1945 did not spare the factory premises at 19 Rochlitzer Straße either. Around 80 per cent of the buildings and facilities were damaged. Following reconstruction, the dye works continued to operate; it was eventually nationalised in 1972 and incorporated into the Esda-Thalheim hosiery combine. Later, the business operated under the name VEB-Faserveredlung Karl-Marx-Stadt. After reunification, the search for a buyer and investor continued for years – until 2012.

Life has returned to the former Hase dye works. It is to be hoped that the same fate will befall some of the almost forgotten industrial monuments, which could also tell their fascinating stories to the people of Chemnitz and their visitors.

“Yes, well, this dye works owned by Theodor Hase on Rochlitzer Straße, situated behind the municipal swimming pool and right on the banks of the River Chemnitz – dye works always needed water – is, of course, a well-preserved example, even in the city centre, of a very striking ensemble comprising various elements of industrial architecture. For example, a factory building, a chimney that is still standing, and a water tower that has now been repurposed. And, of course, a residential and office building, situated a little further forward, which was redesigned in the Art Deco style in 1923. And if you look closely at this façade, you’ll spot Mr Haase himself and some of his industrial colleagues from that era, who can be seen above the keystones of the windows.”