Kantgaragen
The ”Kantgaragen“ in Berlin are an icon of Bauhaus architecture, designed by the architects Lohmüller, Korschelt & Renker. At its opening in 1930, the six-story building was an architectural sensation. Such a multi-story parking garage with spiral-shaped separate access and exit ramps did not exist until then. It had space for approx. 300 cars and was equipped with several car wash stations, a gas station and a car repair shop. It even had central heating. Unfortunately, in the last decades only little was invested in this oldest preserved multi-story garage in Europe and it decayed more and more. In the end, due to dilapidation, even terminal demolition stood in the room. Fortunately this could be prevented by the monument protection authorities, so that now actually a complete renovation of this important monument of automobility takes place. In future, this Bauhaus building will unfortunately no longer be used as a parking garage, but as a mixed market hall, hotel, conference centre and exhibition hall with storehouse. But perhaps this is a logical consequence, since the original parking boxes would be too small for today's oversized SUVs anyway. My photos show the condition of the garage three years before it was closed in 2017, when it was still in use without significant changes since the 1930s.