Berlin: Stadtwandel Verlag, 2018. 2nd Edition. A6. Saddle-stapled wraps. 30 p booklet. Condition: as new.
The Eternithaus (aka Interbau Objekt 25 A) was built by Paul Baumgarten in 1956/57 for the International Building Exhibition Interbau, ideologically a response to the GDR rebuilding East-Berlin with monumental boulevards like the Stalin-Allee. From 1957 to 1961, 53 architects from 13 countries rebuilt the Hansa district that was almost completely destroyed during World War II. The district is now a historical monument.
Eternit is the trade name for fiber-reinforced cement products, mixing cement with (dangerously toxic) asbestos fibers.
At the corner of Tiergarten and Altonaer Street, leading to the Siegessäule, the Eternithaus is somewhat hidden from sight by trees and shrubbery. The three-story house originally combined an Eternit showroom on the ground floor and living facilities on the upper floor. A typical transparent mid-century building, it originally featured huge glass windows on the ground-floor level, some of which have in recent years been replaced by solid walls.
Baumgarten thought it wouldn't make sense to build seven terraced houses with private gardens in the immediate vicinity of Tiergarten. That's why he drew an elongated, shiplike structure floating on top of a transparent ground floor, complete with gangway, railings, and cabinlike living quarters. The Eternit house has a length of 55 meters, featuring 7 maisonette duplex apartments of 95 square meters each.
The Tietz booklet is a nice introduction to the Eternit house and a great starting point for those who want to explore the hidden treasures of the Hansaviertel