How a Regensburg landmark became an exclusive dog toilet

Created: 09/13/2022Updated: 09/13/2022 09:51

By: Stefan Aigner

The house of the master baker's widow on the corner of Ostengasse was a Regensburg landmark.

© Edition Colorful Dogs

A small landmark once stood in the east of Regensburg's old town.

The story of its destruction is sad and reflects badly on the city.  

Regensburg –

On the corner of Ostengasse, behind the Kolpinghaus and a little above the "Museum of Bavarian History" in Regensburg is a small green area.

Planted with grass and medlar, ornamental vine shoots up on the poles.

This little place - called "Hopfengarten" - is not particularly beautiful and occasionally there is talk of the most exclusive dog toilet in Regensburg.

City grabs Regensburg landmark and destroys it

Very few people know that where a few windows were painted on the back wall of the corner building, there was once a real Regensburg landmark.

Nor that the city of Regensburg snatched this imposing building with the onion dome under its nails with extremely questionable machinations and finally destroyed it.

1955: City officials suspiciously plan to buy a widow's home

It must have been sometime in March or April 1955 when the owner of the building, a master baker's widow, noticed two figures talking to her son in the bakery.

She had often seen the men in front of the house in Regensburg Ostnerwacht that belonged to her in a community of heirs together with her two sons.

She hadn't spoken to the two strangers before.

But at some point it became too colorful for the 85-year-old.

The resolute elderly woman asked who they were and what they wanted from their son and above all from their house.

The two identified themselves as employees of the city property office: Clerk Voggenreiter and Inspector Blümlein.

They wanted to talk to their son about the house and whether it could be bought.

Dubious purchase offer from the city of Regensburg: baker's widow refused

The baker's widow was struck like lightning.

Because the majority of the house had belonged to her since her husband died in 1940.

Outraged, she threw the two officers out.

That's not the way. And if you're interested in the house, then you have to talk to her and nobody else.

At the time, she had no idea that the two city employees had already laid the foundation stone for her to lose her house and end up renting it impoverished, until it was demolished a few years after her death.

The house of the master baker's widow: a landmark that was printed on postcards

The core of the yellow three-storey building with the onion dome probably dates from the 14th or 15th century.

It was expanded and rebuilt in the mid-19th century.

A bakery, three shops and apartments were housed there.

A small Regensburg landmark was that postcards were printed even before the war – together with the cathedral and the stone bridge.

The stone bridge, the cathedral and the house with the onion dome - a postcard from Regensburg before World War II.

© private

It was spared the bombs of the war that fell in the immediate vicinity.

And also of the Aryanizations that were enforced under the aegis of the NS mayor and later CSU mayor Hans Hermann.

Regensburg Mayor Hans Herrmann: First "Aryanizer", then bulldozer

Church pupil Hans Hermann, who was a loyal and eager “Aryanizer” of Jewish property under NS Lord Mayor Otto Schottenheim, later managed, primarily with the help of the church, to downplay his key role in the NS state.

Archbishop Michael Buchberger and Auxiliary Bishop Johann Baptist Höcht gave him a "clean bill of health".

After a short political break, Herrmann was elected Mayor of Regensburg for the CSU in 1952.

And in this function, the former "Aryanizer" now leveled the residential and commercial buildings of many Regensburgers in the east of the old town - mostly simple people and craftsmen.

Regensburg in the 1950s: the city was to become car-friendly

At that time, the ideal of a car-friendly city was not only valid in Regensburg in order to boost the economy.

And in 1953, Hans Herrmann decided, as one of two variants that were under discussion at the time, to build a four-lane traffic route through the east of the old town - from Dachauplatz via the Donaumarkt and the Grieser Spitz to the north of Regensburg.

Even then, the master baker's widow feared that her house could also be affected by these plans.

Not because she knew anything about the city's grandiose transportation plans.

These were hardly known to the general public at the time.

However, in April 1953 the plans for the new construction of the Erhardihaus (today: Kolpinghaus) were presented, which had been almost completely destroyed in an air raid in October 1944.

Widow is afraid for her house - and is initially reassured

When the model for the new building was presented to the public, which was to be built across the entire street and would have been directly adjacent to the master baker's widow's house, she was not the only one to notice that the building with the onion dome was missing from the wooden model.

She lodged an objection against the further construction of the Erhardihaus, but at the same time offered to withdraw it in August 1953 if she received written confirmation that the new building would not cause any depreciation in the value of her house.

Two days later, a municipal chief building officer gave the reassuring answer that demolition of their house was not planned and that its value would not be reduced. In addition, the official explained that demolition of the building in the course of the new construction of the Erhardihaus was not planned .

City made the son an offer he couldn't refuse

So reassured, the old lady withdrew her objection - not knowing that the whole truth had been kept from her.

Because even then, city planners warned internally that the transverse construction in connection with the traffic plans would lead to significantly more demolitions.

When two years later, in April 1955, Bailiff Voggenreiter and Inspector Blümlein showed up in the bakery, Lord Mayor Hans Hermann's men for the rough stuff when it came to the inexpensive purchase of real estate in the Ostnerwacht that was to be demolished for the transport project, they seemed like the to have made the son of the baker's widow an offer that he could not refuse.

