Awarding of the 2022 Monument Protection Prize to Mr. and Mrs. Kessler
28.08.2023
Martina and Dr. Michael Kessler have been awarded the City of Offenbach's 2022 Monument Protection Prize for the elaborate and professional partial renovation of a three-storey residential building dating back to 1894. The award ceremony will take place at the Ostpol business incubator on September 1 at 5 p.m. by Stephan Färber, Head of the City Council. The Monument Protection Prize, which has been awarded annually since 2005, is endowed with 3,000 euros. The prize money is provided by the Rotary Club Offenbach and will be presented by the chairman of the Rotarians. The laudatory speech will be given by Dominik Mangelmann, Chairman of the Monument Advisory Board of the City of Offenbach. Representatives of the media are cordially invited to the event.
According to Head of Building Paul-Gerhard Weiß, the building had a considerable backlog of refurbishment and renovation work when it was acquired by the Kessler couple from Offenbach in 2011, which ultimately proved to be a great asset from a heritage perspective: "As it turned out, the building consists of an unusually high degree of original building fabric from the period of construction," says Weiß. "This building fabric is of very high and in some cases outstanding quality due to the fact that it was built by a wealthy client at the time." With the award of the monument protection prize, the city of Offenbach is recognizing the renovation work on the front façade and the restoration of the entrance area and staircase.
The property is located on the site of the former "asphalt and cement business and roofing felt and tar products factory" W. Ermold on Mainstraße. It stands out with its elaborately designed sandstone-plastered façade and plinth, for which the architect Max Schröder was responsible. The first floor is characterized by a round-arched doorway and a portal with a skylight, the glazing of which is protected by a wrought-iron grille. The walls are decorated with rich, highly sculpted ornamentation. The front door is also elaborately decorated with glazing and protective grilles - as are the basement windows. The window jambs are profiled, but only slightly overhanging. The parapet panels are tiled with colorful mosaics. In 1908, the building was given a bay window with a wide, curved front gable on the second floor. On each side of the third floor there is a small balcony with richly profiled consoles and wrought-iron balustrades. The top floor has two dormers on each side of the gable. "Overall, this is a well-preserved example of an architecturally valuable house with an unusual design," according to the city of Offenbach's monument topography. For historical, artistic and urban planning reasons, the building is registered as a cultural monument in accordance with Section 2, Paragraph 1 of the Hessian Monument Protection Act in the register of monuments of the state of Hesse.
Extensive renovation and restoration work
As Jürgen Lehmann from the Lower Monument Protection Authority of the City of Offenbach reports, Mr. and Mrs. Kessler carried out renovation and restoration work step by step after acquiring the property. While retaining the tenancy agreements, some of which were decades old, the apartments were renovated over the years, taking into account aspects relating to listed buildings, particularly with regard to the building services. When the very spacious attic space was converted, the stairwell was upgraded in a very restrained manner in terms of fire protection from a heritage perspective. This also allowed the spacious floor plans of the apartments to be retained in an authentic manner and quality.
"Particularly noteworthy is the work on the street façade with its rich sandstone structures, which had suffered considerable damage, especially in the upper area. The stability of this façade had been compromised or endangered," explains Lehmann. The façade was reworked and supplemented by stonemasons with the involvement of the Institut für Steinkonservierung e.V. (IfS) after cleaning. The work was carried out to a high standard of craftsmanship in such a way that the age of the building is still clearly visible: "No attempt was made to achieve a visually new state. The aim was to ensure maximum preservation of the substance under the maxim of careful additions and protection." The lower section of the façade, including the colorful tile mosaics, was in such good condition in places that cleaning was sufficient.
The richly decorated wooden front door was also professionally restored and repaired and treated with linseed oil for protection. "This traditional technique has already proven its worth in recent years," says Lehmann. "Existing metal grilles, some of which were richly decorated, were refurbished and the roof area of the bay window, which was added later, was fitted with tinsmith work of outstanding quality. The complex roof shape was forged in sheet metal. Some of the original windows were refurbished and upgraded, and unsuitable plastic windows were replaced with wooden windows with very slim frame profiles in keeping with the listed building."
Furthermore, the entrance area with its richly designed, colorful cement tiles from the building period, wooden wall paneling and ceiling paintings were restored while completely preserving the original substance. The lincrusta surfaces ("embossed wallpaper" in common parlance) that no longer exist everywhere in the area of the walls along the flights of the wooden staircase were replaced by specially produced replicas, for which a cast was taken on site. Ceiling paintings in the staircase area were restored or reconstructed.
An important criterion for the Monument Advisory Board in its decision to award the prize to the property at Mainstrasse 137 was the fact that it was able to reward a level of commitment that goes far beyond the usual. This applies in particular to the work on the street façade and the entrance and staircase area. "The fact that the staircase area of a residential building with rental apartments has been refurbished with such great effort and attention to detail is extraordinary," says Lehmann.
All the work was carried out by expert and experienced restorers and craftsmen in consultation with the Hesse State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and the Lower Monument Protection Authority of the City of Offenbach and coordinated by architects experienced in the field of monuments as well as by the building owners themselves. "The overall high level of personal commitment is worthy of an award - a lot of the work was carried out in-house. The high level of identification with the property and its history is also worthy of an award."
According to Dominik Mangelmann, Chairman of the City of Offenbach's Advisory Council on Monuments, this property can serve as a role model for other owners of listed buildings to take a similar approach to monument protection thanks to the exemplary treatment of the substance and the results achieved. The Kesslers' high level of commitment to the goals of monument protection and the permanent preservation of an important monument that is very present in the cityscape and important to local history as a result of the work are exemplary.