Alison has a penchant for "model" towns. We've seen a few over the years, and when she heard about Eisenhüttenstadt it really had to get added to our itinerary. We couldn't actually stay there, since no AirBnBs seemed to operate, so we visited from Frankfurt an der Oder.
Starting in 1950 the East Germans built a new town, Eisenhüttenstadt, pretty much from scratch (it was not far from an old town, Fürstenberg, but initially the two were entirely separate). It was based around a new steel mill – hence the name, literally Iron Hut City – and associated works.
The town and the mill grew to be quite sizeable. Then with the fall of the DDR, the jobs were largely gone, as the communist era mills were grossly inefficient. The mill still operates, but at a quarter the original size. The industrial end of town is pretty grim now.
The town's population has shrunk by nearly half as a result.
Nothing unusual so far – Nova Huty outside Krakow, which we have also been to – went through pretty much exactly the same thing. As did similar towns in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria etc.
Another of our visits was to Sillamäe in Estonia. It was a uranium mine, which went from being a model city to almost entirely abandoned overnight (the dirty way the Soviets mined did leave it just a touch radioactive).
However there are distinct differences with Eisenhüttenstadt, which made it well worth a visit.
Firstly, although even Germans couldn't make Communism work very well, they did a lot better job than anyone else, so the DDR was a lot wealthier than other communist states. Thus while all the model cities started with sweeping plans utopian for "model living" the Germans carried through with it a lot longer.
The inner centres of Novy Huta and Sillamäe were once quite grand, but almost immediately they started to build crappy Soviet-issue concrete apartment blocks when the money ran out. However in Iron Hut City they still had the budget to keep building properly. The newer blocks are actually better than the first one. The attached schools, hospitals and shops were also built as planned, whereas in most other Soviet model cities they either never got built or were thrown up cheaply.
(There were some of the poor quality apartment blocks in Eisenhüttenstadt when they couldn't keep up the pace with the inner city, but the reduction in the size of the town has meant most have been emptied out and pulled down. Most people in the town live in the "model" blocks now.)
Modern Germany is also richer than the countries to the east and south. Which means that they have had the money to restore those inner city blocks. I say "restore", but I suspect that they are actually nicer now.
The result is that you can wander around a town that looks like the DDR intended it to look like. The places are all fresh and clean and the grounds between them tidy and with play equipment. It's really quite nice and inviting, assuming you like living in an apartment, of course.
Of course, since although the buildings were well designed and up-to-date for the time, they are now stuck in a time warp. As the town hasn't grown, the hospitals, schools, town hall etc are still big enough, so haven't required modern extensions. (There are new buildings, especially shops, but they are separate from the model DDR town.)
Eisenhüttenstadt has started to realise that it can actually play on what little history it has. There's a nice museum of daily life in the DDR over the decades, and they have a well planned and explained walking route of the town.
Some people take guided tours of the city that show the abandoned steel plants and ruined apartment buildings, but to be honest you can see similar all over Eastern Europe (and indeed Detroit, Glasgow etc). While revel in ruins when the real joy of Eisenhüttenstadt is that you can see a very large model town from the Communist era looking nice?
Starting in 1950 the East Germans built a new town, Eisenhüttenstadt, pretty much from scratch (it was not far from an old town, Fürstenberg, but initially the two were entirely separate). It was based around a new steel mill – hence the name, literally Iron Hut City – and associated works.
The town and the mill grew to be quite sizeable. Then with the fall of the DDR, the jobs were largely gone, as the communist era mills were grossly inefficient. The mill still operates, but at a quarter the original size. The industrial end of town is pretty grim now.
The town's population has shrunk by nearly half as a result.
One of the old mills still going. Most are abandoned or gone.
Nothing unusual so far – Nova Huty outside Krakow, which we have also been to – went through pretty much exactly the same thing. As did similar towns in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria etc.
Another of our visits was to Sillamäe in Estonia. It was a uranium mine, which went from being a model city to almost entirely abandoned overnight (the dirty way the Soviets mined did leave it just a touch radioactive).
However there are distinct differences with Eisenhüttenstadt, which made it well worth a visit.
Firstly, although even Germans couldn't make Communism work very well, they did a lot better job than anyone else, so the DDR was a lot wealthier than other communist states. Thus while all the model cities started with sweeping plans utopian for "model living" the Germans carried through with it a lot longer.
The inner centres of Novy Huta and Sillamäe were once quite grand, but almost immediately they started to build crappy Soviet-issue concrete apartment blocks when the money ran out. However in Iron Hut City they still had the budget to keep building properly. The newer blocks are actually better than the first one. The attached schools, hospitals and shops were also built as planned, whereas in most other Soviet model cities they either never got built or were thrown up cheaply.
(There were some of the poor quality apartment blocks in Eisenhüttenstadt when they couldn't keep up the pace with the inner city, but the reduction in the size of the town has meant most have been emptied out and pulled down. Most people in the town live in the "model" blocks now.)
Modern Germany is also richer than the countries to the east and south. Which means that they have had the money to restore those inner city blocks. I say "restore", but I suspect that they are actually nicer now.
One of the nicer style blocks. Each "block" is a group of apartments in similar style.
Of course, since although the buildings were well designed and up-to-date for the time, they are now stuck in a time warp. As the town hasn't grown, the hospitals, schools, town hall etc are still big enough, so haven't required modern extensions. (There are new buildings, especially shops, but they are separate from the model DDR town.)
The shops are in matching 50's and 60's styles, which adds to the charm.
Eisenhüttenstadt has started to realise that it can actually play on what little history it has. There's a nice museum of daily life in the DDR over the decades, and they have a well planned and explained walking route of the town.
Some people take guided tours of the city that show the abandoned steel plants and ruined apartment buildings, but to be honest you can see similar all over Eastern Europe (and indeed Detroit, Glasgow etc). While revel in ruins when the real joy of Eisenhüttenstadt is that you can see a very large model town from the Communist era looking nice?
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