Flour debts weighed on the baker - the city reacted

The man, like many of his guild, was burdened with flour debts.

At that time there were seven bakeries in the Ostnerwacht.

A lot of competitors.

Around 70 percent of the Regensburg companies were indebted to the millers, according to an article in the daily newspaper at the time.

This was also the case for the son of the master baker's widow, who earned more than well and, as the owner of the bakery, was also obliged to ensure his mother's livelihood. Clerk Voggenreiter and Inspector Blümlein seem to have exploited the existential emergency.

Foreclosure brings family into trouble

In any case, shortly after the conversation with the two officials, the baker, without consulting his mother, applied for the house, in which he also held a small inheritance, to be foreclosed on in order to pay off his outstanding liabilities – and probably also to enjoy some advantages to come, which the city granted him shortly thereafter.

But more on that later.

The rest of the family was initially upset about the baker's behavior.

On the other hand, the whole thing was seen relatively calmly.

For example, was there an assurance from the city that buildings should not be demolished and could be sold at normal market value.

In addition to the city, there was also a solvent interested party for the building.

(By the way: Our brand new Regensburg newsletter will keep you regularly informed about all the important stories from the World Heritage city and the Upper Palatinate. Register here.)

A secret decision ruins the family's plans

A wealthy canning company had already made several offers.

His daughter fell in love with the house with the onion dome - he would be happy to pay a good price for it.

And if all else fails and no reasonable price can be achieved, the master baker's widow hoped that her second son, a sales representative, could buy the building at auction and thus keep it family-owned.

What the family did not know: Immediately before Voggenreiter and Blümlein visited the bakery, the building committee of the Regensburg city council had decided, contrary to previous assurances, that the master baker's widow's house would have to be demolished after all.

Because the transverse building of the Erhardihaus stood in the way of the plans for a wide traffic road, the road was to be led around the magnificent building of the Kolping brothers.

Foreclosure ends in disaster for the widow

The baker's widow had no idea of ​​any of this.

She had given her son power of attorney so that he would not have to witness the foreclosure sale on December 17, 1955 and was hoping for a good result.

But even before the first interested parties submitted their bids, Clerk Voggenreiter spoke up.

He announced that sooner or later the building would have to be demolished, and the property would then no longer be usable.

The house became worthless for potential bidders within seconds.

They left the hall.

The officials from the municipal property office and the son of the baker's widow stayed behind.

Shocked and overwhelmed by the events, he finally raised the building himself in order to keep his mother's apartment at least until the house was demolished - for 44,300 Deutschmarks.

The real estate officials had the order to also bid, but remained well below that.

After foreclosure: City puts family under pressure

Less than a month later, the property office began urging the son, who despite all this had reached his financial limits with no prospect of a new buyer and no long-term perspective, to sell the property to the city after all.

One is "quite ready" to recognize the "officially determined value".

"But it is not possible for the city to pay a purchase price for this property that far exceeds its value," wrote the city legal office in January 1956. This letter was linked to phone calls and the threat that expropriation could also be used .

After months of pressure from the city: family gives up

In March 1956 the master baker's widow and her son gave up and sold the house.

The contract, which was certified by the notary Ernst Reiser, who was repeatedly consulted by the city during the Aryanizations in Regensburg, states:

"The municipality of Regensburg acquires the property at Ostengasse 2 (...) at 0.032 ha, residential building with shops (...) for the price of DM 62,000."

After deducting all liabilities, the master baker's widow and the sons entitled to inherit were left with just 39,000 Deutschmarks.

To put this in context: Six years later, the city offered up to 200,000 German marks for a comparable residential building on Ostnerwacht.

After sale: The widow lived in her former house for rent

The master baker's widow lived in modest circumstances until shortly before her death in 1964, renting the now municipal property, together with nine to ten other tenants, who more than paid off the purchase price for the city, until the building was finally demolished in 1966 .

The other son, the baker who applied for the foreclosure sale and thus gave the city cheap access to the house, was allowed to continue the business until he retired.

He was then given a city apartment for himself and his wife.

One of the nicer ones, on Neumannstrasse.

The city's traffic plans fail - but the house was destroyed

In the end, nothing came of the traffic plans, to which a total of around 40 buildings fell victim in the Ostnerwacht, which Bailiff Voggenreitter and Inspector Blümlein had bought cheaply (More about this).

They failed due to the protests and resistance of Regensburg's citizens' initiatives - to the current advantage of the city of Regensburg, which would hardly have become a World Heritage Site if the vision of the car-friendly old town had prevailed.

Where the house used to be is now an ugly "hop garden"

Today's Schwanenplatz, which only came about as a result of the demolitions, is now the location of what is probably the most expensive public toilet in Regensburg.

And where the yellow house with the onion dome once stood is the aforementioned "Hopfengarten", which, contrary to the original plans, was not planted with hops but with grass, medlar and ornamental wine and is currently used more as a dog toilet than as a high place Quality of stay serves.

The so-called "Hopfengarten" on the corner of Ostengasse.

A few windows were painted on the facade of the supposed corner house.

© Stefan Aigner

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