Verdener Aller Zeitung reports Three Recoveries

The Verdener Aller Zeitung, a local paper, reports plans which are currently discussed at the city council. One goal is to make new use of an area close to the Aller River. So far, there is a flat building encased with washed-out concrete which houses a supermarket and which mayor Lutz Brockmann says is ugly, according the papers Tuesday edition. There are no detailed plans yet, but a hotel may be included, too.

This used to be the site of Verden's synagogue (burnt down during Germany's "Kristallnacht" in 1938). It became the site of a car dealership after the war.

At the same time, a site at the Johanniswall which once lodged a car dealership shall be refurbished as a combination of retailing, services, and residence. An urban planning office in Hanover did the design, the Verdener Aller Zeitung wrote on Friday. Specialised retailers should take up some 3,000 square metres of the new place. It’s meant to be complementary to the pedestrian’s zone (Große Straße). The former synagogue which was located within the area (East of the Johanniswall and South of Lindhooper Straße) until 1938 is scheduled to be factored in with a remembrance site.

The newly-designed place will reportedly be accessible for cars from the Johanniswall and the Zollstraße.

The urban planning office from Hanover cites expert’s reports which state that no adverse effects on existing supply structures (this probably refers to existing retailers and services in the old town) are to be expected, provided that limits on the lines of business and range of products are abided by.

The smallest sales floors should be 300 to 400 square metres. The first floor will be for retailers, the second floor for flats, and the courtyard should become a car park.

The building plans are reported on the top of a page for local news. Right underneath, the Verdener Aller Zeitung reports that no real mood of [an economic] crisis seems to emerge on Verden’s job market, as the jobless rate had dropped from 6.5 to 6.2 per cent in May. “In Verden, actually a Recovery”, says the headline. This would spell 7,943 people looking for a job. Available apprenticeship positions had dropped only by 4.8 per cent, the paper quotes the employment agency and an agency which is apparently operated by the rural district.

For Sale, but at a Given Price?

Cafe Engelhardt for sale

So, Verden’s estate agents don’t think that the property prices are stable, in cases of properties for  commercial use anyway (allerdings-online, April 2). We have an ageing population, less and less children (migration doesn’t catch up with that yet), we have a recession, maybe a looming depression with corresponding unemployment rates, but no likelihood that property prices are going down? The estate agents explaining the market situation are actually referring to the financial crisis as a reason as to why people may prefer properties.

In my life, I only saw “for sale” signposts in England 30 years ago. Until now, that is. During the recent eight months, I have seen such signposts popping up here in Verden, too. But then, who knows, maybe they still do sell at prices at previous levels.

mansion for sale

If I was living and working in Bremen and intended to buy property in the hinterland, Verden wouldn’t be a place for me to look. Not if its estate agents’ expectations are correct. After all, I would have to add my petrol costs to the bill.

Then again, the picture according to allerdings-online isn’t entirely consistent. A Volksbank employee (position not specified) also quoted by the paper sees demand in refurbishing and mondernising houses, rather than in the classical real estate business (which probably means buying and selling properties).

Pretty often, a plan to sell the object later may be a motive for modernising, for selling “at a better price now or later. If so, supply will increase, sooner or later. And a lot will depend on the duration of the economic crisis – the longer it lasts, the more demand will slump.

As far as I can judge that, anyway. After all, I’m no expert.

The British Army of the Rhine in Verden

In January, I wrote about the Brunnenwegskaserne barracks and the new building site there. As the barracks are demolished, they are logically missing on my photos.

There are people who did a documentation online. You can find information on three formerly British barracks in Verden here – the Brunnenwegskaserne is under the third link (Shiel Barracks).

Verden’s Railway Bridge

It’s new look is hard to describe, but the replacement for the old railway bridge – not to be confused with the new Südbrücke now under reconstruction for car traffic – won’t be 15 metres tall, as threatened by the Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railways) earlier. It will rather look like the one this expert demonstrates with two cups of coffee.

German Railways usually has its way with ticket price increases and obtaining more-than-the-usual information about its employees, but this time, Verden apparently decided that enough harm has been done to its skyline in the recent past. The town’s local government, a nostalgic Lower Saxonian club plus two professors from Dresden and Munich stirred shit. We’ll get something nicer instead.

Try to translate Stahlsegelbrücke in Betonverbundbauweise if you can, or, as recommended before, see this picture.

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My friend and contributor JR suggested that I should write about some good news for a change. Here it is.