1971: Inauguration of Offenbach Town Hall. Its qualities are often misjudged today

Its importance as a contact point for citizens is central. Every child in Offenbach knows the town hall. Why it was elevated to the status of a monument, however, may not be quite clear to many. Lots of concrete, so what?, some may think. And yet Offenbach's town hall is the result of many clever considerations. It is typical of its time and yet also something special - certainly for Offenbach.

This is because Offenbach had never before had a "proper" town hall, a building erected specifically for the purpose of civic administration. In Offenbach, the administration had always had to live in converted buildings: Its last central seat had been the Büsingpalais, which was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1943. After the war, the municipal offices were spread over up to 20 different locations for many years.

As early as the 1950s, both citizens and employees suffered as a result, which is why politicians began to consider a new town hall in 1956. In 1959/60, a space allocation plan was drawn up within the administration for a new central town hall building. It was assumed that around 8,000 square meters of space would be required. In October 1961, the city council decided to hold an ideas competition with prize money of 50,000 Deutschmarks. Only a good third of the architects asked to take part actually submitted designs. More than half of the 84 participants in the competition came from Frankfurt am Main. The jury, chaired by Wilhelm Wichtendahl, President of the Association of German Architects (BDA), included Paul Posenenske as well as City Planning Officer Adolf Bayer, Lord Mayor Georg Dietrich and City Councillor Walter Frank. As head of the State Building Office in Offenbach, he had overseen the reconstruction of Isenburg Castle in the 1950s and designed the building for the German Weather Service.

The winning design by architects Maier, Graf, Speidel from Stuttgart was ultimately developed and realized. It was not only in Offenbach that the transition to a service society was becoming apparent at that time. The new town hall was intended as a response to the demand for more citizen service: The public-intensive offices, above all the registry office, were to have their new home on the easily accessible first floor. It was also in keeping with the spirit of the times to look for architectural expressions of democratic principles. The rooms for parliament and parliamentary groups form the basis of the Offenbach town hall complex: the legislature as the foundation of administrative action. The architects were also guided by democratic considerations when designing the council chamber. The public gallery is arranged to the side so that interested citizens have a view of both the presidium and the parliamentarians.

In its almost 50-year history, the service character of Offenbach's town hall has proven to be expandable: In keeping with the architects' vision, the citizens' office was housed on the first floor in 2000, giving citizens easy access to the most important municipal service point. For space reasons, the facility moved to Kaiserstr. 39 (former Goldpfeil building) in the fall of 2018. The town hall remains a focal point of public life to this day: accessible from all four sides, the foyer with its galleries and open staircases is an open, communicative space where exhibitions and receptions are regularly held.

The realization that public administration buildings in particular are also places where social life takes place had become established by the early 1960s. However, such a building should also be functional. Even regular visitors may be surprised at how well thought out Offenbach's town hall is. 80 percent of the building is used purely for administrative purposes. The architects housed the elevator systems and toilets in the inner core of the high-rise building.

The walls facing the corridors were originally designed as wall cupboards, some even with hand basins. The entire high and low voltage power supply, i.e. sockets, telephone and computer cables, run underneath the window sill. The cable duct can be exposed simply by folding down the window sill. When installing the blinds, the planners deliberately omitted a skylight strip through which sunlight would stream in to enhance the atmosphere without disturbing it. The gloomy wooden walls, on the other hand, no longer fit the image of a modern, transparent administration building. What is still impressive about the building today, however, is the optimal use of space. And the way the concrete is processed is also unusual: the structures of the formwork boards / formwork timbers used are visible on all concrete surfaces, giving the building material an almost organic effect, which in this day and age can only be created artificially with the help of inlaid textured formliners, which is always associated with additional costs.

The fact that not all of the architects' ideas were put into practice was also due to tight budgets in the 1960s. In May 1964, the municipal committees commissioned the competition winners to continue working on their design. However, about a year later, when a construction sum of around 36 million marks was in the offing, cutbacks began to be made. Among other things, the area planned for a later extension was reduced by half. In the meantime, it had also become clear that the population would not continue to grow as rapidly as in previous years. In 1961, Offenbach had 118,000 inhabitants. This figure has remained largely constant to this day.

The architecture, especially of the base building, was also simplified compared to the competition design. And to the chagrin of generations of municipal employees, full air conditioning was also dispensed with, as this would not only have increased the technical complexity. The individual storeys would also have had to be built higher. In the end, the city councillors approved a plan with an investment volume of around 23.9 million Deutschmarks in December 1967. The ground-breaking ceremony took place in July 1968.

The location had been agreed in the meantime. The idea of building the town hall north of Domstrasse in the Büsingpark area had been rejected. Instead, the town hall was to be located in the middle of the city and closely linked to the city center. Its development, in particular the design of a city courtyard with a plane tree grove, children's playground and benches, was enormously promoted by this decision. "The choice of the location of the town hall in the heart of the city is particularly symbolic, as the will for urban redevelopment is visibly expressed here at the intersection of all socially active forces," reads the document for the laying of the foundation stone.

The agreed construction period of two and a half years was adhered to almost to the day. An underground car park with 135 parking spaces was also built for an additional 2.6 million Deutschmarks. 13,000 cubic meters of concrete and more than 1,300 tons of steel were used to build the new Offenbach town hall with a floor space of 12,000 square meters. The first offices moved in in December 1970. The city celebrated the inauguration on July 10, 1971.

In the early decades, municipal employees were able to enjoy their lunch break in the dining hall on the 14th floor. With almost floor-to-ceiling windows, the canteen offered a bit of the luxury of a panoramic restaurant. The kitchen was located on the top floor, where up to 1000 meals could be prepared. In the meantime, offices have long been housed on the 14th floor. The town hall canteen is now on the 15th floor and is open to the public. The panorama is sensational. The view extends over the entire city. Reason enough for even the student-run OFlovesU-Esskult(o)uren to include a stop on the roof terrace of the town hall.

Following a decision by the city councillors on May 6, 2004, the fire protection and technical building renovation of the town hall began in 2005. It is divided into nine construction phases and is being carried out during ongoing operations.

Today, no one is likely to regard the town hall as an expression of grandiloquence. During the planning and construction phase, these critical voices were certainly heard. Unjustifiably so, as local journalist Lothar R. Braun found even then. He saw the building as an identity-forming contribution to the city community. He advised citizens to explore the building - even off the beaten track. "Every step provides new insights and perspectives. The spatial experience is constantly changing," Braun enthused, adding: "A building like this exerts a pull. It acts as a challenge, forcing engagement, contact, discussion and comment."