Offenbach is developing rapidly: from an industrial city to a city of design
In January 2004, the Haus der Stadtgeschichte - Museum was opened in the Bernardbau, a building complex completed in 1896 with administrative and former factory floors in Offenbach. In the exhibition rooms on Herrnstraße, modern and sophisticated presentations have been created according to designs by the Offenbach University of Art and Design. A brief summary of Offenbach's urban development by Dr. Jürgen Eichenauer
As the former production site of the tobacco factory founded by the Bernard and d'Orville families in 1733, the listed building itself is of historical importance to the city.
Liberal immigration policy
Various themes are presented with high-ranking exhibits: Herrnstraße, for example, was laid out as early as 1691 under Count Johann Philipp. In its name, it refers to the difference between the long-established, rural population and a wealthier, bourgeois class, mostly made up of newcomers, who settled at the foothills of the village of Offenbach, deliberately and privileged by the Isenburg counts.
In the 18th century, the Isenburgs ruled with a liberal economic and immigration policy, which laid the foundations for rapid industrialization. Two dates are particularly important for the liberal immigration policy of the Isenburg era: the founding of a French Reformed community in 1699, which allowed Huguenots expelled from France to find a home in Offenbach, and the founding of a Jewish community in 1708.
Both provided important impetus for the economic and cultural upswing that soon led to Offenbach becoming a city. Almost 6,000 people lived in Offenbach at the beginning of the 19th century. After the end of Isenburg rule, the town became part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1816.
Progressive industrialization
The expansion of trade and industrialization were the main goals of the new government. The trade fair held from 1828 to 1835 in competition with Frankfurt was a great success. At the London World's Fair of 1851, 21 Offenbach companies exhibited, nine of which were awarded medals or received honorable mentions.
After the founding of the German Reich in 1871, new residential and municipal buildings changed the cityscape for good, as the advancing industrialization constantly increased the demand for workers. In the founding years, just under 20,000 people lived in the city on the Main, at the turn of the century over 50,000, and by the outbreak of the First World War (1914) already over 80,000 people.
With the strengthening of the labor movement, Offenbach was considered a "red nest". However, living conditions deteriorated in the 1920s due to inflation and the global economic crisis. In 1930, more than a quarter of Offenbach's population was dependent on welfare payments.
Political conditions also destabilized in the industrial city: all democratic parties were pushed back by the NSDAP and KPD. Towards the end of the Second World War, the city lay in ruins and the population had fallen to around 68,000. The main tasks in the post-war period were reconstruction and the integration of refugees and displaced persons. As a result, the population grew rapidly, reaching the status of a large city in 1954 with 100,000 people.
Residential areas such as the Carl-Ulrich-Siedlung were built, and the city center was restructured with the construction of Berliner Straße, which was opened in 1962. The upswing after the war also meant the recruitment of migrant workers. Since then, Offenbach's demographic development has been increasingly determined by immigration.