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Architectural Practice
Fritz Höger
Project Title
Haus Glass
Location
Hamburg , Deutschland
Status
Completed 1911 , Heritage-listed Building
Main Category
Commercial Building
Sub Category
Retail, Office
Facade
Klinker red
Author
MoA/Jörg Stiehler
Online Publication
Description
The merchant Hermann Glass had moved to Hamburg in 1890 and opened a store for ladies' clothing in the Neustadt. After a few years of business success, he had Fritz Höger build an eight-story commercial building on the then newly constructed Mönckebergstrasse in 1910/1911 - the "Haus Glass", whose name was also embedded as a mosaic in the sidewalk. Glass' fashion store moved into the first floor, but just a few years later the business went bankrupt. He now worked as a real estate agent, but retained ownership of the Kontorhaus and continued to maintain his office here. After Glass lost his license as a broker under National Socialism, he had to sell the house to a Hamburg merchant in 1939, but could not freely dispose of the proceeds. The married couple Hermann and Martha Glass struggled for a long time with an escape abroad, then their application for emigration was rejected. On July 17, 1942, they were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where Hermann Glass died of malnutrition in January 1943. Martha Glass survived and emigrated to New York in the postwar period where she received compensation, including for the loss of the Kontorhaus. Her diaries from Theresienstadt were published as a book in 1996. Unlike most of the other Kontorhaus in the Altstadt, the Haus Glass is still largely in its original condition. It is now owned by an insurance company. The mosaic in the sidewalk had also survived World War II, but was removed in the 1950s.
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Project number MoA
24417